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M a rie C . S to p e s a n d th e P o p u la riza tio n zyxwvutsrqponm o f B irth C o n tro l T e c h n o lo g y PETER NEUSHUL Development and effective application of contraceptive technolo­ gies are tasks that have challenged human societies for centuries. Birth control technologies are tightly woven into the fabric of soci­ ety, affecting directly its size, composition, and well-being. Through­ out the twentieth century, contraceptive technologies had an in­ creasingly significant impact on society. Even with the development of new designs, materials, and pharmaceuticals, however, the techni­ cal problems associated with contraception are still only partially re­ solved. In fact, all popular barrier-type birth control technologies used today were already available, albeit in more primitive form, at the turn of the century. Despite their inextricable linkage with hu­ man population, these technologies are rarely the focus of historical writing and are often overshadowed by the stories of individuals or organizations advocating their use. This is certainly the case with Marie Stopes, Britain’s pioneer birth control advocate, whose clinics and technological preferences are only of passing interest to her biographers.1 Dr . Ne u s h u l is a visiting researcher at the California Institute of Technology and at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He thanks Carroll Pursell, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Lesley Hall, Michael Osborne, Lawrence Badash, Fernando I. Elichirigoity, DanielJ. Kevles, Frank D. Gardner, and the T ech n o lo g y a n d C u ltu re re fe r­ e e s for their guidance. The research for this article was funded in part by a travel grant from the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. 1 Marie Stopes’s biographies include two by her former lovers: Aylmer Maude, T h e A u th o rized L ife o f M a rie C . Stopes (London, 1924), and Keith R. Briant, M a rie Stopes: A B io g ra p h y (London, 1962). More reliable accounts are Ruth Hall, M a rie Stopes: A B io g ra p h y (London, 1977), andJune Rose, M a rie Stopes a n d th e S exu a l R evo lu tio n (Lon­ don, 1992). Hall and Rose used Stopes’s papers at the British Library and Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Norman Himes’s classic M ed ica l H isto ry o f C o n ­ tra cep tio n (New York, 1936; reprint, New York, 1963) uses Stopes’s clinical data and briefly mentions her inclinations with regard to contraceptive technologies. Himes also provides a detailed prehistorical examination of contraception. For a general history of contraception see Angus McLaren, A H isto ry o f C o n tra cep tio n fro m A n tiq u ity to th e P resen t D a y (Cambridge, Mass., 1990).© 1998 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/98/3902-0003$02.00 245 246 YXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG P eter N eu sh u l Marie Carmichael Stopes (1880-1953) and particularly her Amer­ ican counterpart, Margaret Sanger (1883-1966), attract writers be­ cause of their significant contribution to the birth control move­ ment. Neither Stopes nor Sanger invented completely new contraceptive technologies, and yet both controlled distribution of birth control devices through a combination of clinics and published materials. Stopes in particular used her clinics to test technologies and incorporated the data into newsletters, pamphlets, and numer­ ous best-selling books. This article examines the role of technology in Stopes’s career, especially focusing on her preference for specific devices. These biases are evident in her books, clinics, and corre­ spondence with manufacturers, all three pivotal factors in her cam­ paign to popularize contraception. Marie Stopes is described by friend and foe as arrogant, irrational, uncooperative, and megalomaniacal. Certainly there is some truth to all these characterizations. These traits are understandable, how­ ever, when one considers the emotionally charged atmosphere surrounding birth control during the early twentieth century. Stopes’s multifaceted campaign was fraught...

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