A helicopter shot of a large building.
Doctors standing over multiple patients in a large room.
A doctor and one inmate standing close to each other.
A helicopter shot of a large building.
RECLAIMING MANHOOD
Behind the walls of the San Quentin State Prison, oddities were exhibited when prisoners participated in an interesting study. From 1918 to 1922, prisoners were subjected to an experiment of testicular implantation as well as mass sterilization when Dr. Leo Stanley was curious to see if he can sexually reinvigorate inmates through injecting them with testicular substances.
Everything began with Clarence Kelly, a man hanged, whose testicles were removed and implanted into another man without his family’s consent. His mother could not sue for her son’s body being mutilated since his procedure contributed to the knowledge of medicine. Soon it was common to implant the testicles of unclaimed dead or executed inmates into live ones, who were experiencing issues with their manhood, without their family’s consent.
Over sixty inmates claimed that they, on top of sexual function issues, are cured of chronic problems like constipation or asthma. Any problems reported by the inmates would force Dr. Stanley, San Quentin State Penitentiary Chief Surgeon, to discontinue. Due to the scarcity of human tissue, Stanley and his researchers eventually used the material of ram and goat testicles, grounded into the consistency of toothpaste. In some cases, the entire testicle was implanted into inmates.
Additionally, eugenics, or the study of improving the human population, gave a guiding hand in the experiment as well. Stanley had fears that the White race was in danger of extinction while the misfits-- non-whites, alcoholics, homosexual, murderers, feebleminded-- were contaminating humanity; thus, it was thought that curing aged White men of sexual malfunction and sterilizing misfits, would to a less violent, more civilized society.
As a result, prisoners found themselves in an experiment of their manhood not only being altered but completely removed entirely. They were informed that getting, what’s now called a vasectomy, only takes away a man’s ability to have children, but not their sex drive; in fact, it actually increases it (according to Stanley). As a result, with regard to testicular implantation, scores of prisoners gave the green light to being sterilized after being warned by Stanley of cursing children with feeblemindedness.
Behind the walls of San Quentin stood inmates, but also pioneers, because they paved the road to newfound medical knowledge. Their participation in the experiment led to the development of a commonly used method of treatment, hormone therapy, which holds a place in many areas of medicine such as treating hypogonadism or managing cancer. Also, those inmates, along with many others, are the reason why current and future experiments must follow a strict, robust set of procedures when they are being conducted.
Sources:
Alliance for Human Research Protection. “1913-1951: Dr. Leo Stanley.” (September 4, 2015). Accessed March 26, 2020. https://ahrp.org/1913-1951-dr-leo-stanley/.
Anne T. Kent California Room Digital Archive, Marin County Free Library. “Dr. Stanley Observing an Inmate.” Dr. Leo Stanley. Testicular Substance Implantation. (January 1953). Accessed April 3, 2020 https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/04/72/37/18065383/3/460x1240.jpg.
Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil. ”Men At Their Worst.” Dr. Leo Stanley. (January 1953). Accessed April 2, 2020 https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/04/72/37/18065383/3/460x1240.jpg.
Blue, Ethan. “The Strange Career of Leo Stanley: Remaking Manhood and Medicine at San Quentin State Penitentiary, 1913–1951.” Pacific Historical Review 78, no. 2 (March 2009): 210–241. Accessed March 27, 2020. https://www-jstor-org.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/stable/10.1525/phr.2009.78.2.210.
Christopher, Paul P., Michael D. Stein., Jennifer E. Johnson, Josiah D. Rich, Peter D. Friedmann, Jennifer G. Clarke, and Charles W. Lidz. “Exploitation of prisoners in clinical research: perceptions of study participants.” 38, no. 1 (January/February 2016): 7–12. Accessed March 26, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/24575722
Lother & Young Studios. “San Quentin Prison and Village, Marin County, California, circa 1919.” (1919). Accessed April 1, 2020. http://contentdm.marinlibrary.org/digital/api/singleitem/image/lothers/45/default.jpg?highlightTerms=.
Stanley, Leo L. “Testicular Substance Implantation.” 35, no. 6 (December 1, 1931): 411–415. Accessed March 27, 2020. https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/1774833366?accountid=7122