This discussion about the Central Virginia Training Center will encompass the myriad factors that led to the rise of the American eugenics movement. It will elucidate the crucial role several Central Virginia figures played in the movement by codifying legal sterilization and performing the procedure at the site.

It also will suggest the wide-ranging impact the institution had on thousands of individuals, local, regional, and state administrations and governance, and ultimately on the law of the land in a decision passed by the Supreme Court.

Ellen Gebhardt Nygaard grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she attended the University of Wisconsin and Columbia Hospital School of Nursing. She received a BSN from the University of Maryland. She worked as an intensive care nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital and taught nursing school at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, where she met and married her husband, Thomas Nygaard. They continued their medical careers at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. In 1986 they moved to Lynchburg. Ellen and Tom have three children and three grandchildren.

Throughout her 36 years in Lynchburg, Ellen has been involved in the community in many professional, civic, and volunteer capacities. She served on the Lynchburg City School board for nine years and was a trustee at the University of Lynchburg for 12 years. She also has been involved in a leadership capacity for nonprofit organizations. Her last role before retirement was at Centra Health as a chaplain intern, a role that augmented her work at her church as a parish nurse.

Several years ago a good friend suggested she join her in a pastel class and since then she has faithfully pursued her art. Ellen believes in the creative process as a fresh way to see the world and as an expressive integration of all that life presents.

• The University of Lynchburg’s LIFE@Lynchburg program offers not-for-credit learning opportunities for community members age 50 and older.
• The program features weekly presentations on a variety of engaging topics, taught by current and retired faculty and staff members or area educators and presenters.
• Our payment and membership options and benefits provide access to a range of on-campus amenities.