Ann Cooper Hewitt was a wealthy heiress who was sterilized against her will[1] in California in 1935. Her case was critical in turning the tide against the growing eugenics movement[2][3] in the United States prior to World War II.[4]
Ann Cooper Hewitt | |
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| Born | 1914 |
| Died | 11 February 1956 |
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 Ann Cooper Hewitt |
Early life
editAnn was the child of Peter Cooper Hewitt and Marion (aka Maryon) Jeanne Andrews.
Peter Cooper Hewitt died in 1921. His will left two-thirds of his estate to Ann and one-third to her mother Marion; however, if Ann died without an heir, her portion of her father's estate would revert to her mother.[5]
Forced sterilization
editIn 1935, just before Ann's 21st birthday (when she would have attained legal majority), she was hospitalized for appendicitis. Ann's mother told the surgeons at the private hospital where Ann was receiving care that Ann was "feeble minded" and paid them to sterilize her while performing her appendectomy.[6]
After realizing what her physicians and her mother had done, both criminal and civil lawsuits were filed in San Francisco court. The judges who handled her case were Sylvain Lazarus. Ann Lindsay was a personal nurse for Ann Hewitt.[7] The criminal case was ultimately unsuccessful, since at the time, involuntary sterilization of the "feeble minded" was legal in California.[8] The state Supreme Court declined to reopen the case.[9] In the end, "a lengthy, exhausting trial resulted in the charges being dropped against the doctors and her mother. Ann settled the civil suit for $150,000."[10]
Legacy
editThe Ann Cooper Hewitt case, which involved court-ordered sterilization, did not directly lead to any specific legislative changes, but increased public awareness and scrutiny of sterilization practices.[9] This novel use of U.S. sterilization laws energized the growing public debate about the ethics of eugenics and potential unintended consequences of laws allowing involuntary sterilization.[11]
References
edit- ^ Romeo Vitelli. "Sterilizing The Heiress". Providentia. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ Currell, Susan, and Christina Cogdell. 2006. Popular Eugenics. Athens: Ohio University Press.
- ^ "The sordid story of the once-popular eugenics movement". Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ Wendy, Kline. "A new deal for the child: Ann Cooper Hewitt and sterilization in the 1930s". repository.library.georgetown.edu. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ Farley, Audrey Clare (April 20, 2021). "Eugenics, racism and the forced sterilization of heiress Ann Cooper Hewitt". salon.com.
- ^ "The Curious Case of the Socialite Who Sterilized Her Daughter". July 8, 2019.
- ^ Peterson, C. B., ed. (1936). Ann Cooper Hewitt case.
- ^ "EUGENICS IN CALIFORNIA, 1896-1945 by Joseph W. Sokolik". txstate.edu. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
- ^ a b Suuberg, Alessandra (2018). "Buck v. Bell, American Eugenics, and the Bad Man Test: Putting Limits on Newgenics in the 21st Century". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3279543. ISSN 1556-5068.
- ^ Getlen, Larry. "The shocking story behind NYC's Cooper Hewitt family". nypost.com. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ^ Robinson, Jennifer (October 11, 2018). "AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Eugenics Crusade". kpbs.org. Retrieved October 19, 2018.