Most of the records are open for use in Social Welfare History Archives reading room. Access to portions of the records is restricted. Contact the archives for further information on access restrictions.
Please contact the Archivist for copyright information.
The AVS records were given to the Social Welfare History Archives by the association in 1967. Following the initial gift, six separate shipments of records were given to the archives between 1972 and 1979. A final shipment was received in 1982.
The AVS records were arranged and described as three distinct collections as new materials were acquired by the archives between 1967 and 1982. Formerly, the records were described in three separate finding aids, making it necessary for patrons to consult multiple documents in order to obtain complete information on the AVS records. As part of a project to mount finding aids online, the archives has merged the information about the AVS records into one comprehensive finding aid.
Unpublished inventory available. Please contact Archives for more information.
The AVS records are arranged into nine series.
,
The Association for Voluntary Sterilization (AVS) promoted the benefits of voluntary sterilization as a means of family planning and population control. Its predecessor, The Sterilization League of New Jersey, was formed in 1937 to promote the eugenic sterilization of the physically and developmentally disabled and persons with mental illness. Between 1943 and 1964, the organization changed its name several times. It was known successively as Birthright (1943-1950), Human Betterment Association of America (1950-1962), and Human Betterment Association for Voluntary Sterilization (1962-1964) before becoming AVS in 1965. The name changes reflected the association's growing emphasis on voluntary sterilization as a means of birth control and ongoing efforts to disassociate itself from eugenic sterilization.
The Sterilization League of New Jersey was formed January 9, 1937 at an organizational meeting called by Marian S. Norton (later Olden), chairman of the Princeton League of Women Voters' department of social hygiene. During the mid 1930s, Norton had worked for the introduction of sterilization legislation in the New Jersey legislature, conducted studies of sterilization in the United States and abroad, and corresponded with persons interested in sterilization. In 1936 she was invited by the New Jersey League of Women Voters to form a committee to seek adoption of a model sterilization bill. These efforts ended in an impasse. As a result, Norton proposed the formation of the Sterilization League of New Jersey in December, 1936 and hosted the organizational meeting in her home in January, 1937. Norton became the secretary of the League and served the organization in varying capacities from 1937 to 1948. The first president was Thomas L. Zimmerman, a judge in the Bergen County Juvenile Court. In its early years, the small, Princeton-based League conducted an educational program of publications and exhibits designed to promote sterilization as a means to control physical, mental, and social disease. It also continued to work towards passage of a sterilization bill in the New Jersey legislature, but was unsuccessful.
In January, 1943, the League voted to expand its program to become a national sterilization organization under the name Sterilization League For Human Betterment. However, friends and relatives of Ezra S. Gosney, founder of the Human Betterment Foundation (a California-based organization) apparently objected to use of "Human Betterment." On April 12, 1943, the League became Birthright, Inc., a national, non profit, educational organization dedicated to fostering "all reliable and scientific means for improving the biological stock of the human race" and ensuring that "there should be no child in America that has not the complete Birthright of a sound mind in a sound body and that has not been born under proper conditions." H. Curtis Wood Jr became president of Birthright in 1945. He served until 1961 and continued as a medical consultant until 1973. Under his leadership, the organization worked to improve the understanding and appeal of sterilization among the general public; promote sterilization to medical and social work professionals; and make sterilization procedures more available. It also attempted to minimize its former emphasis on eugenic sterilization.
In an effort to find a name more descriptive of Birthright's changing functions, members present at a June 23, 1950 special membership meeting voted to assume the name, Human Betterment Association of America. At approximately the same time, following formation of a medical and scientific committee chaired by Robert L. Dickinson, the Association opened a New York City office in Dickinson's studio in the New York Academy of Medicine. (The Princeton office was eventually closed.) During the 1950s, the Association continued to expand its education, research, and service functions. It conducted fact finding studies in the "medical, legal, eugenic, psychological, and socioeconomic aspects" of sterilization; disseminated information on sterilization to groups and individuals; and referred individuals seeking sterilization to specialists who would perform the procedure. Continued concern about its ability to develop full public understanding of the meaning and use of voluntary sterilization led Association members present at the 1962 annual membership meeting to change the Association's name to the Human Betterment Association for Voluntary Sterilization. In 1964, "Human Betterment" was dropped and the organization became the Association for Voluntary Sterilization.
During John Rague's tenure as executive director (1963-1972), AVS conducted a widespread public information campaign on the advantages of voluntary sterilization as a means of birth control. AVS speakers, primarily H. Curtis Wood, Jr., appeared on TV and radio programs and toured the country advocating voluntary sterilization. AVS also continued its referral service and provided financial assistance for sterilization procedures through a revolving loan fund established by attorney Graham French. In addition, AVS worked to improve access to sterilization through the courts. In conjunction with Zero Population Growth and the American Civil Liberties Union, AVS mounted "Operation Lawsuit" in1971 to 1973. "Operation Lawsuit" actively sought out possible litigants for lawsuits against hospitals that refused to perform sterilization procedures. The success of the lawsuits and increasingly widespread acceptance of sterilization for birth control made it possible for the Association to shift its focus to medical research. The new focus was implemented under the leadership of Charles T. Faneuff, who succeeded Rague as executive director in November, 1972, and Ira Lubell, who replaced Faneuff in August, 1973. Lubell served until 1981, when he was succeeded by Hugo Hoogenbloom.
During the1970s, AVS also increased its international work. As early as December, 1966, a Temporary Organizing Committee for the International Association for Voluntary Sterilization was created to promote voluntary sterilization around the world, with an emphasis on developing nations. In May, 1972, AVS received a grant from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to conduct an international conference on the role of voluntary sterilization and to establish international educational and technical assistance programs for access to safe, voluntary sterilization procedures. With the help of the grant, the International Project of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization (IPAVS)became an increasingly important segment of the association's work. Gradually, international activities became the dominant component of the AVS program.
AVS changed its name to the Association for Voluntary Surgical Contraception (AVSC) during the 1980s, was renamed AVSC International in 1994, and became EngenderHealth in 2001. The organization continues to work for the international promotion and improvement of women’s reproductive health and reproductive health care, family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.
Sources for the history of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization
include:
The Association for Voluntary Sterilization records include: minutes, correspondence, memoranda, financial records, newspaper clippings, reports, legal documents, conference proceedings, and annual statistics showing sterilizations in state institutions. The records also include a limited number of photographs, audiotapes and films. A small portion of the records consists of the personal papers of Robert Latou Dickinson (1861-1950), a gynecologist who was active in maternal health and birth control organizations and who served as chairman of the AVS medical and scientific committee. The Dickinson papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, medical drawings, articles, and newspaper clippings.
The AVS records document the association's efforts to: disseminate information to doctors, organizations, and the public; support legal action to make sterilization procedures available; and provide individuals desiring sterilization with financial assistance and referrals to cooperating doctors and clinics. They chronicle the evolution of the organization's program from advocacy for the compulsory sterilization of individuals with mental illness and developmental or physical disabilities to an emphasis on voluntary sterilization as a legitimate birth control technique. The records also provide a rich resource on the medical, legal, and socio-economic aspects of sterilization and related issues, including reproductive rights, population control, and policy issues relating to women’s access to sterilization operations.
The records of the association's predecessors, in particular The Sterilization League of New Jersey, reflect contemporary attitudes towards mental illness, disabilities, and eugenics. They document efforts by one segment of the eugenics movement in the United States to promote compulsory sterilization as a means of improving human "racial stock" and alleviating social problems related to inherited conditions or the care of poor, institutionalized, and chronically ill persons.
More recent AVS records document international educational and technical assistance programs for voluntary sterilization that were developed through the International Project of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization with assistance from USAID. These materials reflect the association's rapid shift to international programs and its growing emphasis on international population control, family planning, and women's reproductive health in developing nations during the 1970s. In particular, the records document grants to fund local or regional organizations and programs or to provide equipment. They also provide information on the establishment, funding and organization of IPAVS as well as its administration and finances.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Series 1 consists of correspondence, minutes, reports, memoranda, and schedules documenting the governance, mission, and programs of AVS and its predecessors. The records are organized into six subseries, listed below.
Series 1.1 contains minutes and papers of the five predecessors of AVS: Sterilization League of New Jersey, Sterilization League for Human Betterment, Birthright, Human Betterment Association of America, and Human Betterment Association for Voluntary Sterilization. The records are comprised primarily of minutes from the board of directors and executive committee. These provided extensive information on finances, personnel, field work, research, public relations, facilities, and relations with other organizations.
Minutes of the League’s organizational meeting and of subsequent board and annual meetings accompany president’s reports, financial statements, and reports of the research and literature committees.
Minutes of board and annual meetings, treasurer’s reports, and minutes of the literature, research, and medical committees. Included is discussion of the League’s program during World War II, a model sterilization bill presented to the New Jersey legislature, Marian Norton’s letter of resignation from the League, and material re the League’s efforts to expand into a national organization.
Material re 1935 address by Eduard Lindeman on sterilization, a sterilization bill before the New Jersey legislature, Roman Catholic opposition to sterilization, sterilization in Denmark and Sweden, socio-economic classes and sterilization, and the League’s application to exhibit material at the New York World’s Fair (its request was refused). Also includes discussion of the proposed change of the League’s name to the Sterilization League for Human Betterment. Correspondents include the American Birth Control League, New Jersey League of Women Voters, National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control, H. L. Mencken, and Waldemar Kaempffert, New York Times science editor.
Material re refusal by both the National Conference of Social Work and the Birth Control Federation of America to grant the League permission to exhibit materials at their respective conventions. Hospital policy on physicians who advocate birth control, the New Jersey model sterilization bill, compulsory vs voluntary sterilization, the question of whether men or women should be sterilized, and Roman Catholic opposition to sterilization are discussed. The folder also contains material on the reorganization and control of the League. Correspondents include H. L. Mencken; New York Times science editor Waldemar Kaempffert; John A. Ritter, general secretary of the Advocates of Compulsory Birth Control; Raymond Berry, an attorney who counselled the League on legal matters; and the Birth Control Federation of America.
Annual reports of the Foundation, a California organization which fostered "constructive and educational forces for the protection and betterment of the human family," Folder includes a discussion of compulsory sterilization.
Correspondence and records of two meetings of the League during the brief period it bore the name, Sterilization League for Human Betterment.
Constitution and bylaws, minutes of the first meeting and of subsequent meetings of the board and executive committees, treasurer’s reports, field committee minutes, and minutes of annual meetings. Includes discussion of development of state sterilization groups, relationship between Birthright and Clarence J. Gamble, and the resignation of Marian Norton Olden as executive director (she assumed other positions within Birthright).
Minutes and treasurer’s reports. Material re organization and activities of Birthright, Marian Norton Olden, sterilization surveys and statistics, compulsory sterilization, and a 1950 bibliography on sterilization prepared by Robert L. Dickinson and Clarence J. Gamble. Discussion of Cecil H. Gamble’s gift of $10,000 to Birthright to support field work.
Office reports prepared primarily by Marian Norton Olden but later by staff members Mabel Law and Irene Headley Armes. Reports describe correspondence handled, requests for publications, literature distributed, memberships, contributions received, etc.
Reports describe League activities in Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Virginia and the Western and Southeastern United States. Material re fear of sexual changes resulting from sterilization and re an Orange County (North Carolina) survey which suggested that three percent of grade school children might be feebleminded or insane.
Reports of work by Butler, a psychiatrist and former superintendent and medical director of the California Sonoma State Home (for the mentally deficient), where 5,000 sterilizations had been performed. Butler attended national and regional meetings of associations allied with the sterilization movement, visited state institutions, and addressed medical societies, physicians, and groups of social workers.
Material re Birthright’s tax exempt status and Cecil H. Gamble’s $10,000 contribution accompanies discussion of the difference between sterilization and castration, Roman Catholic opposition to birth control, difficulty in determining who is "unfit," race and sterilization, and use of sterilization for eugenic and for birth control purposes. H. L. Mencken, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, Euthanasia Society of America, American Association on Mental Deficiency, and American Institute of Family Relations are correspondents.
Roman Catholic opposition to sterilization, Pennsylvania State sterilization legislation, and the New York Herald-Tribune’s refusal to accept Birthright’s classified advertisements are among topics discussed. Correspondents include the Population Reference Bureau, American Institute of Family Relations, National Mental Health Foundation, Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems (P. K. Whelpton), Harry Emerson Fosdick, physicians John Rock and Theodore Robie, and Birthright board member, Lovett Dewees. Also contains material on publicity efforts for Birthright, including correspondence with Barry Bingham, president of the Louisville Times and Courier Journal.
Includes material re the proposal of W. P. Draper to sterilize 100,000 in the South to prevent the advance of miscegeny, Birthright’s publicity campaign and the impact of the Nazi sterilization program on activities in the US, applications made by Birthright to exhibit at allied associations’ conventions, and Clarence J. Gamble’s work with communities in North Carolina. Prominent correspondents include H. L. Mencken, John Rock, Sheldon Glueck, American Institute for Family Relations, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Congress on Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America.
Material re work of Marian Norton Olden and severing of relations between her and Birthright. Also includes discussion of sterilization on mentally deficient in Virginia, Birthright’s application to exhibit at the National Conference of Social Work convention, appointment of George E. Rundquist as executive director, and concern for adverse effects of the Nazi sterilization program on the sterilization movement in the US. Among the correspondents are Sheldon Reed, director of the University of Minnesota Dight Institute, and H. Curtis Wood, Birthright president.
Birthright’s medical director, an exchange of mailing lists with the Euthanasia Society of America, and methods of sterilization are among topics discussed. L. L. Burlingame and Clarence J. Gamble are correspondents.
Material re the American Psychiatric Association’s refusal to permit Birthright to exhibit material at its convention, cooperation between Birthright and the Pennsylvania League for Planned Parenthood, and Birthright’s publicity campaign, conducted primarily through letters to newspaper editors. Robert L. Dickinson, C. M. Goethe, and Clarence J. Gamble are correspondents.
Miscellaneous press releases and form letters describing the work of the League
Discussion of Birthright’s bylaws, a model sterilization bill, and related matters with Massey, who provided Birthright with legal counsel.
Cecil H. Gamble’s financial assistance, the transfer of Robert L. Dickinson’s papers to Human Betterment, relations with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, refusal of the National Conference of Social Work to permit the Association to exhibit at its conventions, and expansion of the Association’s program are among topics discussed. Also includes material on financial considerations, housing of the Association, public relations, legal matters, field work, and plans for annual meetings. The evolution of sterilization from a eugenic tool to a means of birth control and compulsory vs voluntary sterilization are noted.
Material re change of the Association’s name, the increased number of female sterilizations, work for public acceptance of sterilization, and the question of whether retarded persons could legally give consent to sterilization. Also includes discussion of the Graham French Assistance Fund (which enabled the Association to provide financial assistance to persons who couldn’t afford the sterilization operation).
Material re change of the Association’s name, a 1959 dinner conference on "Professional Attitudes Toward Vasectomy," and Association finances and personnel practices.
Record of conduct of routine Association business in addition to material on an Association dinner conference on "Hospital Policy and Voluntary Sterilization — Is There an Infringement of Human Rights?" Also includes a copy of Alan F. Guttmacher’s "Surgical Birth Control" and record of reactions to publication of his article in True Story (February, I960).
Material re public relations, impact of Alan F. Guttmacher’s True Story article, relations with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Association finances.
Discussion of Association objectives and change of name, the question of compulsory and voluntary sterilization, public information programs, and field consultants.
Meeting notice, agenda, and records of members’ and board members’ acceptances.
Correspondence, announcement of and agenda for meeting, and responses of board members to invitations to attend.
Responses from Association members to invitations to attend.
Responses of board members to proposed name change. Responses are arranged alphabetically.
Agenda for meeting, record of attendance, and draft budget statement.
Correspondence, reports of work in 34 states, and questionnaires completed for two field interviews. Also includes report on the 1950 Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth, which Butler attended.
Material re Cecil H. Gamble’s contributions to HBAA, sterilization legislation, and the Association’s application to exhibit at the National Conference of Social Work convention. Also includes a brief history of the Human Betterment Foundation and the Gosney Research Fund.
Primarily material re sterilization in other countries, including Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark. Also includes description of duties and responsibilities of Association staff members.
Report on Association office activities accompanies extensive material on rape, abortion, and aspects of sterilization in such countries as Sweden, Panama, Finland, Canada, and Denmark.
Material re meetings of the board of directors, Association legal affairs and finances, and proposed change of name. Also includes discussion of sterilization in other countries (Norway, Jamaica, etc.), opposition to birth control, and the position of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals on sterilization in hospitals. Correspondents include Clarence J. Gamble and Thomas D. Eliot, Northwestern University professor of sociology.
"Hospital Policy and Voluntary Sterilization" Report of the Association dinner conference on the relation of voluntary sterilization to human rights. Includes drafts of statements about the Association, a dinner conference resolution urging non-Catholic hospitals to outline sterilization policies, efforts to secure publicity for the conference resolution, and discussion of the position of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals on sterilization in hospitals.
Transcript of and material re the conference, the first public meeting sponsored by the Association. Held at the Carnegie Endowment International Center, the conference featured discussion of social (rather than medical) indicators for sterilization. Also included is a report of a panel discussion and material on the history of the Association.
Includes transcript of conference, material re arrangements, and guest list. Brock Chisholm, former director of the World Health Organization, was principal speaker. (A tape of his speech is available in the Social Welfare History Archives Center.)
Contains reports of Planned Parenthood activities, a copy of a questionnaire on "How Women Feel about Family Growth," and material re the Federation’s attitudes toward sterilization, new developments in vasectomy techniques, enlarging contraceptive sources in New York City, the effect of sterilization on health and sexual life, and standards to be met by agencies seeking to affiliate with Planned Parenthood. Federation officers William Vogt and Mary S. Calderone are correspondents.
The block’s inscription is "Sterilization for Human Betterment: A Presentation."
Material re the Association’s financial status, relations with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, opposition to punitive use of sterilization against welfare recipients, the evolution of the Association’s position on sterilization (from a eugenic one to a socio-economic or birth control position), and Association program and purpose. Includes discussion of the refusal by national and medical journals to accept Association advertising and the first acceptance by the National Conference on Social Welfare of the Association’s application to exhibit at the NCSW convention.
Program, letters of invitation, photographs of participants, and transcript of proceedings of the conference, which examined the ethical implications of sterilization for physicians, clergy, and the family.
Discussed at the conference were ethical and medical aspects of voluntary sterilization, world peace and sterilization, and international population control efforts. Algernon D. Black, leader of the Ethical Culture Society, was a speaker.
Series 1.2 consists of correspondence and papers regarding preparations for the meetings and copies of minutes and reports presented. Additional information regarding conferences appears in Series 1.1
Series 1.3 consists of minutes as well as related correspondence and reports. The records are arranged chronologically and, thereunder, by committee. The series includes minutes of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, annual meetings, and special sub-committees, such as the Legal and Scientific Committee. There does not appear to be a compete set of minutes for sub-committees and special committees. The records also include financial reports, budgets, and executive director’s reports as well as some agenda and correspondence. Much of the correspondence relates to arrangements for meetings.
Series 1.4 contains a small amount of AVS personnel-related records. The materials are arranged chronologically and document personnel policies, job descriptions, and hiring practices.
Series 1.5 is comprised of calendars scheduling speaking engagements for: H. Curtis Wood, Jr.; Courtland Hastings; and "volunteer" speakers. Some correspondence relating to speaking engagements is included. A fourth group, TV and radio appearances by Courtland Hastings, is arranged alphabetically by state and chronologically within each state.
Series 1.6 contains reports that were submitted to the executive committee by John Rague, AVS executive director. Eight reports were produced each year. These are arranged chronologically in the files.
Robert Latou Dickinson (1861-1950) was a gynecologist, educator,
author, and pioneer in the use of rubber and plastic pelvic models for teaching
purposes. Dickinson was general secretary and, later, president of the National
Committee on Maternal Health. Dickinson also served as president of the
American Gynecological Society, senior vice president of the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, and president of the Euthanasia Society. He served as
the first chairman of AVS' medical and scientific committee. Among his many
books and articles on obstetrics, diseases of women, and related subjects, are
The Dickinson papers were given to AVS (then Birthright) in 1950. The papers contain correspondence regarding his activities in the Medical Society of New York and records regarding the National Committee on Maternal Health. The series also includes seven sets of "Sterilization Abstracts" consisting of manuscripts, drawings, diagrams, and notes. Dickinson's resource file of information on sterilization techniques and his newspaper clippings on a range of sterilization topics are also included.
Includes minutes, correspondence, and reports of the Committee, chaired by John Osborn Polak, M.D. The Committee’s report, drafted by Dickinson, recommended the Society assume leadership in control of fertility; the Society’s executive committee accepted the report but never acted on it.
Correspondence and papers of the Committee of which Dickinson was general secretary and later honorary president. Material re E. S. Gosney and the Human Betterment Foundation, sterilization legislation, proposed text book on sterilization, and biographical data on Dickinson. Correspondents include Stanton D. Wicks, National Farm and Herd Management; the Eugenics Records Office of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, D.C. (Harry H. Laughlin); Herman de Fremery; Louise Stevens Bryant, Committee executive secretary; Ellsworth Huntington; Clarence J. Gamble; and the American Eugenics Society.
Includes Dickinson’s medical diagrams and notes for various books and articles on sterilization. Material on medical indications for sterilization and on sterilization of women through irradiation or intrauterine cautery.
Material re sterilization in Germany, vasectomy, sterilization "failures," and Clarence J. Gamble and the American Institute for Family Relations is included.
Draft of Dickinson’s "Human Sterilization Bibliography and Summaries," which includes statistics, material re the Pomeroy method of sterilization, the Madlehner (tubal) technique, vaginal sterilizations, and related material.
Includes a chapter ("Surgical Sterilization in the Female") from a manuscript on sterilization by Howard C. Taylor, Jr. with marginal notes by Dickinson. The manuscript was one of a series issued by the National Committee on Maternal Health.
Manuscript material by Marie E. Kopp, Ph.D., on topics such as "The Nature and Operation of the German Eugenical Problem," "Eugenic Sterilization in Europe," and "A Eugenic Program in Operation." Also includes extensive material on sterilization through irradiation.
Manuscript material, primarily by Marie E. Kopp, on such topics as sterilization of the female through irradiation or intrauterine cautery, and sterilization of "abnormal" persons.
Includes papers on such topics as sterilization without unsexing, selective sterilization, prevention of mental deficiency through sterilization, eugenic laws and marital health laws, and heredity and mental deficiency.
Primarily material re sterilization by irradiation and temporary sterilization through use of spermatoxins.
Material re cautery stricture, the libido after sterilization, sterilization without unsexing, and temporary sterilization through radium treatment, x-rays, or surgery.
Material re need for simplified sterilization for women, effect of "castration" on males, and sterilization through chemical cautery.
Includes descriptions of family and individual circumstances where sterilizations seem indicated.
Extensive material re eugenic aspects of sterilization and re a proposal to sterilize mental defectives in England. Also includes information on eugenics and mental hygiene (Mexico), race betterment in Germany, and sterilization in Norway, Austria, Africa, and Canada.
Material re the sterilization of heiress Anna Cooper Hewitt, alleged to be mentally retarded. Physicians who performed the operation stood trial for "mayhem," but charges against them were dismissed by the presiding judge who ruled that they had acted in good faith.
Articles and letters expressing Protestant and Jewish views toward birth control and sterilization, especially in response to a sermon by Patrick Cardinal Hayes, New York, criticizing birth control.
Material re the Catholic position on birth control and sterilization includes articles, letters, and the text of Pope Pius XI’s 1931 encyclical letter reaffirming the Roman Catholic position on the sanctity of marriage. Includes additional material on Patrick Cardinal Hayes’ sermon on birth control and response to criticism of it by Protestant and Jewish clergy.
Articles on eugenic sterilization in California, the female libido after sterilization, and related topics found in medical journals, the Survey, and the American Mercury.
Articles, clippings, and occasional correspondence of Louise Stevens Bryant (executive director of the National Committee on Maternal Health) re sterilization legislation in the US and court decisions affecting such legislation. Material is arranged alphabetically by state.
Includes material re sterilization of and marriage among mental defectives, sterilization techniques, race betterment, sterilization in Canada, the 1938 German sterilization statute, and predominance (in 1929) of females seeking voluntary sterilization.
Included is a card catalog compiled by Robert L. Dickinson for use as a bibliographical resource for information on sterilization. Topics covered include castration, eugenic laws in foreign countries (especially Germany), failure of tubal sterilizations, hormones, the libido after sterilization, mental defectives, reversible sterilization, Roman Catholic attitudes toward sterilization, spermatoxins, sterilization legislation, sterilization techniques, and vasectomy. The bulk of the material dates from 1920-1940.
Included in the scrapbook, which may have belonged to Robert L. Dickinson, are photographs of exhibits on sterilization, anatomy drawings, diagrams of sterilization techniques, and similar material.
Series 3 contains ledgers, monthly and annual reports, payroll and tax records, and receipts. This material includes records of the general fund, the special assistance fund, and the Hartman Plan. The latter was a project that provided funding to increase the availability of sterilizations for impoverished residents of Kentucky. In addition to the bookkeeping records, there are files of correspondence regarding fund-raising during the mid 1960s. ACCESS TO LEDGERS OF THE ASSISTANCE FUND (BOXES 24 AND 30) IS RESTRICTED.
Ruth P Smith’s Resignation and John R Rague’s appointment
[Requires Advance Permission from Archives and AVS]
[Requires Advance Permission from Archives and AVS]
[Requires Advance Permission from Archives and AVS]
Series 4 contains extensive correspondence files with many individuals and organizations, reflecting both the development of AVS policies and programs and its relations with other entities.
Series 4.1 contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, drafts of articles, and other records relating to individuals connected with AVS. These include executive officers, committee and board members, sponsors, outside consultants working with AVS, and major donors. Most prominent among these are H. Curtis Wood, Jr. (medical advisor and lecturer), John Rague (executive director), Ruth Proskauer Smith (executive director), and Donald H. Higgins (public relations director). These files were selected and separated from the general correspondence files (boxes 39-56) by the staff of the archives in order to focus on the development of AVS programs and policies. The material is arranged alphabetically by individual.
A chronologically arranged file of outgoing correspondence, most of it from John Rague, executive director of AVS.
Series 4.3 contains incoming and outgoing correspondence with a wide variety of individuals and organizations. The records document the association's external relations (correspondence with AVS officers and prominent members is found in boxes 32-37). Most of the records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the individual or organization. Occasionally, records are filed by subject (e.g., "heredity", "advertising").
The General Correspondence subseries comprises five separate, but overlapping, alphabetical file sequences: two of them long (boxes 39-46 and 47-55) and three quite short. The order of the separate file sequences has been preserved, but the folder titles are listed here in a single, integrated list. A box-by-box container list is available as well, upon request.
Correspondence is all under name Mrs. Josiah Marvel
includes Hartman’s obituary and.correspondence
Re First National Conference on Vasectomy
Series 4.4 contains correspondence regarding the International Project of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization (IPAVS); international correspondence filed alphabetically by country; and correspondence with international organizations, primarily the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Includes discussion of "Jhaver Clip" medical device
AVS maintained a list of physicians and clinics that performed sterilization operations, and it provided financial assistance (usually in the form of a loan). The bulk of Series 5 consists of requests for referrals and/or financial assistance, along with follow-up surveys of the persons served. Also included are files for a project, the Hartman Plan, that promoted funding for sterilization services for impoverished residents of Kentucky, administrative records from the referral service, and surveys and studies of insurers and medical providers willingness to fund and perform surgical procedures.
Series 5.1 contains form letters announcing a project in Kentucky which provided opportunities and assistance for voluntary sterilization for the poor. The subseries also includes correspondence and clippings relating to the plan. There is related material in the financial records, correspondence files (under "Hartman"), and case files.
Series 5.2 comprises information about the administrative aspects of the service that AVS developed to refer couples to hospitals and clinics that would perform sterilization procedures
Series 5.3 includes requests for financial assistance for sterilization operations, requests for referral to a physician, and follow up studies and questionnaires to those who had a sterilization operation. The bulk of the records (boxes 58-83) are from 1958-1967 and are filed alphabetically by correspondent. The records dating from 1973 to 1977 (box 112) are arranged into three groups: “Agency Correspondence,” “Case Correspondence,” and “Other Correspondence.” The Agency correspondence files contain correspondence with women’s groups, community organizations, women’s health or family planning clinics and other groups about requests for literature, assistance, information, and referrals. Case correspondence files contain correspondence with private individuals regarding referrals and requests for information, contributions to AVS, or advice about issues involved in seeking or obtaining sterilization procedures. These files also contain some correspondence regarding lawsuits against hospitals (See Operation Lawsuit). The “Other” correspondence files seem to be very similar to the Case and Agency correspondence. In addition, they reflect policies and issues regarding sterilization in a more general sense. The files also include lists of doctors and clinics and statistical reports on referrals provided by AVS. Finally, there are three general chronological files of referrals correspondence from the Referral Coordinator (circa 1977-1978). These consist mostly of correspondence with individuals, doctors and medical facilities as well as memoranda and notes.
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
ACCESS RESTRICTED. Requires AVS permission
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
RESTRICTED
Series 5.4 includes reports and working papers from a series of surveys and studies focused on insurers' willingness to fund surgical sterilization procedures and doctors' and hospitals' willingness to perform them.
Series 6, Legal Affairs, contains information about legal aspects of sterilization, growing out of two projects. AVS compiled, and occasionally updated, a summary of sterilization statutes in the various states, based on contacts with state officials. In the 1970s, AVS and the American Civil Liberties Union combined to find and assist litigants who were willing to bring lawsuits to overcome resistance to the funding and provision of surgical sterilizations.
Series 6.1 contains AVS's correspondence with officials in every state to compile summaries of state sterilization laws. Some correspondence dates back as early as 1931, but most is from the 1950s and early 1960s, leading to compiled updates in 1958 and 1963.
List of bills introduced on sterilization and related subjects, 1909-1951.
1932 petition filed for order to sterilize a person declared insane (with answering brief) and a 1933 state statute re sterilization.
State Department of Public Welfare
State Board of Eugenics
State Board of Health, Mental Eugenics section
No Laws
Division of Mental Health
State Board of Eugenics
No Law
No Law
Commissioner of Institutional Service
State Department of Mental Health
Director of Public Institutions
State Board of Trustees of Mental Institutions
State Board of Eugenics
State Board of Examiners
Law declared unconstitutional
State Board of Eugenics
State Board of Examiners
State Board of Public Affairs, Department of Mental Health
State Board of Eugenics
State Board of Health
State Department of Health
Provision Only
State Department of Institutions
State Hospital Board
State Board of Control
Department of Public Welfare
Series 6.2 documents "Operation Lawsuit," 1971-1975, in which AVS and the American Civil Liberties Union worked with litigants who would file lawsuits against doctors, clinics, and hospitals that refused to perform surgical sterilization procedures. Included are copies of briefs and other legal documents, correspondence with attorneys, correspondence with women or couples involved in lawsuits, and newspaper clippings from suits involving contraception, sterilization, and abortion. The records also include correspondence with publishers, public health agencies, and women’s groups; copies of a pamphlet that explains the project and offers advice to plaintiffs; and a statistical report on sterilization policies at New York Hospitals, and notes. The records document legal and political issues surrounding the project and surgical sterilization as well as specific cases. To a lesser extent, the general files document the effect of contemporary abortion trials and abortion legislation on access to sterilization procedures.
Chrisman case
Chrisman case
American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American Hospital Association, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Sterilization statistics were gathered annually or biennially by the Human Betterment Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1928 by Ezra S. Gosney, a Pasadena philanthropist, to "foster and aid constructive and educational forces for the protection and betterment of the human family." Among other activities, the Foundation conducted annual or biennial surveys to gather information on sterilizations performed in the U.S. under state laws. When Gosney died in 1942, the Foundation's sterilization statistics were transferred to AVS (then Birthright), which continued the surveys after 1944. The statistics are arrangement chronologically, as received from AVS. Within each year, materials are arranged alphabetically by state. One folder of miscellaneous correspondence is filed in box 11. This series reflects the efforts of the AVS and its predecessors to conduct an annual survey of administrators in state institutions to determine the number of sterilizations performed. It includes the pamphlets that summarized each year's findings and correspondence (dating mostly from 1957-1958 and 1964) requesting information from institutions in all states. Folder 91:27 contains a nearly complete compilation of all the annual statistical reports.
Correspondence to E. S. Gosney, founder of HBF, reporting the number of sterilizations performed in state institutions in the US (data is separated by state and sex). Gathered for use in a biennial report, these statistics are accompanied by brief notes re particular state sterilization laws. A map indicating the legal status of state sterilization laws is also included.
Primarily correspondence re provisions in state sterilization laws regarding procuring of consent before sterilization.
Statistics gathered by E. S. Gosney, founder of HBF, for a biennial report re sterilizations performed in state institutions in the Hi (data is separated by state and sex). Correspondence also contains occasional comments re the legal status of sterilization laws in particular states.
Statistics gathered by E. S. Gosney, founder of HBF, for an annual report (biennial format was dropped in 1936) on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (feebleminded or insane). Occasional comments on state sterilization statutes are also included.
Statistics gathered by HBF for an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (insane, feebleminded, epileptic, etc.). Correspondence contains remarks re state statutes, the legal status of sterilization, the limited practice of sterilization, and presumed Roman Catholic opposition to sterilization.
Statistics gathered by the Foundation for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Correspondence contains occasional comments re particular state statutes and the necessity for cautious use of sterilization.
Statistics gathered by the Foundation for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Comments re attitudes toward and public opinion about sterilization and the need for professional, not political guidance.
Statistics gathered by the Foundation for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Remarks about castration of sex criminals, public opposition to sterilization, the failure of institutions to perform sterilizations, and the legal status of particular state sterilization laws.
Statistics gathered by the Foundation for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Correspondence and tables include comments re public opposition (particularly from Roman Catholics) to sterilization, the legal status of state sterilization laws, and causes for the failure of state institutions to perform sterilizations.
Statistics gathered by the Foundation for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Notes re the legal status of sterilization in particular states are also included.
Statistics gathered by Birthright to continue the publication of reports on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Correspondence with Marian Norton Olden includes comments re the legal status of sterilization in particular states and the decline in the number of sterilizations performed.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and correspondence with Marian Norton Olden contain notes on state statutes and the decline in numbers of sterilizations performed.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and correspondence with Marian Norton Olden re particular state statutes, public opposition to sterilization, reasons for fewer sterilizations, and interest in studying the children of sterilized parents.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Notes on some state statutes are included.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and questionnaires contain comments on state statutes and reasons for fewer sterilizations.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and questionnaires contain remarks re complexity of state laws, the low number of sterilizations performed, the multiple causes of feeblemindedness, and the limitations of sterilization as a means of coping with feeblemindedness. A list of institutions contacted is also included.
Statistics gathered by Birthright for publication in an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects (feebleminded, insane, epileptic, etc.). A list of institutions contacted, maps, a summary of 1948 statistics, and notes re procedures used in compiling the report are also included.
Completed questionnaires reporting the number of sterilizations performed during 1949. Comments re state statutes, the procuring of consent, official opposition to sterilization, and the necessity for cautious use of sterilization.
Continued from previous box
Correspondence clarifying questionnaire responses which had indicated that consent had not been secured before sterilizations were performed.
Questionnaires giving number of persons discharged from institutions also indicate how many of those discharged were sterilized and reasons persons were not sterilized.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, questionnaires, and correspondence contain notes on state statutes, the castration of sex offenders, and the procuring of consent for sterilization.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and correspondence accompanied by lists of institutions contacted. Remarks re state statutes, patients’ responses to sterilization, and procedures for securing consent.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and questionnaires include comments re procedures for securing consent, official opposition to sterilization, state statutes, and postoperative adjustment of patients.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Remarks about state statutes, policies re consent, and patients’ postoperative adjustment are also included.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Questionnaires, tables, and maps contain occasional comments re state statutes, policies re consent, and postoperative adjustment of patients. Notes and working drafts of the report are also included.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, and questionnaires contain occasional comments about status of state statutes, Roman Catholic opposition to sterilization, policies re consent, postoperative adjustment of patients, and epilepsy as insufficient grounds for sterilization. Notes and working drafts of the report are also included.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Notes and working drafts of the report as well as completed questionnaires are contained in the folder. Remarks about consent policies are included.
Questionnaires and calculations for the Association’s annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Data on questionnaires is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally ill, mentally deficient, etc.). Comments re state statutes and patients’ postoperative adjustments are included.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed under state laws in the US. Data is separated by state, sex, and condition of subjects (mentally deficient, mentally ill, epileptic, etc.). Tables, maps, calculations, and questionnaires contain comments about state statutes and consent policies.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Tables indicate the variety of provisions in statutes as well as the number of sterilizations performed (the latter is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects). Questionnaires contain remarks about patients’ postoperative adjustment, policies re consent, and public opposition to the sterilization of men.
Questionnaires include data on patients, comments re postoperative adjustment, and specification of sterilization method used.
Statistics gathered by the Association for an annual report on sterilizations performed in the US under state laws. Tables indicate the variety of provisions in statutes as well as the number of sterilizations performed (the latter is separated by state, sex, and condition of the subjects). Working drafts of the reports, maps, and questionnaires include comments about postoperative adjustment, public criticism of sterilization practices, and policies re consent.
Folder contains cumulative totals of sterilizations performed in the US under state laws, 1928-1943. Lists of state institutions are also included.
Nearly complete set of annual statistical reports.
Series 8 contains material relating to grants that AVS received from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to set up educational and technical assistance programs in developing nations. The records also includes information on the officers and organization of the International Project of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization (IPAVS). A number of conference proceedings and reports dating from the 1960s and 1970s are also included in the series. These include material on the First International Conference on Voluntary Sterilization in 1964. A portion of the series consists of annual reports dating from 1973 to1981. The reports document field programs and services; grants distributed by IPAVS; training activities; and education and assistance programs. They also document the budget, finances and administration of IPAVS. Series 8 also includes two management plans for IPAVS (1977) and IPAVS, Bangladesh (1974), a report on IPAVS by the American Public Health Association; reports evaluating grant programs (1975); a financial report (1977); and a management plan for IPAVS member organizations. Finally, the series includes articles and pamphlets documenting a birth control program focusing on vasectomy, that took place in India.
Material re Pilot Family Planning Education Units designed by the India Directorate General of Health Services.
submitted April 1973
submitted March 1974
submitted March 1975
three-year Grant # AID/csd 3611, 1973-1975
submitted October 1976
submitted March 1978
final ear of five-year Grant # AID/pha-G-1128, 1976-1980
submitted by Marilyn E. Schima, director, International Programs
New York, NY
Geneva, Switzerland. Published as Advances in Voluntary Sterilization
Tunis, Tunisia
Seoul, Korea
Washington, DC
Bangkok, Thailand. Selected papers
Taipei, Taiwan
Series 9 contains materials relating to AVS' efforts to disseminate information about its services and programs through publications, advertisements, exhibits at professional conferences, photographs, tape recordings, films, and articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals.
Series 9.1 includes pamphlets, newsletters, and press releases prepared and distributed by AVS and its predecessors.
The bulk of series 9.2 consists of correspondence between AVS and various professional organizations, most of them medical- or public health-related, regarding AVS exhibits to be at organizational conferences. Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by organization.
Series 9.3 consists of several folders related to advertisements that were placed in various journals and correspondence with the Hugh Moore Fund concerning an advertising campaign, circa 1964 to 1970.
Series 9.4 consists of files containing resumes of, and occasionally correspondence with, individual leaders in the sterilization movement. These include: Homer Calver, Mrs. Everett Canada, William H. Draper, Milo Ellik, Courtland Hastings, P. Lakshmi, M.D. Paniagua, B. L.(Bishen Lal) Raina, and H. Curtis Wood.
Series 9.5 contains photographs (often multiple copies) of individuals, AVS meetings and exhibits, and miscellaneous subjects. The latter appear to have been used in publications and publicity materials. Few of the photos are dated, but most appear to be from the early 1970s.
Series 9.6 contains tapes of radio and television talks or interviews, most of them involving H. Curtis Wood, Courtland Hastings, or Betty Gonzales.
The recording (entitled "Calendar Program, September 18, 1962") is of a CBS-TV news program with Harry Reasoner and Mary Thicket. Among the people interviewed are Ruth P. Smith, executive director of Human Betterment Association of America; Dr. Alan F. Guttmacher, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and head of HBAA’s Medical Screening Committee; and a woman who was sterilized after the birth of her sixth child. The sterilization policies of HBAA are discussed.
Included on this tape of the Human Betterment Association of America’s Medical and Scientific Committee meeting (Feb. 8, 1962) are talks bty Dr. Alan F. Guttmacher and Dr. Brock Chisholm. Chisholm, a psychiatrist and former head of the World Health Organization, speaks on the topic of "World Health and World Population."
Series 9.7 consists of four films on population control and filmed interviews with Dr. H.C. Wood, Jr., and a Dr. Chandrasekhar.
Series 9.8 consists of correspondence with authors and editors regarding articles on sterilization, tear sheets, reprints of articles, and manuscripts. The records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the magazine or journal.
Series 9.9 consists of newspaper clippings regarding sterilization-related subjects. Most of the clippings (boxes S84-S88) are unmounted, as received from the clipping service, and are in very rough chronological order. There are also clippings from syndicated columnists (box 94) and some filed by subject (boxes S89-S90). The papers of Robert Latou Dickinson (Series 2, boxes 11-13) and the "Operation Lawsuit" files (Series 6) also contain newspaper clippings on sterilization-related topics.
In addition to articles re religious, state, and scientific attitudes toward sterilization, the folder contains an article by Pearl Buck, material re sterilization in Nazi Germany, and discussion of sterilization of the mentally deficient, criminally insane, and "grossly unfit."
Includes articles on population control (domestic and foreign), scientific advances
Includes articles on medical, religious, and state attitudes toward sterilization and birth control, postwar birth rates, genetic studies, and the neglected child.
Includes articles on abortion, birth control methods, and sterilization programs in China, India, Japan, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and the US. Also included is material re illegitimate children, the neglected child, Arnold Toynbee, and birth control as an issue in the I960 Presidential campaign.
Material re Protestant criticism of President Eisenhower’s denial of birth control information for India, British attitudes toward birth control, the encyclical letter of Pope John XXIII on the "social question," Margaret Sanger, and sterilization programs in India.
Includes articles on sterilization programs in Sweden and the US, sterilization of the "medically indigent," and hospital and religious attitudes toward sterilization.
Articles on international sterilization programs, sex education, John F. Kennedy and birth control, and legislation re compulsory sterilization of the mentally deficient.
Articles on the sterilization of the mentally deficient and "medically indigent."