The State of Eugenics: Documentary Film Screening and Panel Discussion

For much of the 20th century, eugenics was a widely-accepted practice in the US, endorsed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the 1927 Buck v. Bell decision. Thirty states (including New York) sterilized citizens with the aim of reducing poverty and getting rid of “the unfit”. North Carolina ran one of the most aggressive eugenics programs, sterilizing more than 7,600 men, women and children between 1933 and 1974. ‘The State of Eugenics’ follows the journey of survivors, legislators, and journalists working together to obtain compensation for the survivors of these injustices.

Following the screening, we will host a panel discussion with the film’s Director/Producer Dawn Sinclair Shapiro, Professor Patricia Williams of Columbia Law School, Professor June Cross of Columbia Journalism School, Professor Johanna Schoen of Rutgers University, and Professor Rachel Adams of the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

This event is co-supported by Columbia Journalism School, the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law, and Columbia If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice.

If you require disability accommodations to facilitate your attendance or participation in this program, please contact Liz Boylan, Assistant Director for the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, at [email protected], or 212.854.0167.