Wallace H. Kuralt. Sr.
| Wallace H. Kuralt. Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1908[1] Springfield, Massachusetts[1] |
| Died | 1994 |
| Known for | Public Service, Eugenics |
Wallace Hamilton Kuralt (1908-1994) was an influential North Carolina government bureaucrat who served as Director of Public Welfare in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. from 1945 to 1972.[2] in that role he implemented a variety of progressive programs[1] and he also spearheaded the implementation of eugenics policies in that state.[3]
Background
Kuralt was born in 1908 in Springfield, Massachusetts.[1] He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1931 with a degree in business.[1] He took a job as a typist with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration after finding it difficult to find a job.[1] Then he moved to the Works Progress Administration in Fayetteville, North Carolina.[1] He went back to UNC and studied social work and in 1945 took a job as the Director of Public Welfare in Mecklenburg County.[1]
Public Welfare
Kuralt believed that government should take an active role in public welfare and his views were shaped by the policies of the New Deal.[1] Kuralt worked actively to prevent poverty and established a whole range of social services from day care to piloting the implementation of legal aid for the poor to hiring the poor to help with education about his programs.[1] He successfully lobbied for reform of North Carolina's abortion laws and pioneered the distribution of the pill and other birth control methods, including voluntary sterilization.[1]
Administration of eugenics
While 31 states in the United States had eugenics sterilization programs during the 20th century, North Carolina's program was the most aggressive.[3] Mecklenburg County sterilized many more people than any other county according to records of the North Carolina Eugenics Board.[2] 403 Mecklenburg residents ordered sterilized by the N.C. Eugenics Board at the request of the county welfare department under Kuralt's leadership.[2]
Kuralt retired in 1972 and died in 1994. To the end, he maintained his belief in the correctness of sterilisation and birth control as a means of eradicating poverty.[1]
Family
Wallace Hamilton Kuralt was married to Ina Bishop Kuralt. They were parents of three children, including the late CBS TV journalist, Charles Kuralt.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Schoen, Johanna (2009). Choice & Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare. ReadHowYouWant. pp. 76–78. ISBN 978-1-4587-3148-7.
- 1 2 3 Helms, Ann Doss and Tomlinson, Tommy (26 September 2011). "Wallace Kuralt's era of sterilization: Mecklenburg's impoverished had few, if any, rights in the '50s and '60s as he oversaw one of the most aggressive efforts to sterilize certain populations". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
- 1 2 3 Severson, Kim (9 December 2011). "Thousands Sterilized, a State Weighs Restitution". New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2011.