Dr. John H. Bell and Carrie Buck

Carrie E. Buck, the first person involuntarily sterilized under Virginia's eugenics laws, and Dr. John H. Bell, the physician who performed the sterilization procedure, are shown in this composite photograph. In Buck v. Bell (1927), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia's new involuntary sterilization law was constitutional and that Buck, who was deemed feebleminded, should be sterilized.