“Disease and Delinquency Know No Color”: Syphilis and African American Female Delinquency

Abstract

This article explores the nuances of female delinquency, as it was labeled, during the early 1900s from a medical and social perspective, particularly its manifestation among African American girls. It also examines the efforts made by African American women in early 20th-century North Carolina to address what was deemed female delinquency, as well as syphilis, among these young girls.