Dr. Joseph S. DeJarnette

Eugenics

The DeJarnette Children's Center was named after Dr. Joseph S. DeJarnette. DeJarnette was the superintendent of the Western State Psychiatric Hospital from 1905 to 1943. This facility was also located in Staunton, Virginia, as was the DeJarnette Center. Dr. DeJarnette was a follower of eugenics and forced sterilization of the “insane." Most involutionary sterilizations occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, but some states, such as Virginia, continued the practice until the law was repealed in the 1970s. Most of the victims were uneducated and poor, and none received compensation. It is not known if any patients from the DeJarnette Children's Center underwent forced sterilization. In 2002, the facility changed its name to the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents due to Dr. DeJarnette's support of eugenics.

The rate of sterilization in the United States did not satisfy Dr. DeJarnette and in 1938 he made the following comment. Germany in six years has sterilized about 80,000 of her unfit while the United States with approximately twice the population has only sterilized about 27,869 to January 1, 1938 in the past 20 years... The fact that there are 12,000,000 defectives in the US should arouse our best endeavors to push this procedure to the maximum.

Below is a poem that was written by Dr. Joseph S. DeJarnette regarding his beliefs about forced sterilization, which he was very proud of. It is titled "Mendel's Law." It can also be viewed at the University of Virginia web site.