Birth control advocacy organization. The records provide a unique source for the study of the establishment and development of an organization largely run by women. They document the half-century struggle to revoke the Massachusetts Comstock Laws through state initiative and referendum voting (1942, 1948) campaigns for the right to disseminate information on birth control. Also of interest are letters to and from Margaret Sanger, and from General Douglas MacArthur forbidding Sanger from visiting Japan; individual files of Loraine L. Campbell, birth control crusader and President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in the 1950s; and files on such topics as maternal and infant health, abortion, African Americans and birth control, population and public policy, eugenics, marriage and sex counseling, connections and conflicts with the Catholic Church, and contraceptive research. Types of materials include organizational records, conference proceedings, financial records, publicity, photographs, scrapbooks, a large amount of correspondence, and reports.

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The Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts retains copyright ownership of its records but the Sophia Smith Collection can grant permission for publication beyond "fair use." Copyright to materials authored by persons or organizations other than PPLM may be owned by those organizations, individuals, or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection.