Aubrey Ellis Strode (October 2, 1873 – May 17, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he was a member of the Virginia Senate, representing the state's 19th district. He was a strong advocate for

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

. Strode authored Virginia's sterilization law ( Racial Integrity Act of 1924). Strode wrote the Virginia Law Review in 1925 for sterilization.Sterilization for Defectives, 11 Virginia Law Review 296 (1925). Strode also represented the

Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded The Virginia State Colony for the Epileptics and Feeble Minded was a state run institution for those considered to be “Feeble-minded, Feeble minded” or those with severe mental impairment. The colony opened in 1910 near Lynchburg, Virginia in ...

in its court case for forced sterilizations of people identified as morons (

feebleminded The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses or deficiencies of the mind. At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed all degrees of educat ...

) based on eugenics arguments. Strode argued the test case for the forced Sterilization of

Carrie Buck Carrie Elizabeth Buck (July 3, 1906 – January 28, 1983) was the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case ''Buck v. Bell'', after having been ordered to undergo compulsory sterilization for purportedly being "feeble-minded" by her fost ...

before the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. Buck's attorney was a friend of Strode's since childhood, Irving Whitehead, who had also served on the Colony's board.

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* * 1873 births 1946 deaths American eugenicists American white supremacists University of Mississippi alumni University of Virginia alumni Democratic Party Virginia state senators People from Amherst, Virginia {{Virginia-VASenate-stub