42 Facts About Mary Dennett

Mary Dennett co-founded the National Birth Control League in 1915 together with Jessie Ashley and Clara Gruening Stillman.

Mary Coffin Ware Dennett was born April 4,1872, in her hometown Worcester, Massachusetts.

Mary Dennett's mother supported the family by organizing European tours for young women.

Mary Dennett enrolled in the School of Art and Design in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1891 and graduated with first honors, then took a teaching position at the Drexel Institute of Art in Philadelphia in 1894.

Mary Dennett had a position at Drexel Institute teaching design and decoration from 1894 to 1897.

Later Mary Dennett wrote of their lack of information on birth control:.

Concerned about the effect that Hartley was having on their children, Mary Dennett filed for divorce in 1912, at the time an unusual and scandalous action.

Mary Dennett worked for the cause of women's suffrage from 1910 to 1914, a period that marked the revival of the women's suffrage movement, which had stagnated during the previous decade.

Mary Dennett co-founded the Twilight Sleep Association, which advocated the use of scopolamine and morphine to ease the pain of childbirth.

Mary Dennett served as acting president until 1914, then as vice president.

Mary Dennett resigned after Wilson did enter the United States into the war in 1917.

Mary Dennett next co-founded and was employed by the People's Council of America, a socialist peace movement inspired by the Bolsheviks.

In 1915, Mary Dennett's name was again in the newspapers, against her wishes.

Mary Dennett feared the negative effect that her involuntary notoriety might have on the organizations she worked with and considered resigning from the Twilight Sleep Association.

In 1914, Mary Dennett met Margaret Sanger, a birth control advocate.

Mary Dennett was intrigued, but did not feel financially secure enough to join the birth control movement at the time.

The arrest of William Sanger in 1915 for distributing Margaret Sanger's birth control pamphlet catalyzed the birth control movement in the United States, and this time Mary Dennett decided to get involved.

Mary Dennett co-founded The National Birth Control League in 1915 with Jesse Ashley and Clara Gruening Stillman.

In 1941, Mary Dennett became elected chair of a new movement, the World Federalists.

Mary Dennett did not become active in the women's suffrage movement until her marriage began to break up.

Mary Dennett successfully resolved much of the internal conflict in NAWSA within a few months, while supporting Dr Shaw.

Many prominent NAWSA members credited Mary Dennett with reuniting the NAWSA membership and turning the organization around.

Later, Mary Dennett became disillusioned with NAWSA after an unsuccessful attempt to reorganize to be more effective and what she saw as wasteful decisions overly influenced by wealthy donors.

Mary Dennett became inspired to fight for birth control after she sustained a laceration on her uterus after surgery.

Mary Dennett decided to start by rallying public support to strike down laws restricting birth control information.

Mary Dennett used lobbying and lectures to promote the cause.

Mary Dennett lobbied Congress to simply remove the words "prevention of conception" from federal obscenity statutes.

In 1921, Mary Dennett changed her approach and decided to work directly with the postmaster general, whose responsibility it was to enforce the laws banning distribution of birth control information through the mails.

Mary Dennett returned to lobbying Congress in 1922, pointing out that private opinion of members of congress must be in favor of birth control since the average number of children of a member of congress was 2.7.

Mary Dennett continued to have difficulty finding sponsors for the bill, but succeeded in 1923 when Senator Albert B Cummins introduced the straight repeal bill in the Senate.

In 1925, Mary Dennett gave up on passing the "straight repeal" bill and retired from her position at the VPL.

Mary Dennett achieved her goal in an entirely different manner in 1930, by winning an appeal of her conviction for distribution of birth control information under the Comstock Act.

Mary Dennett passed the writing on to her friends with adolescent children.

Mary Dennett's views were considered radical for this time, because she was not promoting abstinence.

Mary Dennett continued to mail out the pamphlet after the Post Office ignored her inquiries of what parts of the pamphlet were obscene.

Mary Dennett had briefly praised Mrs Dennett's book in the May 1926 issue of The American Mercury, and took a sympathetic interest in her later legal troubles:.

The American Civil Liberties Union supported and sponsored Mary Dennett, maintaining that her pamphlet was not obscene.

Mary Dennett argues that men have never had to justify why they have a right to vote.

Mary Dennett begins her pamphlet with sharing how much of the human experience is universal.

Mary Dennett believed that everyone has similar thoughts and feelings, yet we are too embarrassed or uncomfortable to share with others.

Mary Dennett's main focus was to share her opinions and encourage a discussion concerning how necessary the laws pertaining to birth control are in the United States.

Mary Dennett questioned if it would be best to modify the existing laws or completely change them.