“Backing Up The Government”:
Women Doctors, Sex Education, and Eugenics during WWI
Lizzie Evens
Following US entry to WWI, men left their hometowns to travel to military bases, where they underwent a series of medical tests, including for gonorrhoea and syphilis. The results shocked military and political leaders. For them, the high incidence of venereal disease represented a serious threat to the nation’s military might. The federal government responded with a crackdown on vice via the newly formed Committee of Training Camp Activities (CTCA). But the fact that many new recruits were infected