Sanger, Margaret (1879-1966), was an American leader of the birth control movement during the early 1900’s. At that time, it was illegal to distribute birth control information or devices in the United States. Sanger believed women should have economic and social equality with men. She thought that, to achieve such equality, women needed to avoid unwanted pregnancy. To help them do so, she founded what became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the nation’s major birth control organization. Sanger originated the term birth control, which was formerly called voluntary motherhood.
Sanger was born in Corning, New York, on Sept. 14, 1879. In 1912, she began to work as a nurse, caring for poor women in New York City. She saw the suffering caused to women by unwanted pregnancy. She joined the Socialist Party, became a feminist, and devoted her life to promoting birth control. In 1916, Sanger opened a birth control clinic, for which she was arrested and sent to prison. She eventually helped obtain passage of laws allowing doctors to give birth control advice. Sanger died on Sept. 6, 1966.
