DIFFERENT / FIT
Eugenics in Alabama, 1919-1935
The underlying violence of disenfranchisement is a lack of visibility. When we talk about societies ‘most vulnerable’ we are talking about a complex and wildly diverse population out of sight. The power of art in this context might be to drag light into a dark room, or to build empathy. You can’t feel what you can’t see, and feeling this is vital to knowing the harm, and therefore knowing how to heal.
In this multi-site partnership exhibition with Mobile Medical Museum, curator elizabet elliott, and artists Merrilee Challiss, Carey Fountain, and Chris Lawson explore the heartbreaking history of eugenics in Alabama. Newly commissioned work will be sited at both Mobile Medical Museum, located at 1664 Springhill Avenue Mobile, Alabama 36604, until May 2022 and on-site at ACAC until January 2021.
This project has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state partner with the National Endowment for the Humanities, co-sponsors this project. Additional support from the Edith Mitchell Health Initiative.
Generous funding for this exhibition and related programming is provided by:
IMAGE GALLERY
Bryce Hospital (the Alabama Insane Hospital) employed a work-centered approach to mental health care based on the idea that physical activity would heal sick minds. The treatment method helped fund the facility but also drew public criticism as being exploitative in the 1970s.
Image Courtesy of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Archives
William Partlow was superintendent of the Partlow State School for Mental Deficients during the 1920s and early 1930s. Partlow was a leading supporter of eugenics in Alabama.
Merrilee Challiss