Oct. 26: Book Talk With Mercedes de Guardiola '17

Segregation or Sterilization: The History of Eugenics in Vermont

Thursday, October 26, 2023
4:30 p.m.
Carson 60

Mercedes de Guardiola '17 will give a talk about her new book "Vermont for the Vermonters": The History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State, which examines how the state's eugenics movement emerged out of the public policies of the nineteenth century and led to state-sanctioned programs of institutionalization, sterilization, family separation, and education aimed at the most vulnerable Vermonters. Exploring the social and political legacy of the movement, de Guardiola brings new scholarship and context to one of Vermont's darkest chapters.

Mercedes de Guardiola is a New York-based historian. She earned her B.A. from Dartmouth College with a double major in History and Art History. A leading expert on Vermont's eugenics movement, she testified before the state legislature during hearings in the 2020s. Her research examines public policies of child health and welfare, mass institutionalization and deinstitutionalization, sterilization, and family separation. (Source: Vermont Historical Society)

De Guardiola's work on the history of eugenics in Vermont is also referenced in episode 2 of Vermont Public's podcast, Brave Little State: Recognized.