Irving Powell Whitehead (1868 - 1938)

Born 6 Jul 1868 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

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Irving Whitehead is Notable.

Biography

Irving was born in 1868. He is the son of Thomas Whitehead and Martha Garland.

Irving Powell Whitehead, a well-known attorney of Lynchburg, Virginia; married Martha Winston Walker, of Kentucky.

Children: Edmund Winston Whitehead and Jane Massie Whitehead.

Buck v. Bell, US Supreme Court

Irving P. Whitehead was the attorney whose weak defense of Carrie Buck almost assured that the law would stand. Whitehead had served on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Colony and Strode had previously acted as legal counsel to the Board. All three men knew one another politically, professionally, and personally for many years prior to the Buck litigation.

Dr. Priddy desired to test the case in court to create legal precedence in support of the law. He chose Irving P. Whitehead, a "confidant of Priddy, boyhood friend to [the Colony's lawyer] Aubrey Strode, former colony director, and sterilization advocate," and financial backer of the colony, as Carrie's lawyer. It is unknown if Mr. Whitehead ever met with Carrie in person while representing her.

Whitehead objected little to the experts testimony. According to USA Today, " Whitehead offered no witnesses and produced no evidence in Buck's defense, thus conceding the judgment of Buck as a 'middle-grade moron. "

Note: Carrie Buck's attorney Irving Whitehead was a friend of Colony Director Aubrey Strode's since childhood. Irving Whitehead had also served on the Colony's Board. Colony Director Aubrey Strode later became a judge.^[1]

"It is unknown if Mr. Whitehead ever met with Carrie in person while representing her. Whitehead objected little to the experts testimony. According to USA Today, " Whitehead offered no witnesses and produced no evidence in Buck's defense, thus conceding the judgment of Buck as a 'middle-grade moron.' "^[2]

Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Aubrey_E._Strode
2. ↑ USA Today. (2008, November 14). Re-examining Supreme Court support for sterilization. ABC News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6258853&page=1
3. ↑ Wikipedia: Virginia_State_Colony_for_Epileptics_and_Feebleminded

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23130492/irving-powell-whitehead
• https://usgenwebsites.org/vagenweb/tylers_bios/vol4-05.htm

See also:

• Cohen, Adam. Imbeciles: the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie Buck. New York City: Penguin Press, 2016.
• Buck v. Bell (2011, March 31). In Cvillepedia. Retrieved April 26, 2021, from https://www.cvillepedia.org/index.php?title=Buck_v._Bell&oldid=19424
• Sidener, Carrie. (2019, December 7). Misguided science of eugenics had roots at Central Virginia Training Center. The News & Advance. Retrieved from https://newsadvance.com/news/local/misguided-science-of-eugenics-had-roots-at-central-virginia-training-center/article_3555210d-fa9c-56d5-96f7-221eb36c4ffd.html
• "Unfit." Produced by Matt Kielty, Lulu Miller, and Pat Walters, G, Radiolab, 27 July 2019. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/g-unfit. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.
• 2020-09-13 Buck v Bell - Eugenics - Carrie Buck - Pedigree. No copyright. This is public information.
• Youtube: Carrie Elizabeth Buck: Tutelo - Eugenical Sterilization Act Victim - 1924 Virginia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cASzzWydkYY
• Wikipedia: Buck v. Bell (accessed June 27, 2018).
• Wikipedia: Carrie Buck (accessed June 27, 2018).

Wikidata: Item Q5046212, en:Wikipedia

• The Embryo Project Encyclopedia https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/buck-v-bell-1927