Aubrey Ellis Strode (October 2, 1873 – May 17, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he was a member of the Virginia Senate, representing the state's 19th district.[1][2] He was a strong advocate for Jim Crow laws.[3] Strode authored Virginia's sterilization law (Racial Integrity Act of 1924).[4] Strode wrote the Virginia Law Review in 1925 for sterilization.[5] Strode also represented the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded in its court case for forced sterilizations of people identified as morons (feebleminded) based on eugenics arguments. Strode argued the test case for the forced Sterilization of Carrie Buck before the U.S. Supreme Court. Buck's attorney was a friend of Strode's since childhood, Irving Whitehead, who had also served on the Colony's board.[4]

Aubrey E. Strode
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 19th district
In office
January 12, 1916 – January 14, 1920
Preceded byBland Massie
Succeeded byJ. Belmont Woodson
In office
January 10, 1906 – January 10, 1912
Preceded byBland Massie
Succeeded byBland Massie
Personal details
Born
Aubrey Ellis Strode

(1873-10-02)October 2, 1873
Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 1946(1946-05-17) (aged 72)
Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Rebekah Davies Brown
Louisa Dexter Hubbard
Alma materUniversity of Mississippi
University of Virginia
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
RankLieutenant colonel
UnitJ.A.G. Corps
Battles/warsWorld War I

References

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  1. ^ Swem, Earl G. (1918). Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776–1918. Richmond: Virginia State Library. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  2. ^ Dodson, E. Griffith (1939). The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1919-1939: Register. Richmond: Virginia State Library. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  3. ^ Adam Cohen (7 March 2017). Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck. Penguin Publishing Group. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-14-310999-0.
  4. ^ a b DenHoed, Andrea (April 27, 2016). "The Forgotten Lessons of the American Eugenics Movement". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Sterilization for Defectives, 11 Virginia Law Review 296 (1925).
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