There are many primary sources accessible that relate to twentieth century eugenics. I would like you to examine the documents that the North Carolina State Government archives has assembled on the topic. Again, you are not required to read every document in full, but you should browse most of them in order to develop a sense of the history of eugenics in North Carolina.
As you read/browse, keep these questions in mind, and answer them after you are done:
What types of sources are present in this digital archive? What are the broad similarities/differences between these sources?
What type of history could one write from these sources? Consider the time periods it covers, what perspectives/voices it would privilege, and who/what it would it leave out.
Given what you have now read about eugenics, from both the secondary sources assigned and the primary ones you’ve encountered here, generate a central question that could be used for further research and discuss what other sources you would ideally need to use to carry out the project. Remember, a good historical research question is not about uncovering a fact, it’s about providing an explanation to a why question (or maybe a “how” question depending on how you construct it).
Requirements:
It should be 750-1000 words (~3-4 double-spaced pages). Try and weave the questions into a coherent paper, though you can even answer the questions individually if helps. Your writing should be thoughtful, reasoned, and clear. In other words, using first person is perfectly acceptable, but stay away from informal slang and meaningless hyperbole (e.g. “it was the most eye-opening reading of my life, idk how I’ll ever look at the world the same again.”). Use Chicago Manual of Style and footnotes for your citations.