Human Betterment League

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The Human Betterment League was created in 1947 by hosiery king James G. Hanes and Alice Shelton Gray, as well as others. The Human Betterment League has been criticized historically for its role in the sterilization of black women in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In the 1960s thousands of women were sterilized for "promiscuity". Historically, Black female rape victims that bore children from their rape experience were classified as promiscuous.

By the early 1970s the Human Betterment League had shifted its focus to promoting education on birth control and genetic counseling. In 1984 it changed its name to the Human Genetics League, and it disbanded in 1988.

[edit] External links

• Winston-Salem Journal article on forced sterilization in North Carolina -- Part III discusses Human Betterment League