Ugly law

Uncommon card · No. 171230

From 1867 to 1974, various cities of the United States had unsightly beggar ordinances, retroactively named ugly laws. These laws targeted poor people and disabled people. For instance, in San Francisco, a law from 1867 deemed it illegal for "any person, who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose himself or herself to public view." Exceptions to public exposure were acceptable only if the people were subjects of demonstration, to illustrate the separation of disabled from nondisabled and their need for reformation. The Charity Organization Society suggested that the best charity relief would be to investigate and counsel the people needing assistance instead of providing them with material relief. This created conflict in people between their desire to be good Christians and good citizens when seeing people in need of assistance. It was suggested that the beggars imposed guilt upon people in this way. The educator...

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