This narrative history of one of the most far-reaching social movements in the 20th century shows how it defied the law and made the use of contraception an acceptable social practice—and a necessary component of modern healthcare. A History of the Birth Control Movement in America tells the extraordinary story of a group of reformers dedicated to making contraception legal, accessible, and acceptable. The engrossing tale details how Margaret Sanger's campaign beginning in 1914 to challenge anti-obscenity laws criminalizing the distribution of contraceptive information grew into one of the most far-reaching social reform movements in American history. The book opens with a discussion of the history of birth control methods and the criminalization of contraception and abortion in the 19th century. Its core, however, is an exciting narrative of the campaign in the 20th century, vividly recalling the arrests and indictments, banned publications, imprisonments, confiscations, clinic raids, mass meetings, and courtroom dramas that publicized the cause across the nation. Attention is paid to the movement's thorny alliances with medicine and eugenics and especially to its success in precipitating a profound shift in sexual attitudes that turned the use of contraception into an acceptable social and medical practice. Finally, the birth control movement is linked to court-won privacy protections and the present-day movement for reproductive rights.

This is the first comprehensive history of the struggle to win public acceptance of contraceptive practice. James Reed traces this remarkable story from its beginnings, carefully documenting the roles of the diverse interests that supported birth control, including feminists, eugenicists, and physicians, and providing a unique account of the struggles of such pioneers as Margaret Sanger, Robert Dickinson, and Clarence Gamble to win the support of organized medicine, to change laws, to open birth control clinics, and to improve birth control methods. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Traditionally, the history of the birth control movement has been told through the accounts of the leaders, organizations, and legislation that shaped the campaign. Recently, historians have begun examining the cultural work of printed media, including newspapers, magazines, and even novels in fostering support for the cause. Broadcasting Birth Control builds on this new scholarship to explore the films and radio and television broadcasts developed by twentieth-century birth control advocates to promote family planning at home in the United States, and in the expanding international arena of population control. Mass media, Manon Parry contends, was critical to the birth control movement’s attempts to build support and later to publicize the idea of fertility control and the availability of contraceptive services in the United States and around the world. Though these public efforts in advertising and education were undertaken initially by leading advocates, including Margaret Sanger, increasingly a growing class of public communications experts took on the role, mimicking the efforts of commercial advertisers to promote health and contraception in short plays, cartoons, films, and soap operas. In this way, they made a private subject—fertility control—appropriate for public discussion. Parry examines these trends to shed light on the contested nature of the motivations of birth control advocates. Acknowledging that supporters of contraception were not always motivated by the best interests of individual women, Parry concludes that family planning advocates were nonetheless convinced of women’s desire for contraception and highly aware of the ethical issues involved in the use of the media to inform and persuade.

The development, manufacturing, and use of contraceptive methods from the late nineteenth century to the present, viewed from the perspective of reproductive justice. The beginning of the modern contraceptive era began in 1882, when Dr. Aletta Jacobs opened the first birth control clinic in Amsterdam. The founding of this facility, and the clinical provision of contraception that it enabled, marked the moment when physicians started to take the prevention of pregnancy seriously as a medical concern. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Donna Drucker traces the history of modern contraception, outlining the development, manufacturing, and use of contraceptive methods from the opening of Dr. Jacobs's clinic to the present. Drucker approaches the subject from the perspective of reproductive justice: the right to have a child, the right not to have a child, and the right to parent children safely and healthily. Drucker describes contraceptive methods available before the pill, including the diaphragm (dispensed at the Jacobs clinic) and condom, spermicidal jellies, and periodic abstinences. She looks at the development and dissemination of the pill and its chemical descendants; describes technological developments in such non-hormonal contraceptives as the cervical cap and timing methods (including the “rhythm method” favored by the Roman Catholic church); and explains the concept of reproductive justice. Finally, Drucker considers the future of contraception—the adaptations of existing methods, new forms of distribution, and ongoing efforts needed to support contraceptive access worldwide.

The only available historical dictionary devoted exclusively to the 1940s, this book offers readers a ready-reference portrait of one of the twentieth century's most tumultuous decades. In nearly 600 concise entries, the volume quickly defines a historical figure, institution, or event, and then points readers to three sources that treat the subject in depth. In selecting topics for inclusion, the editors and authors offer a representative slice of life as contemporaneous Americans saw it - with coverage of people; movements; court cases; and economic, social, cultural, political, military, and technological changes. The book focuses chiefly on the United States, but places American lives and events firmly within a global context.

Women and Leadership, edited by George R. Goethals and Crystal L. Hoyt of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, is a compact collection of thoughtful essays by experts on leadership theory as well as women’s history. Women and Leadership has been designed to help students and citizens who want a more nuanced explanation of what we know about women as leaders, and about how they have led in different fields, in different parts of the world, and in past centuries. It includes twenty biographies of women leaders in many different domains—not only politics but also education, fashion, sports, and social and environmental movements.

Birth Control: A Reference Handbook provides a breadth and depth of discussion about birth control throughout human history and in the modern day, with attention paid to the controversies related to it. Birth Control: A Reference Handbook covers the topic of birth control from the earliest pages of human history to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first two chapters provide a historical background to the topic and a review of current issues and problems. The remainder of the book consists of chapters that aid the reader in continuing her or his own research on the topic, such as an extended annotated bibliography, chronology, glossary, noteworthy individuals and organizations in the field, and important data and documents. This book differs from other works on its subject primarily because of the variety of resources provided, such as further reading, perspective essays on the topic, a historical timeline, and useful terms in the field. It is intended for readers of high school through the community college level, along with adult readers who may be interested in the topic.

Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace explores the social and political activism of American Jewish women from approximately 1890 to the beginnings of World War II. Written in an engaging style, the book demonstrates that no history of the birth control, suffrage, or peace movements in the United States is complete without analyzing the impact of Jewish women's presence. The volume is based on years of extensive primary source research in more than a dozen archives and among hundreds of primary sources, many of which have previously never been seen. Voluminous personal papers and institutional records paint a vivid picture of a world in which both middle-class and working-class American Jewish women were consistently and publicly engaged in all the major issues of their day and worked closely with their non-Jewish counterparts on behalf of activist causes. This extraordinarily well researched volume makes a unique contribution to the study of modern women's history, modern Jewish history, and the history of American social movements.

This book examines how women candidates, voters, and office holders shape U.S. political processes and institutions, lending their perspectives to gradually evolve American life and values. This book provides an encyclopedic sourcebook on the evolution of women's involvement in American politics from the colonial era to the present, covering all of the individuals, organizations, cultural forces, political issues, and legal decisions that have collectively served to elevate the role of women at the ballot box, on the campaign trail, in Washington, and in state- and city-level political offices across the country. The in-depth essays document and examine the rising prominence of women as voters, candidates, public officials, and lawmakers, enabling readers to understand how U.S. political processes and institutions have been—and will continue to be—shaped by women and their perspectives on American life and values. The entries cover a range of women politicians and officials; female activists and media figures; relevant organizations and interest groups, such as Emily's List, League of Women Voters, and National Right to Life; key laws, court cases, and events, such as the Nineteenth Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Seneca Falls Convention, the passage of Title IX, and Roe v. Wade; and other topics, like media coverage of appearance, women's roles as campaign strategists/fundraisers, gender differences in policy priorities, and the gender gap in political ambitions. The text is supplemented by sidebars that highlight selected landmarks in women's political history in the United States, such as the 2012 election of Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay U.S. senator.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.