Plea for a Better Race of Men, which he read in public on a number of occasions. An excerpt follows: This is the law of Mendel, And often he maken it plain, Defectives will breed defectives, And the insane breed insane. Oh why do we allow these people To breed back to the monkey's nest, To increase our country's burdens When we should only breed the best? In 1943, State Hospital Board board removed him as superintendent of Western State due to concerns over his autocratic leadership style and the decrepit condition of the hospital. He remained in charge of the semi-private DeJarnette Sanatorium until 1947 and continued to advocate eugenics after the Nazi Holocaust was exposed at the end of World War II. DeJarnette died in 1957 and was interred next to his wife, who had predeceased him, in her family cemetery in Bath County, Virginia. Legacy The DeJarnette Sanatorium, opened in 1932, was named for him. In the 1960s, the name was changed to The DeJarnette Center for Human Development. It was converted to a children's mental hospital in 1975, at which time it ceased to be a private enterprise, and the state of Virginia took over operation of the facility. In 1996, a new complex known as the DeJarnette Center was constructed. Although eugenic sterilization continued in Virginia until 1979, by the turn of the 21st century eugenic ideas were no longer considered politically correct and were being widely rejected as pseudoscience. This has significantly harmed the reputation of DeJarnette and other 20th century eugenicists whose ideas were once considered scientific and progressive. In 2001, the Virginia General Assembly renamed the Dejarnette Center the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents due to Dr. DeJarnette's involvement with eugenics. See also Racial Integrity Act of 1924 References External links Western State Hospital Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents Photos of the abandoned DeJarnette Sanitorium Video Presentations about the former DeJarnette Sanitorium Two Faces: The Personal Files of Dr. Joseph E. DeJarnette, at Virginia Memory Joseph Spencer DeJarnette on Encyclopedia Virginia 1866 births 1957 deaths Neo-Confederates Physicians from Virginia People from Staunton, Virginia American eugenicists Medical College of Virginia alumni