Joseph S. DeJarnette

Joseph S. DeJarnette ca. 1908

Joseph Spencer DeJarnette (1866-1957) was a physician and eugenicist who performed hundreds of involuntary sterilizations at Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia during the Progressive Era. Virginia’s Western State Hospital’s Superintendent, Dr. Joseph DeJarnette, who practiced there from 1906-1943, played a major role in the eugenics and sterilization movement in Virginia in the 19th century. He worked with Harvey E. Jordan and other eugenicists to provide the foundation for the 1924 Sterilization Act.

Early Life and Career

DeJarnette was born on September 29, 1866 in Spotsylvania County. His father, Elliott Hawes DeJarnette, was a captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. His mother was Evelyn May Magruder DeJarnette. His uncle, Daniel C. DeJarnette, served on the United States and Confederate States House of Representatives. His uncle, Col. John Bowie Magruder was mortally wounded in the chest at Gettysburg July 3, 1863.

Dejarnette and his family considered themselves elites because they were descendants of colonial Virginians. His mother educated Dejarnette until he entered the Medical College of Virginia. He graduated in 1888.

Dr. DeJarnette was the superintendent of Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia from 1906 to 1946. In close to proximity to Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, DeJarnette knew and sometimes collaborated with UVA faculty like Paul B. Barringer and Harvey E. Jordan.

Eugenics and Sterilization

Dejarnette was a eugenicist who played a prominent role in the sterilization movement. He believed that mentally disabled people should be sterilized because allowing them to procreate was a burden on society. He spent much of his career lobbying for legislation and medical practices that supported the sterilization of mentally disabled people. DeJarnette also testified in support of the involuntary sterilization of Carrie Buck. (see also: Buck v. Bell)

Dejarnette was very interested in Nazi Germany's sterilization program in the 1930s. In 1934, while speaking in front of the General Assembly, Dejarnette said "Germans are beating us at our own game and are more progressive than we are” in reference to their sterilization efforts. This speech was made to expand the scope of Virginia's sterilization laws, notably the 1924 Sterilization Act. While many of Nazi Germany's eugenic policies were modeled after American ones like the sterilization and marriage laws in Virginia, DeJarnette believed that the Germans had surpassed America in their mission of genetic purity. This is demonstrated in his poem titled, "“Mendel’s Law: A Plea for a Better Race of Men.”

A stanza of the poem reads "This is the law of Mendel, / And often he makes it plain, / Defectives will breed defectives / And the insane breed insane. / Oh, why do we allow these people / To breed back to the monkey’s nest, / To increase our country’s burdens / When we should only breed the best?"