Margaret Sanger

Biography

Margaret Sanger was born in Corning, New York with ten
siblings and a mother who passed away prematurely. Margaret attended Claverack
College and Hudson River Institute and then became a nurse probationer at White
Plains Hospital in 1900. She married to William Sanger in 1902 become a
full-time wife and mother of three children. In 1912, Margaret gave up nursing
to devote her time to her feminist work. Margaret ended up divorcing her
husband and remarrying to J. Noah H. Slee in 1922.

Contributions:

In 1912, Margaret Sanger published a series of articles
called “What Every Girl Should Know” for the *New York Call.* This was a column was about female sexuality and
social hygiene that was shut down by postal authorities because it was too
obscene. Because Margaret was a nurse and was frequently dealt with childbirth,
miscarriages, and self-induced abortions, she realized how poor women were at a
greater disadvantage to middle-class women when it came to unwanted
pregnancies. Because of this, Margaret decided to launch her own magazine
called *Woman Rebel* in 1914 that
included the term “birth control” that she coined for the time. She also
created a sixteen-page pamphlet called *Family*
Limitations *that talked about contraceptive methods for American women. Postal*
authorities shut down her works many times but Margaret continued her
publications, resulting in her being indicted and her exiling to England. In
1916, Margaret returned to New York City, the charges were dropped, and she
opened in Brooklyn the first birth-control clinic in the United States. Nine
days later, she was arrested and served thirty days in prison along with her
coworkers. In 1917, her periodical the *Birth*
Control Review *was published which promoted birth control. In 1921,*
Margaret founded and was president of the American Birth Control League that
became the Planned Parenthood Federation of American in 1942. In 1923, she
opened the British Control Clinical Research Bureau, organized the first World
Population Conference in Geneva in 1927, and formed the National Committee on
Federal Legislation for Birth Control in 1929.
This committee granted legal rights for contraceptives based on
Margaret’s lobbying efforts. Finally in 1937, the American Medical Association
endorsed and allowed birth control devices in the United States. Margaret
served as the first president of the International Planned Parenthood
Foundation from 1952 to 1957.

Works/Appearance:

1912- What Every Girl Should Know: A column about female
sexuality and social hygiene

1914- *Woman Rebel*:
A magazine about women’s rights to birth control

1914- *Family*
Limitations*: A sixteen-page pamphlet about contraceptive methods*

1917- *Birth Control*
Review*: promotion of birth control*

1921- *The Morality of*
Birth Control*: Speech about the moral disagreements about birth control*

1925- *The Children’s Era*:
Speech about the result of overpopulation because of the lack of birth control

1937- *Woman and The*
Future*: Speech about how birth control will change the future for women*

Sources:

Biography.com Editors. “Margaret
Sanger.” *The Biography*. A&E
Television Networks, 27 Apr. 2017. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Katz, Esther. “Sanger, Margaret.” *American National Biography Online.* Oxford
University Press, Feb. 2000. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Knowles, Jon. “Margaret Sanger- 20th
Century Hero.” *Planned Parenthood.* Katharine
Dexter McCormick Library, Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

“Margaret Sanger- Our Founder.” *Planned Parenthood.* Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, Jun. 2016. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

“Margaret Sanger Quotes, History,
and Biography- Research, Statistics, and Abortion History.” *Live Action*. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

Sanger, Margaret. “The Eugenic
Value of Birth Control Propaganda.” *The*
Public Papers of Margaret Sanger: Web Edition, *New York University, Oct.*