Activism

The following collections in the custody of the Manuscript Division include materials pertaining to women's issues, birth control, family planning efforts, reproductive health and rights, activist groups, and social hygiene. Organizations represented in these collections include, but are not limited to: the American Birth Control League, American Sexual Health Association, American Social Hygiene Association, Association for Voluntary Sterilization, Committee on Science in the Promotion of Human Welfare, League of Women Voters, National Abortion Rights Action League, National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control, National Urban League, Planned Parenthood Federation, Population Association of America, and Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights.

National Urban League, sponsor/advertiser. Care enough -- to get the facts on family planning. Between 1965 and 1980. Yanker Poster Collection. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Bain News Service, publisher. Mrs. Margaret Sanger. 1916. Bain Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Peg Averill, artist. Demonstrate against government attacks on abortion rights! 1977. Yanker Poster Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

International Planned Parenthood Federation, sponsor/advertiser; World Wildlife Fund, sponsor/advertiser.We're in it together. Between 1965 and 1980. Yanker Poster Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Women's National Abortion Action Coalition, sponsor/advertiser. Abortion Action Week, May 1-6, 1972. 1972. Yanker Poster Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Social Press Association, New York. [The Sanger Clinic, 46 Amboy Street, Brooklyn]. 1916. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Thode, William Scott, photographer. [Display of Planned Parenthood literature]. 1983.U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Relevant Collections

The following collection titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content, including finding aids for the collections, are included when available.

American Psychological Association records
Published/Created: 1917-1986 (bulk 1940-1980)
Includes topics such as abortion, contraception, fertility, population, and sex education; correspondence from reproductive activist groups, such as the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, and Planned Parenthood. Materials documenting the organization and management of the association's boards, committees, and publications.
ERAmerica records
Published/Created: 1974-1982
Includes correspondence with other activist groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Catholics for E.R.A., and the National Abortion Federation, and records relating to the Equal Rights Amendment.
John Haynes Holmes papers
Published/Created: 1899-1983 (bulk 1935-1964)
Includes papers about the Planned Parenthood Federation and correspondence with Emma Goldman, a prominent anarchist and birth control advocate. Papers relating to Holmes's public career and to the libertarian movements of the 20th century.
La Follette family papers
Published/Created: 1781-1988 (bulk 1900-1953)
Includes documents on social hygiene and venereal disease; also includes correspondence with Emma Goldman, a prominent anarchist and birth control advocate. Materials principally documenting the careers of members of the La Follette family.
League of Women Voters (U.S) records
Published/Created: 1884-1986 (bulk 1920-1979)
Includes records related to the American Social Hygiene Association and birth control. Records concerning the league's activities at the national, state, and local levels.
Frederick Joseph Libby papers
Published/Created: 1846-1973 (bulk 1890-1970)
Includes newspaper clippings about the birth control movement, as well as articles about the moral, political, and medical effects of birth control. Papers relating chiefly to Libby's life and work as a peace activist and executive secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War (1921-1970).
Ben B. Lindsey papers
Published/Created: 1838-1957 (bulk 1890-1943)
Includes correspondence with leaders of the American Birth Control League, as well as articles about birth control and its use for eugenics. Papers primarily concerning Lindsey's role in the development of the juvenile court systems in Colorado and California, his tenure as judge in both states, and his political and literary activities.
Clare Boothe Luce papers
Published/Created: 1862-1997 (bulk 1930-1988)
Includes anti-birth control and anti-abortion writings. Papers relating to politics, religion, and literary and artistic endeavors; literary file containing business records, articles, essays, reviews, commentaries, journals, notebooks, memoirs, novels, short stories, plays, non-fiction, pamphlets, and proposals, together with notes, drafts, fragments, and other writings; congressional and ambassadorial correspondence and subject files; Boothe and Luce family and personal papers; speech files; scrapbooks; artwork; and other papers. Restrictions apply.
John C. Merriam papers
Published/Created: 1899-1938
Includes documents related to the American Birth Control Conference. Papers relating chiefly to Merriam's work as chairman of the National Research Council (U.S.), president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and regent of the Smithsonian Institution.
Patsy Mink papers
Published/Created: 1883-2005 (bulk 1953-2002)
Includes information on women's issues and diethylstilbestrol (DES). Papers relating chiefly to Mink's service in the U.S. House of Representatives. Restrictions apply.
Moral Re-armament records
Published/Created: 1812-1991 (bulk 1873-1966)
Includes papers about Henry H. and Margaret Sanger. Records documenting the policies, organization, programs, activities, and membership of the Moral Re-Armament organization (MRA).
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People records
Published/Created: 1842-1999 (bulk 1919-1991)
Includes documents about birth control, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Women's Rights Project, the National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues, and the Commission on the Status of Women. Papers and records related to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Restrictions apply.
National Council of Jewish Women records
Published/Created: 1893-2019 (bulk 1940-1993)
Includes documents about women's issues. Records documenting the organization's activities and advocacy efforts on behalf of women, children, and families in both the United States and Israel.
National Council of Jewish Women. Washington, D.C, Office records
Published/Created: 1924-2018 (bulk 1944-2010)
Includes information on women's issues, reproductive rights, and abortion rights. Records of the council.
National Urban League records
Published/Created: 1900-1988 (bulk 1930-1979)
Includes records of the Family Planning Project, which aimed to increase the accessibility of family planning services in certain cities across the United States. Records relating to the programs and policies of the National Urban League and its affiliates chiefly in the field of human services and social change. Restrictions apply.
New York Society for the Suppression of Vice records
Published/Created: 1871-1953
Founded by Anthony Comstock, who opposed the distribution of and education about contraception. Reports relating to persons arrested as a result of the society's activities relating to the supervision of public morality in New York state.
Maud Wood Park papers
Published/Created: 1844-1979 (bulk 1886-1951)
Includes documents about the 1943 Birth Control Referendum Papers relating chiefly to Park's activities on behalf of women's suffrage and her association with the League of Women Voters (U.S.), National American Woman Suffrage Association, and Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government, later the League of Women Voters of Boston.
Margaret Sanger papers
Published/Created: 1900-1966 (bulk 1928-1940)
Correspondence, diaries, speeches, lectures, articles, organizational records, clippings, scrapbooks, printed matter, photographs, memorabilia, and other papers relating to Sanger's activities on behalf of birth control in the U.S. and worldwide.
Mary Church Terrell papers
Published/Created: 1851-1962 (bulk 1886-1954)
Includes documents about the National and International Purity Congresses. Correspondence, diaries, speeches, writings, clippings, printed matter, and other papers focusing primarily on Terrell's career as an advocate of women's rights and equal treatment for African Americans.
Anna Kelton Wiley papers
Published/Created: 1798-1964 (bulk 1925-1960)
Includes correspondence with leaders of the Planned Parenthood Association, including Margaret Sanger; also includes pamphlets and newspaper clippings related to birth control and abortion. Papers relating chiefly to Wiley's activities on behalf of women's rights as well as child welfare, consumer protection, and Indian rights. Documents her membership and work in associations and clubs, including the District of Columbia Federation of Women's Clubs; General Federation of Women's Clubs; National Woman's Party; and Women's City Club, Washington, D.C.

Subscription Databases

The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

ProQuest History Vault External This link opens in a new window
ProQuest History Vault debuted in 2011 and is continuously growing to include numerous archival collections documenting the most important and widely studied topics in eighteenth- through twentieth-century American history, digitized in partnership with and from a wide variety of archival institutions. These modules of rich and varied content create a full spectrum of archival materials to complement coursework in many areas including African American studies, women’s studies, history, political science, military and diplomatic history, immigration, and more. Many of the collections in History Vault were originally available in microfilm from the University Publications of America (UPA) research collections and others come from the University Microfilms International (UMI) research collections with additional collections scanned from the original documents.
Collections include:
Women’s Studies
- Margaret Sanger Papers: Smith College Collections and Collected Documents
- Southern Women and their Families in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Holdings of the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Struggle for Women's Rights, Organizational Records, 1880-1990
- Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights
- Women at Work during World War II: Rosie the Riveter and the Women's Army Corps Workers and Labor Unions

Reproductive History in the Manuscript Reading Room

Manuscripts: Ask a Librarian