1. In 1953, Mary Calderone became the first female medical director of Planned Parenthood.
17 Facts About Mary Calderone
1. 2.
In 1960, after the Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive, Calderone lobbied the American Medical Association to endorse contraception as standard medical practice.
3.
Mary Calderone retired from SIECUS in 1982 at the age of 78.
4.
Mary Calderone was born in New York, New York on July 1,1904, as Mary Rose Steichen, the first child of Edward Steichen, a renowned Luxembourgish-American photographer and artist, and his first wife, Clara Emma Smith, an American singer.
5.
Mary Calderone's younger sister, Charlotte "Kate" Rodina Steichen, was born in Paris on May 27,1908.
6.
In 1926, Calderone married actor W Lon Martin and had two daughters, Nell and Linda.
7.
Frank Mary Calderone served as the head of the Lower East Side District Health Center, and after serving as the first deputy health commissioner of New York City from 1943 to 1946, became a leading figure in the World Health Organization during its formative years.
8.
Mary Calderone served as a physician in the Great Neck, New York public school system from 1949 to 1953.
9.
Mary Calderone's efforts played a role in changing Planned Parenthood's approach to abortion.
10.
Furthermore, Mary Calderone worked as a liaison between Planned Parenthood and the public health establishment to advocate for the mainstream integration of birth control into American medicine.
11.
Mary Calderone successfully lobbied professional medical groups such as the American Public Health Association and the American Medical Association to endorse contraception as a standard medical practice.
12.
Mary Calderone believed her work should extend beyond pregnancy prevention and that simply providing contraceptives was insufficient.
13.
Mary Calderone retired from SIECUS in 1982 at the age of 78.
14.
Mary Calderone continued to be a frequent and popular lecturer and was the recipient of numerous professional and humanitarian awards.
15.
Mary Calderone was a resident of Kendal at Longwood, a Quaker continuing care retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
16.
Mary Calderone died in the skilled nursing facility there on October 24,1998.
17.
Mary Calderone has received numerous awards and honors both posthumously and over the course of her life.