Birth Control Crusader Margaret Sanger's Papers Published

shonna.keogan@nyu.edu

After Nearly 15 Years of Research, the Margaret Sanger Papers Project at NYU Publishes Volume 1 of the Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger: The Woman Rebel, opening a Window into the Life of the Famous Birth Control Pioneer

New York, NY - The Margaret Sanger Papers Project, based in the Department of History at New York University, has issued the first extensive collection of writings relating to the controversial and revolutionary birth control pioneer, Margaret Sanger. Entitled The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger, Volume 1: The Woman Rebel, 1900-1928, the volume compiles letters, speeches and other writings in a chronological, biographical narrative, providing the most extensive insight yet into how a working class child from a family of eleven grew to be one of the most influential women in history. The volume is published by the University of Illinois Press.

From the publication of The Woman Rebel in 1914, through her leadership of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in the 1950s, Margaret Sanger adopted the mission of making "birth control" - a term she coined - a fundamental tenet of woman's rights. "The Woman Rebel" chronicles Sanger's life at a particularly formative stage, from her childhood and her early training as a nurse, through her activist days and ultimately culminates in her establishment as the leading international proponent of birth control. It highlights her legislative and organizational efforts, her support of the eugenics movement, and the alliances she secured with medical professionals in her quest to make birth control legal, respectable and accessible.

The Margaret Sanger Papers Project was established at NYU's History Department in 1987. Led by Dr. Esther Katz, NYU professor of history, the project is dedicated to locating, arranging, editing, researching and publishing the papers of Sanger. Since then, the Project is seeking to make her papers accessible to the broadest possible audiences by published Sanger's professional and personal writings in microfilm, print and finally electronic form. Cathy Moran Hajo and Peter C. Engelman, both NYU graduates, serve as associate editors on the Project

"Margaret Sanger's story is as remarkable today as it was in the early part of the century, when the mere discussion of birth control was a criminal offense," said Dr. Katz. "Volume 1 of her papers provides not only fascinating insight into her mind and those of her contemporaries, but also into women's historic struggle for independence and control over their bodies and lives. While the subject of birth control continues to generate controversy today, examining the issues Sanger faced in her own words provides clear insight into how drastically social perception of birth control has changed, and the extent to which these changes were instrumental in providing a basis for women's equality."

The letters and other writings, including diaries, journals, articles, and speeches, included in the first of four volumes have been selected and assembled with an eye to telling the story of a remarkable life, punctuated by arrests and imprisonments, exile, love affairs and momentous personal loss - a life consumed with the quest for women's sexual liberation. Supplemented by an introduction, brief essays providing narrative and chronological links, substantial notes and an exhaustive index, the volume serves as a tool for understanding both Sanger and the historic roots of reproductive rights.

The Sanger Project assembled the documents in this book from the Margaret Sanger Papers Microfilm Edition (published by University Publications of America), which it compiled and edited in 1996-1997. This volume is the first of the four-volume book edition. Two subsequent volumes will address later periods in Sanger's life, and a fourth additional volume will cover her international work in the birth control struggle. The Project is also working on an electronic edition of Sanger's published writings and speeches.

The Margaret Sanger Project has received funding from New York University's Research Challenge Fund, as well as the National Endowment for the humanities and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission as well as Ford, Rockefeller, Rubin, and other private foundations and individual donors. The most recent private support has come from the Blanchette Rockefeller Fund and Furthermore, a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

New York University, which was established in 1831, is one of the largest and most prestigious private research universities in the U.S. Through its 13 schools and colleges, NYU conducts research and provides education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, dentistry, education, nursing, business, social work, the cinematic and performing arts, public administration and policy, and continuing studies, among other areas.

For ordering information, contact the University of Illinois Press: (800) 537-5487.

01/22/03