Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger

Interment LocationVisited 
Fishkill, NYJuly 29, 2018 


Fast Facts

Born: September 14, 1879 in Corning, New York

Spouses: William Sanger (m. 1902-1921); James Noah Henry Slee (m. 1922-1943)

Died: September 6, 1966 in Tucson, Arizona

Age: 86

Interment: Fishkill Rural Cemetery, Fishkill, New York

Photographed February 2, 2023.

This life-size sculpture of Margaret Sanger stands on the ground floor of the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Massachusetts. The figure is based on a photograph taken on April 16, 1929, of a young woman placing a gag over Sanger’s mouth. The text from signage in front of the statue reads, “As a public health nurse, Margaret Sanger witnessed the disastrous effects of unlimited births on poor families. Her life’s mission was to legalize birth control. She was arrested numerous times for distributing information and lecturing about sex and contraceptives. When officials barred her from speaking in Boston’s public halls, Sanger taped her mouth shut to protest and dramatize their efforts to silence her.” Sanger made her silent statement at Boston’s Ford Hall in front of a receptive crowd of 800.

Sources Consulted and Further Reading

Margaret Sanger Papers Project. “Margaret Sanger Gagged!” Newsletter no. 36 (Spring 2004). Accessed February 24, 2023. https://sanger.hosting.nyu.edu/articles/sanger_gagged/.

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