Primary Sources: The 1910's: Sanger, Margaret

written by Margaret Sanger

"In “The Civilizing Force of Birth Control,” she addressed middle-class constituencies with the argument that contraception would strengthen marriage. Like many liberal intellectuals of the time, Sanger was a eugenicist—she believed in managing human reproduction to improve “the race” through better breeding. Many eugenicists were concerned about declining fertility among college-educated and middle-class women, even as they also worried about what they saw as the excessive fertility of poorer women. However, unlike many eugenicists who urged elite women to have more children, Sanger argued that birth control for all women would serve the cause of eugenics. This essay appeared in Sex in Civilization (1929), a voluminous collection of commentary that suggested the emergence of a new species of expert—the sexologist. "

Michigan State University digital collection focusing on birth control.

written by Margaret Sanger

"The major figure in the American birth control movement, Margaret Sanger, began her crusade as a militant radical whose birth control agitation grew out of her nursing experience in working-class communities. Sanger received 250,000 letters from women asking for advice about birth control. In 1928 Sanger published a selection of the letters in her book Motherhood in Bondage. The letters remain a powerful testament to the vulnerability of women without access to reliable contraception. " This site presents a selection of these letters.

"The Margaret Sanger Papers Project is a historical editing project sponsored by the Department of History at New York University. The Project was formed by Dr. Esther Katz in 1985 to locate, arrange, edit, research, and publish the papers of the noted birth control pioneer."

1873-1973 (Bulk: 1917-1969)
"... contain correspondence, printed material, clippings, books, glass slides, films, and a library of 59 books on birth control, sexuality, marriage, family, and related topics. "

Delivered 18 November 1921, Park Theatre, NY as "The Morality of Birth Control"
From the Gifts of Speech website

Margaret Sanger on Birth Control

The Pivot of Civilization
Woman and the New Race

written by Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger was president of this organization.

Speech given at the 17th Annual Convention of the Federation Of Jewish Women's Organizations - Hotel Astor, NY (Radio Broadcast Station WMCA, January 25, 1937, 11:45am-12noon
From the Gifts of Speech website

" The chronicle of Sanger’s decades-long battle to legalize and develop information on the prevention of venereal disease and then methods of birth control, during which she endured indictment, exile and prison."