Margaret Sanger was born on September 14, 1879, in Corning, New York.¹⁾

She was the sixth of eleven children in a working-class Irish-American family.²⁾

Her mother, Anne Higgins, died of tuberculosis and cervical cancer, which Sanger believed was exacerbated by having too many children.³⁾

Sanger trained as a nurse at White Plains Hospital and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Clinic.⁴⁾

Witnessing the suffering of women who had multiple pregnancies and unsafe abortions inspired her activism.⁵⁾

In 1902, she married architect William Sanger, with whom she had three children.⁶⁾

Sanger was influenced by the radical politics of the early 20th century, including socialism and labor activism.⁷⁾

In 1912, she wrote a column on sex education for the New York Call titled “What Every Girl Should Know.”⁸⁾

Sanger challenged the Comstock Laws, which prohibited the distribution of contraceptives and information on birth control.⁹⁾

In 1914, she started her own publication, The Woman Rebel, which advocated for birth control.¹⁰⁾

She was indicted for mailing The Woman Rebel under the Comstock Laws but fled to Europe to avoid arrest.¹¹⁾

In Europe, Sanger met birth control pioneers who influenced her thinking and strategies.¹²⁾

In 1916, she opened the first birth control clinic in the United States in Brownsville, Brooklyn.¹³⁾

Sanger was arrested for distributing contraceptives and was convicted, serving 30 days in a workhouse.¹⁴⁾

Her arrest and trial brought significant publicity to the birth control movement.¹⁵⁾