American Birth Control League
Encyclopedia
The American Birth Control League was founded by Margaret Sanger
in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The League was incorporated under the laws of New York State on April 5, 1922. Its headquarters were located at 104 Fifth Avenue, New York City
from 1921–30 and at various offices on Madison Avenue from 1931–39. It was not associated with the National Birth Control League, founded in 1915 by Mary Coffin Ware Dennett, which was later called the Voluntary Parenthood Association. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics and encouraged women to control their own fertility.
, Ohio
, Indiana
, Michigan
, Massachusetts
, Connecticut
, Colorado
, and British Columbia
.
In June 1928, Margaret Higgins Sanger resigned as president of the American Birth Control League, founding the National Committee for Federal Legislation on Birth Control and splitting the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau from the League. In 1939 the two were reconciled and merged to form the Birth Control Federation of America. In 1942 the name was changed to Planned Parenthood
Federation of America.
At its founding, the ABCL announced the following purposes:
Margaret Sanger listed the following aims of the organization in the appendix of her book The Pivot of Civilization:
In 1921, the ABCL organized the First American Birth Control Conference at New York City, November 11–18, 1921. Subsequent conferences were held over the next two years in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Albany
, and Chicago
. The ABCL arranged the holding of the Sixth International Birth Control Congress in the United States
in 1925. The ABCL published leaflets, pamphlets, books, and a monthly missal named Birth Control Review. Margaret Sanger served as the first president of the organization. The vice-presidents were Charlotte Delafield and Juliet Barrett Rublee. Frances B. Ackerman served as the first Treasurer. Anne Kennedy was the Executive Treasurer. Lothrop Stoddard
and C. C. Little
were among the founding directors.
Other presidents of the ABCL were: Eleanor Dwight Jones (1928–34), Catherine Clement Bangs (1934–36) and C. C. Little
(1936–39).
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The League was incorporated under the laws of New York State on April 5, 1922. Its headquarters were located at 104 Fifth Avenue, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from 1921–30 and at various offices on Madison Avenue from 1931–39. It was not associated with the National Birth Control League, founded in 1915 by Mary Coffin Ware Dennett, which was later called the Voluntary Parenthood Association. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics and encouraged women to control their own fertility.
History
Birth Control Leagues had already been formed in a number of larger American cities between 1916 and 1919 due to Sanger's lecture tours and the publication of the Birth Control Review. By 1924, the American Birth Control League had 27,500 members, with ten branches maintained in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
In June 1928, Margaret Higgins Sanger resigned as president of the American Birth Control League, founding the National Committee for Federal Legislation on Birth Control and splitting the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau from the League. In 1939 the two were reconciled and merged to form the Birth Control Federation of America. In 1942 the name was changed to Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
Federation of America.
Goals and activities
The ABCL was founded on the following principles, here excerpted from Margaret Sanger's The Pivot of Civilization:We hold that children should be
- Conceived in love;
- Born of the mother's conscious desire;
- And only begotten under conditions which render possible the heritage of health.
Therefore we hold that every woman must possess the power and freedom to prevent conception except when these conditions can be satisfied.
At its founding, the ABCL announced the following purposes:
- To enlighten and educate all sections of the American public in the various aspects of the dangers of uncontrolled procreation and the imperative necessity of a world programme of birth control.
- To correlate the findings of scientists, statisticians, investigators, and social agencies in all fields.
- To organize and conduct clinics where the medical profession may give to mothers and potential mothers harmless, reliable methods of birth control.
- To enlist the support and coöperation of legal advisors, statesmen, and legislators in effecting the removal of State and Federal statutes which encourage dysgenic breeding.
Margaret Sanger listed the following aims of the organization in the appendix of her book The Pivot of Civilization:
*Research: To collect the findings of scientists, concerning the relation of reckless breeding to the evils of delinquency, defect and dependence;
- Investigation: To derive from these scientifically ascertained facts and figures, conclusions which may aid all public health and social agencies in the study of problems of maternal and infant mortality, child-labor, mental and physical defects and delinquence in relation to the practice of reckless parentage.
- Hygienic and Physiological instruction by the Medical profession to mothers and potential mothers in harmless and reliable methods of Birth Control in answer to their requests for such knowledge.
- Sterilization of the insane and mentally retarded and the encouragement of this operation upon those afflicted with inherited or transmissible diseases, with the understanding that sterilization does not deprive the individual of his or her sex expression, but merely renders him incapable of producing children.
- Education: The program of education includes: The enlightenment of the public at large, mainly through the education of leaders of thought and opinion--teachers, ministers, editors and writers to the moral and scientific soundness of the principles of Birth Control and the imperative necessity of its adoption as the basis of national and racial progress.
- Political and Legislative: To enlist the support and cooperation of legal advisers, statesmen and legislators in effecting the removal of state and federal statutes which encourage dysgenic breeding, increase the sum total of disease, misery and poverty and prevent the establishment of a policy of national health and strength.
- Organization: To send into the various States of the Union field workers to enlist the support and arouse the interest of the masses, to the importance of Birth Control so that laws may be changed and the establishment of clinics made possible in every State.
- International: This department aims to cooperate with similar organizations in other countries to study Birth Control in its relations to the world population problem, food supplies, national and racial conflicts, and to urge all international bodies organized to promote world peace, the consideration of these aspects of international amity.
In 1921, the ABCL organized the First American Birth Control Conference at New York City, November 11–18, 1921. Subsequent conferences were held over the next two years in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The ABCL arranged the holding of the Sixth International Birth Control Congress in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1925. The ABCL published leaflets, pamphlets, books, and a monthly missal named Birth Control Review. Margaret Sanger served as the first president of the organization. The vice-presidents were Charlotte Delafield and Juliet Barrett Rublee. Frances B. Ackerman served as the first Treasurer. Anne Kennedy was the Executive Treasurer. Lothrop Stoddard
Lothrop Stoddard
Theodore Lothrop Stoddard was an American historian, journalist, racial anthropologist, eugenicist, political theorist and anti-immigration advocate who wrote a number of books which are cited by historians as prominent examples of early 20th-century scientific racism.- Biography :Stoddard was...
and C. C. Little
C. C. Little
Clarence Cook "C.C." Little was an American genetics, cancer, and tobacco researcher and academic administrator.-Biography:...
were among the founding directors.
Other presidents of the ABCL were: Eleanor Dwight Jones (1928–34), Catherine Clement Bangs (1934–36) and C. C. Little
C. C. Little
Clarence Cook "C.C." Little was an American genetics, cancer, and tobacco researcher and academic administrator.-Biography:...
(1936–39).
External links
- Margaret Sanger Papers Project Organization History
- Margaret Sanger Papers Project, "The Town Hall Raid" article about the founding conference of the ABCL. (free registration required)
- Guide to American Birth Control League records at Houghton Library, Harvard University