The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded opened in 1910 as the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics near Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...

. It was authorized by a 1906 bill written by eugenicist and social welfare advocate Aubrey Strode, in collaboration with eugenicists Albert Priddy and Joseph DeJarnette

Joseph DeJarnette

Joseph Spencer DeJarnette was the director of Western State Hospital from 1905 to 1943. He was a vocal proponent of eugenics, specifically, the compulsory sterilization of the mentally ill...

. Priddy served as the first superintendent of the colony. In 1914, Priddy asked the state legislature to expand the Colony's purview to include the feebleminded. The name was then changed to reflect the Colony's new mission. The Colony is notorious for having been the home of both Emma Buck and her daughter, Carrie Buck

Carrie Buck

Carrie Buck was a plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 , and was ordered to undergo compulsory sterilization for purportedly being "feeble-minded." The surgery was carried out while Buck was an inmate of the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and...

, who played a major role in the history of the American eugenics movement which culminated in the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 case Buck v. Bell

Buck v. Bell

Buck v. Bell, , was the United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld a statute instituting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the mentally retarded, "for the protection and health of the state." It was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics—the attempt to improve...

. The institution is now known as the Central Virginia Training Center.