Guide to the Marie Carmichael Stopes Birth Control Collection

Processed by Special Collections staff; latest revision D. Tambo
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 2003
Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Marie Carmichael Stopes Birth Control Collection, ca. 1871-1967

Collection number: Mss 122

Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Davidson Library
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Santa Barbara, CA 93106
  • Phone: (805) 893-3062
  • Fax: (805) 893-5749
  • Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
  • URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
    Processed by:
    Special Collections staff; latest revision D. Tambo
    Date Completed:
    19 November 2003
    Encoded by:
    David C. Gartrell
© 2003 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Marie Carmichael Stopes Birth Control Collection,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1871-1967
Date (bulk): (bulk 1920-1958)
Collection Number: Mss 122
Extent: 9.0 linear feet (22 document boxes and 1 oversized box)
Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical Location: Del Sur (Boxes 1-22) and Del Sur Oversize (Box 23)
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred Citation

Marie Carmichael Stopes Birth Control Collection. Mss 122. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

The bulk of the collection was purchased in 1967 from London bookseller, Peter Eaton, with subsequent smaller purchases from multiple sources, through ca. 1980s.

Biography

Marie Stopes, the daughter of Henry Stopes and Charlotte Carmichael, was born in Edinburgh in 1880. Charlotte, the daughter of the artist, J. F. Carmichael, was the first woman in Scotland to obtain a university certificate. At the university Charlotte was not allowed to attend lectures and although she took the same examinations as the male students, because she was a woman she was awarded a certificate rather than a degree. Charlotte's university experiences turned her into a passionate feminist and she made sure her daughter was fully aware of the arguments for women's suffrage.
Henry Stopes was a distinguished scientist and Marie Stopes shared her father's interest in this subject. At the age of eighteen, she won a science scholarship at University College, London. Stopes was a talented and committed student and in 1901 achieved a double first, a first-class honors degree, in the subjects of botany and geology. She continued her studies in Munich and in 1905 when she obtained her Doctorate, she became Britain's youngest Doctor of Science.
Although very involved in her academic work, Marie Stopes was also interested in politics. Like her mother she supported the women's suffrage campaign and eventually joined the Women's Freedom League. However, she was never arrested or sent to prison for her beliefs.
Stopes married Reginald Gates in 1911. Unlike Stopes, Gates held traditional views of how women should behave. He strongly opposed her membership in the Women's Freedom League. After several years of conflict Stopes obtained a divorce in 1916.
During the First World War Stopes began writing a book about feminism and marriage. In her book Married Love, she argued that marriage should be an equal relationship between husband and wife. However, she had great difficulty finding a publisher. Walter Blackie of Blackie & Son rejected her manuscript with the words: "The theme does not please me." Blackie objected to passages such as, " far too often, marriage puts an end to women's intellectual life. Marriage can never reach its full stature until women possess as much intellectual freedom and freedom of opportunity within it as do their partners."
It was not until, March 1918, that Marie Stopes found a small company that was willing to take the risk of publishing Married Love. The book was an immediate success, selling 2,000 copies within a few weeks and by the end of the year had been reprinted six times. Married Love was also published in America but the courts declared the book obscene and it was promptly banned.
Stopes' next book was about birth control. She had become interested in this subject after meeting Margaret Sanger, a birth control advocate from America. Sanger had fled to Britain in 1915 after she had been charged for publishing in her newspaper an "obscene and lewd article" that offered advice on birth control. In London she met Marie Stopes. After hearing Margaret Sanger's story Stopes decided to start a birth-control campaign in Britain, although realizing it would be dangerous as several people in Britain already had been sent to prison for such advocacy.
In 1918 Stopes wrote a concise guide to contraception called Wise Parenthood, which upset the leaders of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. Despite this opposition, Stopes continued her campaign and in 1921 founded the Society for Constructive Birth Control (CBC). With financial help from her second husband, Humphrey Roe, Stopes also opened the first of her birth-control clinics in Holloway, North London on March 17, 1921.
Marie Stopes was involved in several other crusades during her life, including an attempt to stop education authorities from firing married women teachers. She also become involved in the campaign to persuade the Inland Revenue to tax husbands and wives separately.
Stopes spent the rest of her life campaigning for the causes she believed in. Much of her time was spent writing articles for her newspaper Birth Control News. She also wrote novels, poetry, and children's stories. These included Love's Creation (1928) and Love Songs for Young Lovers (1938). Marie Stopes died in 1958.
Further information about Marie Stopes is available in a number of works, including:
Bryant, Keith. Marie Stopes: A Biography (London, 1962). Cohen, Deborah A. "Private Lives in Public Spaces: Marie Stopes, the Mothers' Clinics and the Practice of Contraception," History Workshop Journal 35 (1993): 95-116. Eaton, Peter. Marie Stopes: A Checklist of Her Writings (London, 1977). Hall, Ruth E. Marie Stopes, a Biography (London, 1977). Holtzman, Ellen M. Marriage, Sexuality, and Contraception in the British Middle Class: 1918-1939: The Correspondence of Marie Stopes (PhD Thesis, Rutgers University, 1982). Jackson, Margaret. The Real Facts of Life: Feminism and the Politics of Sexuality c. 1850-1940(London, 1994) Neushul, Peter. "Marie C. Stopes and the Popularization of Birth Control Technology," Technology and Culture, 39, 2 (1998): 245-272. Peel, Robert A., ed. Marie Stopes, Eugenics and the English Birth Control Movement (London, 1996). Rediscovering Forgotten Radicals: British Women Writers (Chapel Hill, 1993). Reynolds, Moira Davison. Women Advocates of Reproductive Rights: Eleven Who Led the Struggle in the United States and Great Britain (Jefferson, N.C., 1994). Rose, June. Marie Stopes and the Sexual Revolution (London, 1992). Stopes, Marie [plaintiff]. Birth Control and Libel: The Trial of Marie Stopes(South Brunswick, N.J., 1968). Women in the Milieu of Leonard and Virginia Woolf: Peace, Politics, and Education (New York, 1998).
Related works on the history of birth control include:
Controlling Reproduction: An American History (Wilmington, Delaware, 1997). McClaren, Angus. A History of Contraception from Antiquity to the Present Day (Cambridge, Mass., 1990). Soloway, R. A. Birth Control and the Population Question in England, 1877-1930 (Chapel Hill, 1982).
Web sites with further information on Marie Stopes:
London Museum, WSPU Collection: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wstopes.htm (information on Women's Social and Political Union, with biographical data on Marie Stopes and others affiliated with women's emancipation issues; links to related sites). Marie Stopes International: http://www.mariestopes.org.uk

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection contains material pertaining to Marie Stopes, organizations with which she was affiliated, and other organizations and individuals concerned about issues of abortion, birth control, contraception, eugenics, obstetrics, population, sexual behavior, sterilization, and welfare of women, primarily in Great Britain, but also including some items from the U.S. and other countries. The collection has been assembled from multiple sources.

Related Material

At UCSB:
The Marie Stopes Collection in the Department of Special Collections also contains a number of printed works, including books by and about Marie Stopes, as well as books by others on topics including birth control, prostitution, and sexual behavior. These titles are cataloged and may be searched on Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog.
The Garret Hardin Papers (UCSB faculty) contains correspondence, research files, and drafts of his publications on birth control and population studies. UArch FacP 14.
At Other Institutions:
British Library of Political and Economic Sciences. British Birth Control Material at the British Library of Political and Economic Sciences: 1800-1947, 10 microfilm reels (London, 1974).
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine Library [London]. Contemporary Medical Archives Centre. Extensive holdings, with many archival collections relating to birth control, including Marie Stopes papers, 70+ boxes, with letters from members of the general public, medical profession, clergy, etc., who had read her works; in some cases with copies of her replies. Also material on clinics and CBC Society, meetings, literary and legal papers. Web site at: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/

 

Series 1.  Stopes Files

 

Subseries 1.  Biographical Information

Box 1: 1

Biographical Information, ca. 1918 - 1958

Abstract: [Includes biographical sketches, notice of marriage to Humphrey Verdon Roe, clippings re Contraception, and passport]
 

Subseries 2.  Correspondence

 

Incoming

Box 1: 2

Andrew W. Barr & Co., 1939 - 1953

Box 1: 3

Barclays Bank Limited, 1938, 1952-1957

Box 1: 4

Barker, Ambrose, 1927

Box 1: 5

Bedborough, George, 1931 - 1932

Box 1: 6

Blacker, C. P., 1930

Box 1: 7

Bootle, E. A., 1925, 1938

Box 1: 8

Braby & Waller, Solicitors, 1923, 1935-1937

Box 1: 9

Burn & Berridge, Solicitors, 1935 - 1947

Box 1: 10

Gaunt, Reginald W., 1936-1938, 1946-1947

Box 1: 11

George Ham & Co., 1955 - 1958

Box 1: 12

H. K. Lewis & Co., Ltd., 1923

Box 1: 13

Haire, Norman, 1929 - 1931

Box 1: 14

Himes, Norman E., 1926 - 1927

Box 1: 15

Inland Revenue, 1938

Box 1: 16

John Bale Sons & Danielsson Ltd., 1923 - 1931

Box 1: 17

Jones, George, 1923, 1931

Box 1: 18

Lancet, 1923, 1927

Abstract: [Journal]
Box 1: 19

Legation de Suisse en Grande-Bretagne, 1943

Box 1: 20

London Rubber Company Ltd., 1952

Box 1: 21

Methodist Church Temperance & Social Welfare Department, 1943

Box 1: 22

Midland Bank Limited, 1938

Box 1: 23

National Provincial Bank Limited, 1946 - 1960

Box 1: 24

North Kensington Women's Welfare Centre, 1928

Box 1: 25

Patent Office: Trade Marks Branch, 1930 - 1938

Box 1: 26

Putnam & Company, Ltd., 1923 - 1949

Box 1: 27

Rajaraknain, V. V., 1925

Box 1: 28

Royal Society of Medicine, 1923 - 1931

Abstract: [H. E. Powell, Librarian]
Box 1: 29

Spacie, J., 1958

Box 1: 30

Thurston, Edwards & Co., 1931 - 1958

Abstract: [A. P. Thurston & Co.]
Box 1: 31

Wickwar, William H., 1927

Box 2: 1 - 7

Miscellany, 1920s-1950s

Abstract: [arranged alphabetically, by surname]
Box 2: 1

A-C

Box 2: 2

D-F

Box 2: 3

G-I

Box 2: 4

J-L

Box 2: 5

M-P

Box 2: 6

Q-U

Box 2: 7

V-Z

 

Outgoing

Box 2: 8 - 9

Society of Authors, 1929 - 1953

Abstract: [originals, re copyright and other issues]
Box 2: 10

29 Apr. 1923 - 2 Aug. 1927, 1923 - 1927

Box 2: 11

21 June 1930 - 29 July 1938, 1930 - 1938

Box 2: 12

14 Mar. 1940 - 31 Oct. 1949, 1940 - 1949

Box 2: 13

11 May 1950 - 21 Nov. 1958, 1950 - 1958

 

Subseries 3.  Financial Records

Box 3: 1

1931, mainly regarding book Contraception, 1931

Box 3: 2

1953, regarding Leatherhead Theatre Guild, 1953

 

Subseries 4.  Legal Records

Box 3: 3

Application for a Patent by A. & H., in respect of "An improved contraceptive device", 1927

Abstract: [application refused and appeal dismissed]
Box 3: 4

Buckmaster Resolution, 28 Apr. n.y.

Abstract: [government requested to withdraw instructions causing Welfare Committees to withhold information regarding best means of limiting their families]
Box 3: 5

Carpenter Case, ca. 1927 - 1930

Box 3: 6

Royal Institute of Public Health - Memorandum and Articles of Association, with amendments, n.d.

Box 3: 7

Salvation Army Trustee Company - Memorandum and Articles of Association, 1931

Box 3: 8

Stopes v. Bournes & Others, 1930 - 1932

Abstract: [libel case]
Box 3: 9

Sutherland v. Stopes, 1935

Box 3: 10

United States v. One book entitled "Contraception" by Marie C. Stopes, 1931

 

Subseries 5.  Survey of Biological Research

Box 3: 11

Survey of Biological Research, 1920

 

Subseries 6.  Writings of Marie C. Stopes

Box 4: 1

General

Abstract: [mainly publishers' advertisements - multiple titles]
Box 4: 2 - 5: 13

Monographs

Box 4: 2

Ancient Plants

Box 4: 3

A Banned Play and a Preface on the Censorship

Box 4: 4

Birth Control Today

Abstract: [incl. print copy with corrections]
Box 4: 5

Change of Life, in Man and Woman

Box 4: 6

Coital Interlocking: A Physiological Discovery

Abstract: [incl. typescript draft with holographic corrections, and related correspondence]
Box 4: 7 - 13

Contraception (Birth Control): Its Theory, History and Practice: A Manual for the Medical and Legal Professions

Box 4: 7 - 8

Typescript with corrections

Box 4: 9

Third edition, holograph revisions

Box 4: 10 - 11

Advertisements

Box 4: 12 - 13

Reviews

Box 5: 1

Enduring Passion

Abstract: [incl. typescript corrections for second edition]
Box 5: 2

The First Five Thousand

Box 5: 3

The Human Body and Its Functions

Box 5: 4

A Journal from Japan

Box 5: 5

Marriage

Box 5: 6

Married Love

Box 5: 7

Mother England

Box 5: 8

Plays of Old Japan

Box 5: 9

Roman Catholic Methods of Birth Control

Box 5: 10

Sleep

Box 5: 11

The Study of Plant Life

Box 5: 12

Truth about Venereal Disease

Abstract: [print copy with holographic corrections]
Box 5: 13

Wise Parenthood

Box 5: 14

Articles

Box 5: 15

Letters to Editors

Box 5: 16

Pamphlets

Box 5: 17

Plays and Films

Box 5: 18

Poetry

Box 5: 19

Miscellany

Abstract: [includes advertisements and reviews for children's stories by Erica Fay, a pen name for Stopes]
 

Subseries 7.  Lectures

Box 5: 20

Lectures, ca. 1923 - 1958

Abstract: [mainly flyers and advertisements]
 

Series 2.  CBC [The Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress]

 

Subseries 1.  General

Box 6: 1

By-laws, list of officers and speakers, reports, resolutions, ca. 1921-1938, 1956

Box 6: 2

Caravan Clinic, 1933

Box 6: 3

CBC Branches, ca. 1939 - 1942

Box 6: 4

CBC Library, ca. 1922-1930s

Box 6: 5

Conferences on Birth Control and Sex Research, ca. 1930s

Box 6: 6

Correspondence - from Sec. Roe, 1930 - 1947

Box 6: 7

Events, 1921 - 1946

Abstract: [includes notices of annual meetings, debates, lectures, luncheons, dinners]
Box 6: 8

History of CBC, n.d.

Box 6: 9

Manifesto, 1921

Box 6: 10

Minute Book, 1921 - 1933

Abstract: [photostat]
Box 7: 1

Minute Book, 1932 - 1943

Abstract: [includes description of clinic being bombed during WWII]
Box 7: 2

Minute Book, 1949 - 1955

Abstract: [General Committee]
Box 7: 3

Mothers' Clinics, ca. 1938 - 1945

Box 7: 4

Prescriptions and Home Remedies, n.d.

Box 7: 5

Printed Matter, ca. 1930s

Abstract: [includes book lists, flyers, letterhead stationery, membership forms with copies of the CBC constitution]
Box 7: 6

Miscellany, ca. 1920s-1930s

Abstract: [includes blank 1930 University of Chicago survey on attitude toward birth control]
 

Subseries 2.  Financial Records

Box 7: 7

Banking Records, ca. 1946 - 1958

Abstract: [includes cancelled cheques with Stopes' signature]
Box 7: 8

London Rubber Company Ltd. - Invoices and Order Book, ca. 1955 - 1960

Box 7: 9

Subscriptions, ca. 1928 - 1952

Box 7: 10

Taxes, 1938, 1946

 

Subseries 3.  Legal Records

Box 7: 11

British Monomarks Limited - Clincocap, 1933

Box 7: 12

Gregg, Helen Edith - Trust, 1954 - 1955

Box 7: 13

Legal Fees, 1933 - 1937

Box 7: 14

Trade Marks - British, ca. 1930 - 1958

Box 8: 1

Trade Marks - Foreign, ca. 1931 - 1955

Box 8: 2

Trade Marks - India, 1934 - 1947

Box 8: 3

Trade Marks - South and South West Africa, 1934 - 1958

Box 8: 4

Trust Deeds, 1933 - 1935

Box 8: 5

Wellcome, Sir Henry Solomon - Will, 1932

 

Series 3.  NKWWC [North Kensington Women's Welfare Centre]

 

Subseries 1.  General

Box 8: 6

Activities, ca. 1932 - 1935

Abstract: [flyers, invitations, programs]
Box 8: 7

Annual General Meeting, 1961

Box 8: 8

Annual Reports, 1926-1931, 1950

Box 8: 9

Architectural Drawings, 1951

Box 8: 10

British Medical Association Controversy, 1952

Box 8: 11

Case Biographies, n.d.

Abstract: [names masked]
Box 8: 12

Clinic Workers Handbook, ca. 1950s

Box 8: 13

Executive Committee Meetings, 1960-1961, 1964

Abstract: [minutes, agenda]
Box 8: 14

Financial Records, 1939, 1951, n.d.

Box 8: 15

Historical Notes, 1928

Box 8: 16

Minister of Health's Visit, 1955

Abstract: [includes photos]
Box 8: 17

Patients, 1952

Abstract: [statistics]
Box 8: 18

Peel, John, ca. 1950s

Abstract: [lists of materials sent by Spring Rice for Peel's birth control research]
Box 8: 19

Printed Organization Information, ca. 1920s-1965

Abstract: [material issued by NKWWC, including flyers, handouts, informational literature, list of books and pamphlets available for loan. membership leaflets, order forms for birth control supplies, position papers, reports]
Box 9: 1 - 2

Reports, Position Papers, and Memoranda, ca. 1926-1957, n.d.

Abstract: [typescript and handwritten mss]
Box 9: 3

Spring Rice, Margery - Miscellany, ca. 1930s-1950s

Abstract: [includes lists of potential subscribers]
Box 9: 4

Trusts and Charities, 1950s

 

Subseries 2.  Correspondence

Box 9: 5 - 10: 3

Spring Rice, Margery

Box 9: 5 - 10: 2

Incoming

Box 9: 5

Agnew, Doreen, 1955 - 1961

Box 9: 6

Birth Control Investigating Committee, 1929 - 1953

Box 9: 7

Clifford Smith, N. Josephine, 1957 - 1958

Abstract: [Family Planning Association]
Box 9: 8

Ellis, Arthur, 1927, 1951

Box 9: 9

Eugenics Society, 1930, 1953-1957

Box 9: 10

Family Planning Association, 1954, 1961-1962

Box 9: 11

Garrett, Roderick, 1950 - 1954

Box 9: 12

Hebert, Isabella, 1951 - 1958

Box 9: 13

Llewellyn Smith and Waters, 1951

Box 9: 14

Malleson, Joan, 1938 - 1954

Box 9: 15

Morgan, Nadia, 1954 - 1958

Abstract: [Mrs. A. E. Morgan]
Box 9: 16

Parker, Freda, 1953 - 1958

Box 9: 17

Peel, John, 1962 - 1963

Abstract: [sociologist, birth control study]
Box 9: 18

Peers, Rotha, 1951 - 1958

Box 9: 19

Pyke, Margaret, 1951-1958, 1962

Box 9: 20

Raphael, Nancy, 1951

Abstract: [Mrs. Geoffrey Raphael]
Box 9: 21

Redding, Mary, 1950 - 1953

Box 9: 22

Scott, J. A., 1956 - 1957

Box 9: 23

Stevenson, A., 1953 - 1958

Box 9: 24

Misc. : A-G, 1927 - 1962

Box 10: 1

Misc.: H-P, 1927 - 1962

Box 10: 2

Misc.: Q-Z

Box 10: 3

Outgoing, 1930 - 1962

Box 10: 4

Miscellany, 1927 - 1957

Abstract: [various individuals and organizations re birth control, connection to NKWWC unclear]
 

Subseries 3.  Printed Matter

Box 10: 5

Printed Matter

Abstract: [pamphlets, flyers, articles, clippings, and other materials published by others re birth control and contraceptives]
 

Series 4.  Other Organizations

Physical Description: Boxes 10-12.

Scope and Content Note

Contains flyers, leaflets, pamphlets and reports for numerous organizations and conferences, most British, such as the Family Planning Association, but also some U.S.
Box 10: 6

Abortion Law Reform Association, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 7

American Birth Control League, Inc., ca. 1920s

Abstract: [New York]
Box 10: 8

Birth Control International Information Centre, ca. 1930s

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 9

Birth Control Investigation Committee, ca. 1928 - 1932

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 10

Birth Control Movement Information Centre, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 11

British National Conference on Social Work, 1953

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 12

British Social Hygiene Council, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 13

Brook Advisory Centres, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 14

Bureau for Contraceptive Advice, 1929

Abstract: [Baltimore, MD]
Box 10: 15

Cambridge Women's Welfare Association, 1927 - 1928

Box 10: 16

Committee for Legalising Eugenic Sterilization, ca. 1931

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 17

Committee on Maternal Health, 1924, 1927

Abstract: [New York]
Box 10: 18

Conference on the Giving of Information on Birth Control by Public Health Authorities, 1930

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 19

Doctors' Conference, 1928 - 1933

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 20

Edinburgh Obstetrical Society, 1947

Box 10: 21

Eugenics Society, ca. 1928 - 1959

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 22 - 11: 5

Family Planning Association [FPA]

Abstract: [London]
Box 10: 22

Biographical, n.d.

Box 10: 23

Conference, 1953

Box 11: 1

History, 1962

Box 11: 2

Meetings, 1951 - 1965

Abstract: [agenda, minutes]
Box 11: 3

Memoranda, ca. 1940s-1950s

Box 11: 4

Printed Matter, ca. 1943 - 1966

Abstract: [issues by FPA, including flyers, information sheets, leaflets, lists, surveys]
Box 11: 5

Reports and Position Papers, 1945 - 1965

Box 11: 6

Health Promotion Ltd., n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 7

Human Betterment Foundation, 1930

Abstract: [Pasadena, CA]
Box 11: 8

Illinois Birth Control League, 1932

Box 11: 9

International Planned Parenthood Federation, ca. 1953 - 1965

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 10

International Union for the Scientific Investigation of Population Problems, ca. 1928, 1931

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 11

Kontrol Patent Outfit, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 12

League of National Life, ca. 1920s

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 13

London Marriage Guidance Council, 1954

Box 11: 14

Manchester, Salford, & District Mothers' Clinic for Birth Control, 1931

Box 11: 15

Margaret Sanger Birth Control Headquarters, n.d.

Abstract: [New York]
Box 11: 16

Marie Stopes Memorial Clinic, ca. 1960s

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 17

Maternal Health Center, 1933

Abstract: [Newark, NJ]
Box 11: 18

Modern Churchmen's Union, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 19

Mothers' Clinics, 1955

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 20

National Birth Control Association, ca. 1930s

Box 11: 21

National Birth Control League, 1921

Abstract: [New York]
Box 11: 22

National Committee on Maternal Health, Inc, 1934

Abstract: [New York]
Box 11: 23

National Conference of Labour Women, 1933

Abstract: [West Hartlepool, UK]
Box 11: 24

National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, 1926

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 25

People's Clinic for Birth Control and Social Welfare, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 26

Planned Parenthood - World Population, ca. 1960s

Abstract: [New York]
Box 11: 27

Royal College of Physicians of London, 1930

Box 11: 28

Royal Institute of Public Health, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
Box 11: 29

Royal Society of Health, 1956

Abstract: [London]
Box 12: 1

Sex Study Circle (London) - More Light letters, 1928

Box 12: 2

Society for the Provision of Birth Control Clinics, ca. 1930-1937, 1962

Abstract: [London]
Box 12: 3

Society for the Study of Fertility, n.d.

Abstract: [London]
 

Series 5.  Research Files

Physical Description: Boxes 12-16.

Scope and Content Note

Contains advertisements, articles, flyers, journals, pamphlets, and other printed ephemera re birth control and birth control devices, contraception, eugenics, family planning; obstetrics, population, and sterilization.
Box 12: 4 - 5

Advertisements, flyers, pamphlets, and other printed ephemera

Box 12: 4

Birth Control Devices, ca. 1920s-1960s

Box 12: 5

Family Planning and Personal Hygiene, ca. 1930s-1960s

Box 12: 6 - 13: 1

Articles by others - re birth control, contraception, eugenics, obstetrics, population, race, sterilization

Abstract: [arranged by surname]
Box 12: 6

A-D, 1920s-1930s

Box 12: 7

E-L, 1920s-1940s

Box 12: 8

M-R

Box 13: 1

S-Z, 1920s-1930s

Box 13: 2 - 4

Book Notes, ca. 1919-1930s

Abstract: [mostly references to population, many written on back of Birth Control Newsstationery]
Box 13: 5

Government Documents, 1871 - 1953

Abstract: [British]
Box 13: 6 - 14: 6

Journals

Abstract: [scattered issues]
Box 13: 6

Archiv fur Gynakologie, 1930

Abstract: [Berlin]
Box 13: 7

Ars Medici, 1923

Abstract: [Vienna]
Box 13: 8

Birth Control News, 1930

Box 13: 9

Birth Control Review, 1917 - 1934

Abstract: [published by the American Birth Control League, Inc.]
Box 13: 10

Catholic Medical Guardian, 1928

Box 13: 11

Eugenics Review, 1956

Box 13: 12

Franco-British Medical Review, 1924

Box 13: 13

La Ginecologia Pratica, 1926

Box 13: 14

Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute, 1932

Box 14: 1

Madras Birth Control Bulletin, 1931

Box 14: 2

Medical Critic and Guide, 1932

Box 14: 3

Medical Officer, 1931

Abstract: [includes letter to editor from H. V. Roe, Stopes' husband
Box 14: 4

Old Moore's Almanack, 1931

Box 14: 5

Trade Marks Journal, 1930 - 1933

Box 14: 6

The Yakugyo Shuho, 1935

Abstract: [Tokyo]
Box 14: 7 - 16: 4

Medical Articles

Abstract: [mainly articles and clippings, British and foreign, re abortion, birth control, medical, and Marie Stopes]
Box 14: 7

1921-1925, 1921 - 1925

Box 14: 8

1926-1929, 1926 - 1929

Box 14: 9

1930, 1930

Box 14: 10 - 11

1931-1932, 1931 - 1932

Box 15: 1 - 6

1932-1939, 1932 - 1939

Box 16: 1 - 2

1940-1944, 1940 - 1944

Box 16: 3

1945, 1949, 1945, 1949

Box 16: 4

1950-1954, 1956, 1959, n.d., 1950-1954, 1956, 1959, n.d.

 

Series 6.  Miscellany

Physical Description: Boxes 16-18.

Scope and Content Note

Includes correspondence, articles, clippings, notebooks, and typescript manuscripts, re individuals and organizations such as John Gawsworth, George Ives, the Oneida Community, and Margaret Sanger, on issues of family planning, prostitution, sexual behavior, and women.
Box 16: 5

Alphabet Cartoon Book, ca. latter 1800s

Abstract: [drawing and short poem for each letter of the alphabet]
Box 16: 6

Bedborough, George - correspondence re contraception and sterilization, 1931

Box 16: 7

Crew, F. A. E. - "Sexuality and Intersexuality", 1925

Abstract: [typescript and proof]
Box 16: 8

Essay on Women, Prostitution and Disease, n.d.

Abstract: [handwritten]
Box 16: 9

First Caribbean Family Planning Seminar, 1967

Box 16: 10

Fuller, Edward - correspondence and articles on sex education, 1920

Box 17: 1

Gawsworth, John - notes, clippings, and other on Havelock Ellis, ca. 1930s

Box 17: 2

Holyoake, George Jacob, 1873

Abstract: [Holyoake started the Secular Review in 1876, an influential journal that helped pave the way for the birth control movement - 1 letter (ALS), 11 Aug. 1873]
Box 17: 3 - 8

Ives, George

Box 17: 3

Carpenter, Edward - two notebooks and two printed portraits, n.d.

Box 17: 4

Graeco-Roman View of Youth - notebook, n.d.

Box 17: 5

"The Order" - notebook, n.d.

Box 17: 6

"Second Verse Book" - notebook, 1900

Box 17: 7

"Service of Initiation" - notebook, 1899

Box 17: 8

Westermarck - "Sexual Matters in Morocco", 1928

Box 17: 9

"La Main", n.d.

Abstract: [short story, in French]
Box 17: 10

Moulton, H. Fletcher - "Be Fruitful and Multiply", [1945?]

Abstract: [typescript]
Box 17: 11

Oneida Community (Oneida, NY) - notebook with essays on women, love, and sex, ca. 1900

Box 17: 12

Porter, Noel - Typescript ms, "Four Years' Psycho-Sexual History of a Young Girl, Age 10-14", ca. 1922

Box 18: 1

Prostitutes of Japan, n.d.

Abstract: [2 picture postcards]
Box 18: 2

Richter, R. R. - "A means to prevent conception", n.d.

Abstract: [typescript ms]
Box 18: 3

Roe, Humphrey, 1932

Abstract: [Stopes' husband) - one letter (ALS) to Roe and one letter (ALS), addressed "Darling One," possibly from Roe to Stopes, re legal issues surrounding Clinicap]
Box 18: 4

Sanger, Margaret - 1 letter (TLS), to Jane Hawthorne (Mothers Clinic), re Seventh International Birth Control Conference, 30 May 1930

Box 18: 5

Sex Education - notes, in French, n.d.

Box 18: 6

Stead, W[illiam] T. - 1 letter l (TLS) to a Mrs. Grant, re visiting him, 1906

Box 18: 7

Streetwalkers in London - 1 letter, typescript, and newspaper article, in Dutch, 1959

Box 18: 8

Telco, Paul - Typescript (carbon) of "The Birth Control Racket," with copy of an accompanying letter, 18 Aug. 1931

Box 18: 9

"To the Married of Both Sexes in Genteel Life", n.d.

Abstract: [photostat of handbill]
 

Series 7.  Photographs and Illustrations

Physical Description: Box 18.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a cartoon and portrait of Marie Stopes; a photo of a CBC wagon; drawings, negatives, and printed plates of birth control devices and the Mothers' Clinic; and color slides of birth control devices contained in Series VIII of this collection.
Box 18: 10 - 14

Birth Control Devices

Box 18: 10

Color slides, with captions, n.d.

Abstract: [images of items in Series VIII]
Box 18: 11

Drawing, 1927

Abstract: [from Johnston Engraving Co.]
Box 18: 12

Negatives - Film

Box 18: 13

Negatives - Glass, n.d.

Box 18: 14

Photos and related printed plates

Abstract: [also includes images of Mothers' Clinic storefront and interior]
Box 18: 15

CBC Wagon - b/w print, ca. 1920s-1930s

Box 18: 16 - 17

Stopes, Marie

Box 18: 16

Cartoon, 1933

Abstract: [from the New Statesman & Nation, Dec. 9, 1933]
Box 18: 17

Portrait - lithograph, n.d.

 

Series 8.  Artifacts

 

Subseries 1.  Condoms

Box 19: 1

11 Spanish animal skin condoms

Abstract: [curved and rather thicker than the French variety. One wrapper. Could be used 2-3 times if washed carefully.]
Box 19: 2

10 condoms

Abstract: [Made from animal tissue, of a fine white quality. Very thin and must only be used once. One wrapper.]
Box 19: 3

4 condoms of a papery texture, tied with pink silk. One wrapper.

Box 19: 4

5 condoms, super rose quality made from animal tissue and colored salmon pink. For use only once. One wrapper.

Box 19: 5

Condom packet, pink in color. Hand made, seamless. "Venus Brand." "Sold for the prevention of disease only."

 

Subseries 2.  Cervical Caps

Box 19: 6

3 cervical caps, metal, portio-type. Various shapes and/or sizes.

Box 19: 7

2 cervical caps, metal, portio-type. Very springy metal with a nicked rim giving it great flexibility. One large and one small.

Box 19: 8

2 perspex caps, yellow, transparent plastic. Portio and occlusive types, the portio rimless, the occlusive rimmed.

Box 19: 9

1 occlusive cap, rubber with high simple dome and soft rim, with silk thread attached for easy removal. Instructions enclosed in which it claims the advantage over its rivals that it can be boiled for sterilization. One blue box.

Box 19: 10

2 pessaries. The "Unique" is an occlusive type, high domed rubber, soulded rim with thread attached. Instructions included along with an address from Dr. R. R. Adige.

Abstract: ["Dr. Patterson's Solid Rim Check Pessary" has a slightly different arrangement of thread. Two boxes.]
Box 19: 11

2 occlusive caps with stiff rims and high simple domes.

Box 19: 12

1 cervical cap, high domed with soft rim.

Box 19: 13

1 occlusive cap, covered with sponge with string attached, "The Gem." 1 note in Marie Stopes' hand calling it a "commercial freak." Instructions included.

Box 19: 14

2 cervical caps. Red rubber, high domed, soft rimmed. "Racial" caps of the type used by Stopes in her clinic. One note indicating a patient was returning hers after using it for five years. One box.

Box 19: 15

Directions for a sponge-like occusator. Pink paper.

Box 20: 1

1 cervical cap. "Dutch cap", a flattened version of the cervical cap and Margaret Sanger preferred device. Forerunner of the diaphragm.

Box 20: 2

1 metal ring for holding the "Kaiser" type pessary during insertion.

 

Subseries 3.  IUDs

Box 20: 3

3 cervical studs. One is light colored, probably bone, smaller than the other two with a slightly bulbous end. Ther other two are dark in color, made of wood, and are larger than the first.

Box 20: 4

1 cervical stud (?). Has a broad, concave base with a short, thick stem only 1/2 inch long.

Box 20: 5

Photo of the Graefenberg silver ring and the apparatus for inserting the ring. It is a long metal tube, curved at the end with a plunger of wire in the middle.

Box 20: 6

Intrauterine device: Silk loops or a stands gut tied together with a wire.

 

Subseries 4.  Chemical Contraceptives

Box 20: 7

Ortho-Gynol. 6 tubes of ointment, 6 metal plungers, 1 box. For use around the cervix itself. A note written in the instruction leaflet in Stopes' hand reads, "Another of them? Dangerous tubes."

Box 20: 8

1 quinine pessary. Made by Caly & Abraham. Pessary is in a degenerate state. 1 red metal box.

Box 20: 9

Patentex. 1 tube and 1 box. The product that Stopes condemns as dangerous.

Box 20: 10

"Femineax Sterils". Quinine in some form of waxy base.

Box 20: 11

"Pesolettes." Vaginal tablets. Ingredients not named. Made in Germany.

Box 21: 1

Suppositol. Jar of ointment made in Germany.

Box 21: 2

3 kinds of chemical contraceptives: Sanitabs, for "security in feminine hygiene." Discretion, tablets made in Germany. Chinovagin, a tube of tablets for the treatment of vaginal disorders. 3 boxes.

Box 21: 3

3 boxes of German products: Kreuz-Ovale, Einlage-Pastillen, and Hygibe-Tabletten. 2 instruction sheets included.

Box 21: 4

2 chemical items: 1 box of waxy suppositories and an unnamed box of white tablets.

Box 21: 5

"Anti-stork" tampons. To be impregnated with chemical spermicides and placed in the vagina. Made in England. 1 box.

 

Subseries 5.  Rhythm Calendars

Box 21: 6

"Concip-calendar" for calculating the safe period of a woman's menstrual cyle. 1 TLS to Dr. Stopes from H. Heyssur. 1 sheet of instructions.

Box 21: 7

Metal rod calendar for calculating the safe period of the menstrual cycle.

 

Subseries 6.  Miscellany

Box 22: 1

2 boxes of Russian products. One held a syringe. The other contains six glass tubes, each holding a brown viscous liquid, with a cork at one end and a wax plug at the other.

Box 22: 2

1 round sponge. Flat, about 1/4 inch depth and 4" diameter inclosed in a cotton netting. Several notes in Dr. Stopes' hand describing the advantages of a larger, less porous sponge.

Box 22: 3

2 items. Hollow, curved glass rod, 1/4' in diameter and about 8" long. A glazed porcelain ring, about 3/4" across, hollowed in the middle.

Box 22: 4

1 brown, hollow, celluloid object. Oval in shape, about 4" long with holes at either end. Rattles slightly.

Box 22: 5

Cotton.

Box 22: 6

Exhibit labels for the Museum of Contraception at the Mothers' Clinic, n.d.

 

Series 9.  Oversize

Physical Description: Box 23.

Scope and Content Note

Contains posters mainly advertising Stopes speeches, and a public notice of the first birth control clinic in the British empire, opened on Mar. 17, 1921, by Stopes and Roe.
Box 23: 1

Posters

Abstract: [4 items, mainly public meetings advertising Stopes and others as speakers]
Box 23: 1

Public notice, 17th of March, 1921

Abstract: ["This, the first birth control clinic in the British empire, opened on the 17th of March, 1921, by Humphrey Verdon Roe and his wife, Marie Carmichael Stopes "]