On January 8th, Rotarian Tink Hill brought us an interesting presentation on eugenics in the United States. Although humans have been treating each other as different or lesser for centuries (as pointed out by some of the audience), Tink told us how the study of eugenics began in England in 1883. Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, began to think – if we can breed cattle and horses, why not humans? In his thinking, that could reduce the number of the poor and criminals. In the United States, those who were in favor of eugenics thought it could get rid of “undesirables.” Based upon eugenics, involuntary sterilization in the U.S. began in early 1900s and eventually a case went to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion that, unfortunately, upheld forced sterilization. He argued that if people could be required to join the military or to get vaccinated, they could also be involuntarily sterilized. At one time, 33 U.S. states had forced sterilization laws. Tink also showed us a video on the topic that indicated that Hitler and other Nazis referred to the United States' use of eugenics with admiration. After the end of World War II, the history of eugenics in the United Kingdom and in the United States was not something that was discussed even though forced sterilizations continued in prisons into the 21st century. All of the forced sterilization laws were finally abolished in the U.S. by 2014. This presentation by Tink brought many questions and thoughts for consideration from the audience.