On one particular day in 1912, Margaret was working in the Hester Street Tenement Clinic. She was assisting a Doctor in treating a girl named Sadie Sachs; a young Jewish Immigrant who was suffering from sepsis after aborting her 5th pregnancy. She pleads with the doctor for reliable contraception and asks for advice. The doctor jokingly responds “tell your husband to sleep on the roof!” (Loue S., 2004) Three Months later, Sadie returned to the Clinic. This time she is pregnant a sixth time and is dying from septicemia. She dies moments after arriving at the clinic. Margaret is horrified. This is the day that the Birth Control Movement is born. As terrible as this scene is, it gives us insight into the kind of technology and the abundance of ignorance and arrogance that existed at the turn of the century. First, because there really were no reliable contraception methods available, the doctor didn’t have any current information to give to his patients. The patients were all women, immigrants, and for the most part, impoverished, and uneducated. And because he was empty handed, he didn’t want to seem incompetent, so he brushed them off, and treated them as second class citizens who he couldn’t be bothered with. He felt he could behave this way because he was a man and he had education and status.
Let’s go back to Margaret’s humble beginnings. She was born Margaret Louis Higgins in Corning, NY on September 14, 1879 to Irish immigrant parents, Michael Higgins and Anne Purcell. She was the 6th Child and 3rd Daughter. Her father was a stonecutter and her mother was a stay-at-home. Her father was a free-thinker (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998) who asked one thing of all of his children: “Leave the world a better place.” (Baughman, 1998) But to everyone in the community, he was considered an outsider. He was a poor Irish immigrant, he despised the Catholic Church in a religious and devout Catholic community, he supported nearby socialist parties and groups, he joined and supported unions in a town full of companies and commerce, he was an unreliable breadwinner with a very large family to feed, an Agnostic, and a supporter of free speech. (Baker, 2011) Margaret grew up to have a Love/Hate relationship with her father. On the one hand she admired her father for being an intellectual, a free thinker, and taught her to challenge conventional and traditional ways of society. On the other, she spent her whole childhood, her adolescents, and the early part of her adulthood trying to win his approval and affection. She never received it, and she later despised him for it, so looked for it elsewhere later on in her many affairs with men. Her relationship with her mother was slightly different. She respected her because no matter how sick she was or how many children she cared for, she always made time for her. She loved all of her children equally. No matter how impoverished they were, her mother whatever they had to make sure that they all had enough to live. Unfortunately, in the 30 years of marriage, her mother Anne birthed 11 living children, suffered 7 miscarriages, and in total had been pregnant 18 times. Later, Margaret admitted in an autobiography that she respected her mother for her will to fight, yet she pitied her and was disappointed that she had no reproductive freedom in her marriage, that eventually led to her death. Her mother Anne was a devout Roman Catholic.
When Margaret was in 8th grade in 1895 (Baker, 2011), her teacher scolded her for a pair of gloves, so her sisters scraped their money and sent her to Claverack College and Hudson River Institute in NY, a private school. (Baughman, 1998) I believe that this was one of the best things they could have done for their sister because it fostered her free spirited personality and thinking. The education opened her eyes and broadened her options for her potential future. Unfortunately, after 3 years, her sisters could not afford the tuition anymore and her family needed help raising the younger siblings. She reluctantly moved back to Corning.
Tragically, on March 31, 1899 (Good Friday), her mother died of what they called “Consumption” (what we call TB today) at the age of 48. In Margaret’s autobiography, she stated that she never forgave her father for this. (Chesler, 1992) Unfortunately, she herself contracted Consumption and became very sick, but did not let it slow her down. She most likely contracted it from her mother.
Shortly after her mother’s passing, Margaret enrolled herself in Nursing School at White Plains Hospital. (Rappaport, 2001) In the summer of 1901, Margaret apprenticed at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in NYC. There, she met and fell in love with an Architect, named William Sanger. On August 18, 1902, Margaret married William Sanger. (Rappaport, 2001) In 1903, their first son Stuart Sanger was born. In 1908, their second son Grant was born and in 1910, their daughter Margaret “Peggy” was born. (Harvard University, 1980) I think this is completely hypocritical of Margaret. She promised herself through childhood and adulthood that she would not be like her mother. She not only ended up being like her, but she was worse. She got married to a man that she knew for less than 6 months, had 3 children in less than 8 years knowing that she herself was sick and could give it to them, and to make things worse, begged her sisters to put up the money to put her through the best private schools in NY only to dropout and not finish Nursing School when she married William.
In 1910, The Sangers bought a flat in uptown Washington Heights in NYC. Margaret found work as a visiting nurse and midwife to middle class, lower class, and immigrants of the Lower East side of NYC. (Harvard University, 1980)
From 1910-1912, she worked with Lillian Wald in the Visiting Nurse Service Association. Margaret was exposed to poverty conditions very similar to the ones she grew up in as a child. Later, she quoted in a memoir, that she never found personal satisfaction working among the poor a redeeming experience. (Chesler, 1992) It was in 1912, that she met Sadie Sachs and experienced her “awakening” that was mentioned earlier; The Jewish immigrant girl who pleaded for reliable contraception and was brushed off by the doctor. She was disgusted with the doctor for his treatment of the girl, and she was disgusted with society for letting this girl get this far, as to get so bad and so desperate that she felt like she had no other choice, and mostly, she felt disgusted with herself for not being able to help this girl as a medical professional in the community she served. (Fellman, 1993)
In her personal life, in the summer of 1913, Margaret asked her husband to consider an open marriage. He was unaware that she was already cheating on him. He was not comfortable with the idea of an open marriage. He was a Jewish Conservative. He told Margaret that he despised living in Greenwich Village because its radical environment influenced her behavior and made her different. He reminded her that at first, he was understanding when she couldn’t spend so much time with the kids at home because he loved her and wanted to be a supportive husband and sympathetic to her cause. But, then as more and more time went by, he started to resent her for it. He also reminded her that she was a negligent mother when Peggy contracted Polio when she was 1 and refused to have her fitted for a leg brace for her limp leg. She was not home when Grant was sick with a cold. (In those times, Colds could be fatal) Bill grew up in traditional home with a mother who stayed at home and did not work. He was humiliated when Socialist Party Members mentioned to him that they thought Margaret had little to no maternal instincts. (Baker, 2011)
In 1914, Margaret published a magazine called Woman Rebel. After 6 issues went into circulation, she was arrested and charged with “Distribution of obscene literature” under the Comstock Law. She was facing up to 45 years in prison. Aware of what would happen if she stayed, Margaret decided to flee to Europe. Before she left, she published a pamphlet called Family Limitation. She abandoned her children and husband without even a word goodbye or telling them where she was going. The children often wrote to their mother wishing that she would come home. A year later she came home to face her charges.
In the middle of all this, tragically, on Nov. 6, 1915, her young daughter Peggy suddenly died of Pneumonia. Margaret was devastated. She later found out that the school that Peggy and Grant were attending was in the middle of moving, but the funds ran out before an old farm building could be converted into a boarding school with even the most basic amenities. The children were living in the harshest of conditions. The slept on straw mattresses in bunk beds, used an outhouse, the building did not have a furnace, and ate cheap non-nutritious food. Peggy quickly developed a cold, a cough, and then Pneumonia. She was taken to Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC where she later passed away. Grant was devastated by the loss of his closest sibling, and playmate that was his constant companion and presence in his childhood. He held his parents, especially his mother responsible for her death. (Baker, 2011) I couldn’t agree more with Grant. Those children sent hundreds of letters to their parents pleading with them to come visit. Their mother was away on this crusade and their father was doing his art thing in Paris. Between the both of them, their children weren’t a priority? If their mother had visited them just once, she would have seen what conditions they were living under, and maybe her daughter may have still been alive. Margaret later told a biographer that she never felt guilt, but a little regret. However, it (the time she never spent with her children) was a necessary sacrifice. (Antonucci, 1995)
In a stroke of “pure luck” and a fortunate one, due to her loss and her deep sadness, the judge decided to drop the charges against her and she avoided any consequence.
She “went off the wagon” for some time and steered away from her campaign for over a month, but later the following year, on October 16, 1916, Margaret was back to her crusade and she opened the first Birth Control Clinic in the United States located in Brooklyn at 46 Amboy Street in Brownsville, NY. (Schlager N., 2001) The opening of the clinic was made possible thanks to a $50 contribution, and a landlord who was sympathetic to the cause. (Chesler, 1992) The opening of the clinic was advertised in English, Yiddish, and Italian. (Schlager N., 2001) 10 days later, Margaret, her sister Ethel, and the Physician were all arrested and served 30 days in jail. (Connelly, 2008) In 1917, despite her setbacks Margaret launched a publication called The Birth Control Review. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998) This was an important publication because it became the backbone of her movement for the next 23 years.
From 1917-1920’s, Margaret openly supported Eugenics. She believed that humanity could be improved by better breeding. There are a few factors that fueled the popularity of eugenics: the increasing numbers of the impoverished population, the increasing number of non-English speaking Jewish immigrants. Margaret supported Eugenics partly due to her own life experiences. She came from a large, impoverished family, her mother had a contractible disease that could be spread to others, her parents were uneducated immigrants, she was married to a Jew, and she had early ties to Socialism. They later became her biggest supporters before she betrayed and denounced them years later. She believed certain inadequate populations should be sterilized. They included the insane, epileptic, inebriated, deaf, blind, tubercular, limited intelligence, and unfit. (Antonucci, 1995) (Fellman, 1993) First of all, who made up these guidelines? A white supremist with perfect children, getting an Ivy League Education, and a 4.0 GPA? And this new Intelligence test they developed. Who developed it, how did they determine the criteria for the results, and how was it tested for validity? Because I’m pretty sure the “Moron” category wouldn’t fly as a category in a real intelligence test today.
In her personal life, her marriage to William Sanger finally fell apart and they divorced in 1920. She later remarried J. Noah Slee; A millionaire who owned Three-in-One Oil in 1922. They kept the marriage a secret for 2 years fearing ridicule from friends, family, and most of all, the Press. They lived in separate, yet adjoining apartments in Gramercy, NYC. They each had different entrances and their own set of keys. Under the terms of the marriage, it was understood that Margaret led an independent life and was free to advocate and pursue her cause, without any interference from Slee. (Baker, 2011) Margaret continued to have extra marital affairs. Early in the marriage, tensions arose from her constant traveling. Margaret made promises she never intended to keep. Slee became estranged from his own children, while he became a doting father figure to his 2 stepsons.
In November of 1921, The First American Birth Control Conference convened at the Plaza Hotel in NYC. Anyone who was anyone attended; socialists, physicians, eugenicists, population experts, scientists, suffragists, and politicians. Her plan was to address global issues with everyday problems such as unemployment, poverty, crime, disease, famine, overpopulation, emigration, and war and it made the event so significant. (Baker, 2011)She would call for new policies, approaches, and scientific solutions to these issues. Unfortunately, the conference was reported to the police by Archbishop Patrick Hayes. The Conference was rescheduled a week later and held at Park Theatre. This time, 4,000 people attended to hear Margaret’s speech. What’s interesting about this, is that between 1920 and 1925, Archbishop Hayes raised $1 million every year to fight birth control in his archdiocese. To me, this indicates that she and her cause were not just making headway to poor, lower class immigrants; she was affecting women who considered themselves to be devout Catholics. She was changing Catholic Communities ways of thinking as well. From ancient and traditional practices to modern, safe, and hygienic.
In 1923, Margaret founded the Birth Control Clinic Research Bureau in NYC that is located right next door. (Biography in Context, 1996) The purpose of founding the Research bureau was to get Physicians more involved in the cause. It is located on West 16th Street.
Throughout the 20’s and 30’s, Margaret went on to pursue her advocacy for Birth Control on a National and International Level. In 1942, she founded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and in 1956, she funded the research for the first oral birth control pill, Enovid. (Harvard University, 1980) Fortunately, Margaret lived to see the Court Decision of Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965. This court case guaranteed the private use of contraceptives as a constitutional right. (Baughman, 1998) It made birth control legal for married couples
Sadly, on September 6, 1966, Margaret Sanger died of Arteriosclerosis in a nursing home in Tucson, AZ. A private funeral was held at the St. Phillips-in-the-Hills Episcopal Church. A special Memorial was held on September 21, 1966 at St. Georges Church at Stuyvesant Square in NYC. The extended Sanger Family, Colleagues, and friends attended to celebrate her life and achievements. A full 20 member choir sang at the service and the eulogy was given by Morris Ernst. That particular day had the heaviest rainfall in NY they had seen in 63 years. The rector who had never met Margaret, but had heard of her said “A stormy day to end a stormy life.” (Chesler, 1992)
Margaret Sanger was a woman who was ahead of her time. She saw social injustices and urged for change. She was a nurse, a philosopher, a visionary, a socialist, a radical, a suffragist, a eugenicist (Antonucci, 1995) , a politician (Antonucci, 1995), and an abolitionist, while being a wife and mother. She had rough and humble beginnings, yet she made tough and regrettable decisions and sacrifices that not many other people understand, and wouldn’t be willing to make. She had a long string of lovers that included politicians, socialists, scientists, physicians, and literary figures. Her most notable lovers included H.G Wells, Hugh de Selincourt, and Havelock Ellis. HG Wells called her “the greatest woman who ever lived.” To the rest of society, they were considered “indiscretions” or “affairs.” Margaret called it “free love.” For her achievements, Margaret was awarded many awards and honors. She was awarded the American Women’s Award, The Town Hall, The Lasker Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Biography in Context, 1996) Finally, in 1965, Japan awarded her the highest honor of the ‘Third Order of the Sacred Crown’. (Chesler, 1992)The Planned Parenthood of Tucson hailed her “The woman of the century.” (Gale, 1992) There is not one woman in the United States today who is not affected by her advocacy and perseverance. They can choose whether or not they would like to bear children and how many if they choose to do so. Oral Contraception has evolved (with the help of research), into other forms of contraception, like patches, injections, IUDS, diaphragms, rings, and female condoms. Contraception allows a woman to put child bearing on hold and finish or continue their education and pursue their careers. Something that in Margaret’s time was completely unimaginable. Today, empowerment is on the woman. Fertility and childbearing is completely in the woman’s field of choice and responsibility. Yet with that choice, comes empowerment and responsibility.
In 1993, the Margaret Sanger Clinic in NYC was declared a National Historical Landmark. It is now privately owned. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998)
Bibliography "Margaret (Higgins) Sanger": Feminist Writers. (1996). Detroit. Retrieved 2014
Antonucci, M. (1995). 'The Margaret Sanger Story': What TV Left Out. Human Events, 51(17), 16.
Baker, J. H. (2011). Margaret Sanger: A Life of Passion. New York, NY: D&M Publishers Inc.
Baughman, J. S. (Ed.). (1998, December 16). Margaret Sanger. American Decades. Retrieved Sept 2014
Chesler, E. (1992). Woman of Valor: Margaret Valor and the Birth Control Movement in America. New York: Simon & Schuster Publishing.
Chesworth, J. (2005). Margaret Sanger. Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. (C. Mitcham, Ed.) Detroit, USA. Retrieved Sept 2014
Connelly, M. (2008). Fatal Misconception. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Encyclopedia of World Biography. (1998, December 12). Margaret Higgins Sanger. United States: Gale Group. Retrieved 2014
Fellman, A. C. (1993). Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America. In E. Chesler, Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America (p. 285+). Reviews in American History.
Gale. (1992). Margaret Sanger. Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, 2. Retrieved 2014
Harvard University. (1980). Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary. (G. C. Sicherman B., Ed.) Harvard University Press. Retrieved September 2014, from http://search.credoreference.com.molloy.idm.oclc.org/content/entry/hupnawii/sanger_margaret_sept_14_1879_sept_6_1966/0
Loue S., S. M. (Ed.). (2004). Encyclopedia of Women's Health. Springer Scence and Business Media. Retrieved September 2014, from http://search.credoreference.com.molloy.idm.oclc.org/content/entry/sprwh/sanger_margaret/0
Rappaport, H. (2001). Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers. ABC-CLIO. Retrieved September 2014
Schlager N., L. N. (Ed.). (2001). The First Birth Control Clinics In America and England. Science and Its Times, 6. Retrieved Sept 2014
Sreenivasan, J. (2009). Poverty and the government in America : a historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. Retrieved September 2014
Let’s go back to Margaret’s humble beginnings. She was born Margaret Louis Higgins in Corning, NY on September 14, 1879 to Irish immigrant parents, Michael Higgins and Anne Purcell. She was the 6th Child and 3rd Daughter. Her father was a stonecutter and her mother was a stay-at-home. Her father was a free-thinker (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998) who asked one thing of all of his children: “Leave the world a better place.” (Baughman, 1998) But to everyone in the community, he was considered an outsider. He was a poor Irish immigrant, he despised the Catholic Church in a religious and devout Catholic community, he supported nearby socialist parties and groups, he joined and supported unions in a town full of companies and commerce, he was an unreliable breadwinner with a very large family to feed, an Agnostic, and a supporter of free speech. (Baker, 2011) Margaret grew up to have a Love/Hate relationship with her father. On the one hand she admired her father for being an intellectual, a free thinker, and taught her to challenge conventional and traditional ways of society. On the other, she spent her whole childhood, her adolescents, and the early part of her adulthood trying to win his approval and affection. She never received it, and she later despised him for it, so looked for it elsewhere later on in her many affairs with men. Her relationship with her mother was slightly different. She respected her because no matter how sick she was or how many children she cared for, she always made time for her. She loved all of her children equally. No matter how impoverished they were, her mother whatever they had to make sure that they all had enough to live. Unfortunately, in the 30 years of marriage, her mother Anne birthed 11 living children, suffered 7 miscarriages, and in total had been pregnant 18 times. Later, Margaret admitted in an autobiography that she respected her mother for her will to fight, yet she pitied her and was disappointed that she had no reproductive freedom in her marriage, that eventually led to her death. Her mother Anne was a devout Roman Catholic.
When Margaret was in 8th grade in 1895 (Baker, 2011), her teacher scolded her for a pair of gloves, so her sisters scraped their money and sent her to Claverack College and Hudson River Institute in NY, a private school. (Baughman, 1998) I believe that this was one of the best things they could have done for their sister because it fostered her free spirited personality and thinking. The education opened her eyes and broadened her options for her potential future. Unfortunately, after 3 years, her sisters could not afford the tuition anymore and her family needed help raising the younger siblings. She reluctantly moved back to Corning.
Tragically, on March 31, 1899 (Good Friday), her mother died of what they called “Consumption” (what we call TB today) at the age of 48. In Margaret’s autobiography, she stated that she never forgave her father for this. (Chesler, 1992) Unfortunately, she herself contracted Consumption and became very sick, but did not let it slow her down. She most likely contracted it from her mother.
Shortly after her mother’s passing, Margaret enrolled herself in Nursing School at White Plains Hospital. (Rappaport, 2001) In the summer of 1901, Margaret apprenticed at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in NYC. There, she met and fell in love with an Architect, named William Sanger. On August 18, 1902, Margaret married William Sanger. (Rappaport, 2001) In 1903, their first son Stuart Sanger was born. In 1908, their second son Grant was born and in 1910, their daughter Margaret “Peggy” was born. (Harvard University, 1980) I think this is completely hypocritical of Margaret. She promised herself through childhood and adulthood that she would not be like her mother. She not only ended up being like her, but she was worse. She got married to a man that she knew for less than 6 months, had 3 children in less than 8 years knowing that she herself was sick and could give it to them, and to make things worse, begged her sisters to put up the money to put her through the best private schools in NY only to dropout and not finish Nursing School when she married William.
In 1910, The Sangers bought a flat in uptown Washington Heights in NYC. Margaret found work as a visiting nurse and midwife to middle class, lower class, and immigrants of the Lower East side of NYC. (Harvard University, 1980)
From 1910-1912, she worked with Lillian Wald in the Visiting Nurse Service Association. Margaret was exposed to poverty conditions very similar to the ones she grew up in as a child. Later, she quoted in a memoir, that she never found personal satisfaction working among the poor a redeeming experience. (Chesler, 1992) It was in 1912, that she met Sadie Sachs and experienced her “awakening” that was mentioned earlier; The Jewish immigrant girl who pleaded for reliable contraception and was brushed off by the doctor. She was disgusted with the doctor for his treatment of the girl, and she was disgusted with society for letting this girl get this far, as to get so bad and so desperate that she felt like she had no other choice, and mostly, she felt disgusted with herself for not being able to help this girl as a medical professional in the community she served. (Fellman, 1993)
In her personal life, in the summer of 1913, Margaret asked her husband to consider an open marriage. He was unaware that she was already cheating on him. He was not comfortable with the idea of an open marriage. He was a Jewish Conservative. He told Margaret that he despised living in Greenwich Village because its radical environment influenced her behavior and made her different. He reminded her that at first, he was understanding when she couldn’t spend so much time with the kids at home because he loved her and wanted to be a supportive husband and sympathetic to her cause. But, then as more and more time went by, he started to resent her for it. He also reminded her that she was a negligent mother when Peggy contracted Polio when she was 1 and refused to have her fitted for a leg brace for her limp leg. She was not home when Grant was sick with a cold. (In those times, Colds could be fatal) Bill grew up in traditional home with a mother who stayed at home and did not work. He was humiliated when Socialist Party Members mentioned to him that they thought Margaret had little to no maternal instincts. (Baker, 2011)
In 1914, Margaret published a magazine called Woman Rebel. After 6 issues went into circulation, she was arrested and charged with “Distribution of obscene literature” under the Comstock Law. She was facing up to 45 years in prison. Aware of what would happen if she stayed, Margaret decided to flee to Europe. Before she left, she published a pamphlet called Family Limitation. She abandoned her children and husband without even a word goodbye or telling them where she was going. The children often wrote to their mother wishing that she would come home. A year later she came home to face her charges.
In the middle of all this, tragically, on Nov. 6, 1915, her young daughter Peggy suddenly died of Pneumonia. Margaret was devastated. She later found out that the school that Peggy and Grant were attending was in the middle of moving, but the funds ran out before an old farm building could be converted into a boarding school with even the most basic amenities. The children were living in the harshest of conditions. The slept on straw mattresses in bunk beds, used an outhouse, the building did not have a furnace, and ate cheap non-nutritious food. Peggy quickly developed a cold, a cough, and then Pneumonia. She was taken to Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC where she later passed away. Grant was devastated by the loss of his closest sibling, and playmate that was his constant companion and presence in his childhood. He held his parents, especially his mother responsible for her death. (Baker, 2011) I couldn’t agree more with Grant. Those children sent hundreds of letters to their parents pleading with them to come visit. Their mother was away on this crusade and their father was doing his art thing in Paris. Between the both of them, their children weren’t a priority? If their mother had visited them just once, she would have seen what conditions they were living under, and maybe her daughter may have still been alive. Margaret later told a biographer that she never felt guilt, but a little regret. However, it (the time she never spent with her children) was a necessary sacrifice. (Antonucci, 1995)
In a stroke of “pure luck” and a fortunate one, due to her loss and her deep sadness, the judge decided to drop the charges against her and she avoided any consequence.
She “went off the wagon” for some time and steered away from her campaign for over a month, but later the following year, on October 16, 1916, Margaret was back to her crusade and she opened the first Birth Control Clinic in the United States located in Brooklyn at 46 Amboy Street in Brownsville, NY. (Schlager N., 2001) The opening of the clinic was made possible thanks to a $50 contribution, and a landlord who was sympathetic to the cause. (Chesler, 1992) The opening of the clinic was advertised in English, Yiddish, and Italian. (Schlager N., 2001) 10 days later, Margaret, her sister Ethel, and the Physician were all arrested and served 30 days in jail. (Connelly, 2008) In 1917, despite her setbacks Margaret launched a publication called The Birth Control Review. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998) This was an important publication because it became the backbone of her movement for the next 23 years.
From 1917-1920’s, Margaret openly supported Eugenics. She believed that humanity could be improved by better breeding. There are a few factors that fueled the popularity of eugenics: the increasing numbers of the impoverished population, the increasing number of non-English speaking Jewish immigrants. Margaret supported Eugenics partly due to her own life experiences. She came from a large, impoverished family, her mother had a contractible disease that could be spread to others, her parents were uneducated immigrants, she was married to a Jew, and she had early ties to Socialism. They later became her biggest supporters before she betrayed and denounced them years later. She believed certain inadequate populations should be sterilized. They included the insane, epileptic, inebriated, deaf, blind, tubercular, limited intelligence, and unfit. (Antonucci, 1995) (Fellman, 1993) First of all, who made up these guidelines? A white supremist with perfect children, getting an Ivy League Education, and a 4.0 GPA? And this new Intelligence test they developed. Who developed it, how did they determine the criteria for the results, and how was it tested for validity? Because I’m pretty sure the “Moron” category wouldn’t fly as a category in a real intelligence test today.
In her personal life, her marriage to William Sanger finally fell apart and they divorced in 1920. She later remarried J. Noah Slee; A millionaire who owned Three-in-One Oil in 1922. They kept the marriage a secret for 2 years fearing ridicule from friends, family, and most of all, the Press. They lived in separate, yet adjoining apartments in Gramercy, NYC. They each had different entrances and their own set of keys. Under the terms of the marriage, it was understood that Margaret led an independent life and was free to advocate and pursue her cause, without any interference from Slee. (Baker, 2011) Margaret continued to have extra marital affairs. Early in the marriage, tensions arose from her constant traveling. Margaret made promises she never intended to keep. Slee became estranged from his own children, while he became a doting father figure to his 2 stepsons.
In November of 1921, The First American Birth Control Conference convened at the Plaza Hotel in NYC. Anyone who was anyone attended; socialists, physicians, eugenicists, population experts, scientists, suffragists, and politicians. Her plan was to address global issues with everyday problems such as unemployment, poverty, crime, disease, famine, overpopulation, emigration, and war and it made the event so significant. (Baker, 2011)She would call for new policies, approaches, and scientific solutions to these issues. Unfortunately, the conference was reported to the police by Archbishop Patrick Hayes. The Conference was rescheduled a week later and held at Park Theatre. This time, 4,000 people attended to hear Margaret’s speech. What’s interesting about this, is that between 1920 and 1925, Archbishop Hayes raised $1 million every year to fight birth control in his archdiocese. To me, this indicates that she and her cause were not just making headway to poor, lower class immigrants; she was affecting women who considered themselves to be devout Catholics. She was changing Catholic Communities ways of thinking as well. From ancient and traditional practices to modern, safe, and hygienic.
In 1923, Margaret founded the Birth Control Clinic Research Bureau in NYC that is located right next door. (Biography in Context, 1996) The purpose of founding the Research bureau was to get Physicians more involved in the cause. It is located on West 16th Street.
Throughout the 20’s and 30’s, Margaret went on to pursue her advocacy for Birth Control on a National and International Level. In 1942, she founded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and in 1956, she funded the research for the first oral birth control pill, Enovid. (Harvard University, 1980) Fortunately, Margaret lived to see the Court Decision of Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965. This court case guaranteed the private use of contraceptives as a constitutional right. (Baughman, 1998) It made birth control legal for married couples
Sadly, on September 6, 1966, Margaret Sanger died of Arteriosclerosis in a nursing home in Tucson, AZ. A private funeral was held at the St. Phillips-in-the-Hills Episcopal Church. A special Memorial was held on September 21, 1966 at St. Georges Church at Stuyvesant Square in NYC. The extended Sanger Family, Colleagues, and friends attended to celebrate her life and achievements. A full 20 member choir sang at the service and the eulogy was given by Morris Ernst. That particular day had the heaviest rainfall in NY they had seen in 63 years. The rector who had never met Margaret, but had heard of her said “A stormy day to end a stormy life.” (Chesler, 1992)
Margaret Sanger was a woman who was ahead of her time. She saw social injustices and urged for change. She was a nurse, a philosopher, a visionary, a socialist, a radical, a suffragist, a eugenicist (Antonucci, 1995) , a politician (Antonucci, 1995), and an abolitionist, while being a wife and mother. She had rough and humble beginnings, yet she made tough and regrettable decisions and sacrifices that not many other people understand, and wouldn’t be willing to make. She had a long string of lovers that included politicians, socialists, scientists, physicians, and literary figures. Her most notable lovers included H.G Wells, Hugh de Selincourt, and Havelock Ellis. HG Wells called her “the greatest woman who ever lived.” To the rest of society, they were considered “indiscretions” or “affairs.” Margaret called it “free love.” For her achievements, Margaret was awarded many awards and honors. She was awarded the American Women’s Award, The Town Hall, The Lasker Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Biography in Context, 1996) Finally, in 1965, Japan awarded her the highest honor of the ‘Third Order of the Sacred Crown’. (Chesler, 1992)The Planned Parenthood of Tucson hailed her “The woman of the century.” (Gale, 1992) There is not one woman in the United States today who is not affected by her advocacy and perseverance. They can choose whether or not they would like to bear children and how many if they choose to do so. Oral Contraception has evolved (with the help of research), into other forms of contraception, like patches, injections, IUDS, diaphragms, rings, and female condoms. Contraception allows a woman to put child bearing on hold and finish or continue their education and pursue their careers. Something that in Margaret’s time was completely unimaginable. Today, empowerment is on the woman. Fertility and childbearing is completely in the woman’s field of choice and responsibility. Yet with that choice, comes empowerment and responsibility.
In 1993, the Margaret Sanger Clinic in NYC was declared a National Historical Landmark. It is now privately owned. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998)
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