Eugenics, the set of beliefs and practices which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population, played a significant role in the history and culture of the United States from the late
Eugenics supporters hold signs criticizing various "genetically inferior" groups. Wall Street, New York, c. 1915.
U.S. eugenics poster advocating for the removal of genetic "defectives" such as the insane, "feeble-minded" and criminals, and supporting the selective breeding of "high-grade" individuals, c. 1926
Contestants preparing for the Better Baby Contest at the 1931 Indiana State Fair.
Winning family of a Fitter Family contest stand outside of the Eugenics Building (where contestants register) at the Kansas Free Fair, in Topeka, Kansas.
Margaret Sanger
Videos
Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instrumenta
Eugenics in the United States
…and local feminist organizations that at some point lobbied for eugenic reforms. One of the most prominent feminists to champion the eugenic agenda was Margaret Sanger, the leader of the American birth control movement and founder of the parent organization to Planned Parenthood. Sanger saw birth control as a means…
Sanger in 1936
First issue of The Woman Rebel newsletter, March 1914. Seven issues were published.
This page from Sanger's Family Limitation, 1919 Ninth edition, describes a cervical cap.
Sanger with her sister, Ethel Byrne, on the steps of a New York courthouse during a trial in 1917.