Adolescence and Sex Education/ An Exhibit for High School Teachers
date: label: date made
content: ca 1925
name: label: maker
content: United States Public Health Service
notes: label: Description
content: Educational exhibit for high school teachers prepared by the U.S. Public Health Service consisting of 34, 9x12 inch posters contained in a cardboard box. The poster series consists of five parts: Part I -- The Problem of Adolescence, Part II - The Fruits of Ignorance, Part III - The Scope of Sex Education, Part IV - Sex Education in the Courses of Study, Part V - The Teacher and His Training.
label: Description
content: In 1918, the federal government launched its first sex education campaign. Originally intended for the military, the campaign was called Keeping Fit. The YMCA and the U.S. Public Health Service created the original campaign as well as subsequent campaigns during the 1920s. With the advent of peace, the Keeping Fit campaign, which used these placards, shifted to focus on educating adolescents.
label: Description
content: These early sex education campaigns were intended to prevent the spread of what were called venereal diseases (syphilis and gonorrhea). Placards such as these, magic lantern slides, and brochures were used to assist teachers and community leaders in providing teenagers with very basic information about reproduction and the dangers of sexually transmitted disease. Because the Public Health Service was concerned that explicit discussions of sexual intercourse or sexually transmitted diseases would face backlash, the placards used vague language and focused a great deal on simply “keeping fit,” that is keeping healthy.
label: Description
content: Reflecting the racial segregation of the day, the Public Health Service created different placards for white and African American boys; the sole difference between these two campaigns was in the use of images; the text was the same in both sets of placards. Different placards were also created for girls. These differed in terms of text and images. Placards for girls, for example, touched lightly on the idea of menstruation.
label: Description
content: In the late 1920s, the Public Health Service also provided educators and communities with a silent film which drew on the material included in the placards. The placards were used in this packet were used well into the 1930s.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.106281.01
label: accession number
content: 106281
label: catalog number
content: 106281.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: guide, educational exhibit
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper; cardboard (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 1/4 in x 9 1/4 in x 3/4 in; 31.115 cm x 23.495 cm x 1.905 cm
label: Measurements
content: poster (each): 12 in x 9 in; 30.48 cm x 22.86 cm