Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger
David M. Kennedy
The relation between Margaret Sanger's character and the nature of the birth control movement she led in the U.S. is explored from 1912, when her pioneering work began, until 1945, when, simultaneously, the U.S. government accepted the idea of birth control and Mrs. Sanger retired from leadership of the movement. The book tries to illuminate, through Mrs. Sanger's life, an aspect of American society of that period, the context in which Mrs. Sanger worked, and the attitudinal and institutional responses she evoked. The focus is on the public career of Margaret Sanger, not her private life. A thorough bibliographical essay and selected bibliography are included at the end.
Award History
1 wins · 1 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bancroft PrizeMajor | 1971 | Winner | Official source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
- Margaret Sanger90%
02 Central places
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.
- America60%
03 Suggested argument
No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.
This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.
The book links Margaret Sanger’s character to the birth control movement’s nature, showing how her public career (1912–1945) shaped and reflected attitudinal and institutional responses in the U.S.
Model confidence 55%
04 Reading orientation
70 / 100 academicAcademic
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 70%.