MARGARET SANGER, BIRTH CONTROL, AND THE EUGENICS MOVEMENTS: CHANGES IN HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INTERPRETATIONS

Abstract

The eugenics movement was embraced by most middle class and professionals during the 1920s. Conflicting interpretations of Sanger, the leader of the birth control movement of the early twentieth century have been published over the past 50 years. Some historians have lauded her as a heroine who pushed through programs to allow women to have control of their own fertility. In opposition, others have discredited her as an evil villain who promoted negative eugenics among immigrant women. As eugenics became vilified in the post-WWII era, so did Sanger, who along with most public health reforms and professionals, were associated with the early 20th century eugenics movements. The changing historiography of the eugenics movement is likely an underlying factor in the changing interpretations of Sanger. Shifting, and contested views of Sanger and the eugenics movement are reflective of the times when the works were written along with the religious and other biases of the historian.