Margaret Sanger: an autobiography.Sanger, Margaret
History
Margaret Sanger: an autobiography.
Sanger, Margaret
Birth control -- United States -- Biography; Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966
When I asked, “What’s your name?” with the answer, like a flash, came
the number of children and the locality, and the story sent me years
earlier. And, “Didn’t you live in Des Moines?” I continued. Seldom was
it the wrong place. In this way I came across dozens of “friends” who
had been among the original two thousand.
I was advised by Dr. Mabel Ullrich of Minneapolis not to go there
because the Twin Cities were the most conservative in America. “You
won’t get six people,” she prophesied.
“Do you think I’ll get six?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then I’ll go.”
I was prepared to speak wherever it was possible, regardless of
attendance. Six people, properly convinced, usually made sixty people
think before very long. In spite of Dr. Ullrich’s warning, hundreds of
chairs had to be brought in to the Minneapolis Public Library to take
care of the overflow.
People were frequently surprised at the size of my audiences. I should
have been surprised had it been the other way about, although I did not
like too many present because the subject was too intimate for great
numbers in large halls. All came because birth control touched their
lives deeply and vitally; they listened so earnestly, so intently that
the very atmosphere was hushed and unnaturally quiet.
Here in Minneapolis arrived a telegram from Frederick A. Blossom, Ph.D.,
manager of the Associated Charities of Cleveland, whom I had met there.
Would I speak at the National Social Workers’ Conference then being held
in Indianapolis? He could not get me placed on the program, but the two
subjects that were currently arousing considerable interest were the
prison reforms instituted by Thomas Mott Osborne at Sing Sing, and birth
control. He believed it was worth my while to come.
Since I had nearly a week before my scheduled meeting in St. Louis, the
time fitted in very nicely and I seized the occasion. I did not expect
definite action, but I did yearn to arouse dissatisfaction over
smoothing off the top, to say to these social workers plodding along in
their organizations that I thought their accomplishments were temporary,
and that charity was only a feather duster flicking from the surface
particles which merely settled somewhere else. They could never attain
their ideal of eliminating the problems of the masses until the breeding
of the unending stream of unwanted babies was stopped.
Blossom, polished, educated, and clever, had a charming and disarming
personality, and an ability far above the average. Part of his work had
been to cultivate the rich, and in this he had been eminently successful
because he was so suave, never waving a red flag in front of anybody’s
nose as I did; my flaming Feminism speeches had scared some of my
supporters out of their wits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account