A Voice from the Eastern Shore, (5 November 1945) Hyattsville, Maryland

Context

Marie Watson, a field worker for the Maryland League of Planned Parenthood, delivered “A Voice from the Eastern Shore” on November 5, 1945. It was the only speech given at the annual meeting of the Prince George’s League for Planned Parenthood in Hyattsville, Maryland. The speech was recorded by Georgia K. Benjamin, a civic leader involved in such women’s organizations as the Maryland League of Women Voters. In this speech, Watson argued that Planned Parenthood was a “new way of life” for black people who face significant barriers in accessing affordable housing, quality medical care, adequate education, and healthy food.1 Systemic oppression caused a litany of health problems for African Americans from exposure to rats, typhus, trash, and unsanitary or inadequate food and water.2 Watson advocated that Planned Parenthood could help combat such health hazards, and she felt compelled to spread the organization’s mission to community members across the Eastern Shore.

The Planned Parenthood League of Maryland formed in 1927. Even though it was headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, it served the entire state of Maryland. Originally called the Bureau for Contraceptive Advice, it was rebranded as the Baltimore Birth Control Clinic in 1932. Soon after its rebranding, the organization became a member of the national Planned Parenthood Federation. By 1942, both local and national groups were officially renamed “Planned Parenthood.”3 The mission of Planned Parenthood sought to educate its clients and to bring health care services to residents on the Eastern Shore. But, as Watson emphasized, women faced racial discrimination when accessing health care. In addition to the systemic equalities Watson discussed, there were separate clinics for black women and white women.4 To try to rectify these inequities, Executive Director Anne G. Huppman announced that Planned Parenthood of Maryland would serve low-income populations, especially those who seldom saw a physician annually.5 This tenet of Planned Parenthood’s mission helps explain the organization’s emphasis on preventative care and cancer detection; many of their patients rarely visited a doctor.

In 1945, the same year as Watson’s speech, the Maryland Legislative Assembly made Maryland the first state to provide medical services for the medically indigent. It also allowed care to be given in the home.6 Despite these policy changes, the 1948 Prince George’s County Health Study Group found the county “20 years behind the times in recognition of its responsibility to protect the health of its citizens.”7 Overcrowded clinics and a lack of access to health care meant mothers and children suffered. Maternal mortality rates were high and 90 percent of illegal abortions were performed on married women.8

With so much work to be done, Watson and Planned Parenthood sought to raise awareness of the organization’s ability to help mothers and children, particularly from black families. At the time of Watson’s speech, Planned Parenthood was focused on preventing unwanted pregnancy, offering fertility assistance, and providing marriage counseling. Planned Parenthood meant what its name implies: “parenthood entered into willingly with adequate preparation for the strains and sacrifices it imposes.”9 The group’s activities included education about contraception and birth control, child spacing, disease prevention, and psychological maturity, all which could help build stable families.10

One of the purposes of Watson’s speech was to calm anxieties over Planned Parenthood. She specifically argued that its mission was consonant with the mission of the church. Although there is very little information available regarding Watson’s life, her relationship with the church and her relationship with Planned Parenthood is clearly explained in “A Voice from the Eastern Shore.” Watson explained her preacher husband’s disapproval of her work.11 Yet she did not explain how she continued to work with the Women’s Society for Christian Service to spread her message in churches across the region in spite of such opposition.12 As of 1945, her travels had brought her over 322 contacts in 30 religious and women’s groups.13In 1947, Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam affirmed the relationship between Planned Parenthood and the church by stating, “Planned Parenthood is one of the expressions of the Christian principle that affirms the infinite worth of a human being.”14 The organization sought to save women and children by bettering their physical health, psychological wellbeing, and health care experiences.

Watson concluded her speech with hope and optimism about Planned Parenthood’s ability to save lives and create happier homes and healthier people. To accomplish these goals, she sought to tell the people of the Eastern Shore about its helpful services and to lead the charge for opening more clinics.15 By 1947, two years after Watson’s speech, there were six clinics in the state operating under the Maryland League of Planned Parenthood.16

Endnotes

  1. Marie Watson, “A Voice from the Eastern Shore,” Georgia K. Benjamin Papers, “Speeches and Papers on Family Planning, 1941-1953,” Special Collections, Box 1, Folder 3, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, para. 14.
  2. “Summary Report: Prince George’s County Health Study Group, 1948-1949,” Georgia K. Benjamin Papers, “Speeches and Papers on Family Planning, 1941-1953,” Special Collections, Box 1, Folder 3, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
  3. “History & Highlights,” Planned Parenthood of Maryland, Inc., 2018, https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-maryland/who-we-are/history-highlights.
  4. The landmark decision of Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital ruled that racial segregation in publicly funded hospitals was a violation of equal protection under the United States Constitution in 1963. In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin for any agency receiving state or federal funding. See: Ezelle Sanford III, “Civil Rights and Healthcare: Remembering Simkins v. Cone (1963),” African American Intellectual History Society, February 4, 2017, https://www.aaihs.org/civil-rights-and-healthcare-remembering-simkins-v-cone-1963/.
  5. Anne G. Huppmann, “Mission Statement,” December 17, 1957, Planned Parenthood of Maryland LC215, Langsdale Library Special Collections, Baltimore Regional Studies Archives, Box 1, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD.
  6. Georgia K. Benjamin, “The Maryland Plan for Medical Services,” Georgia K. Benjamin Papers, “Speeches and Papers on Family Planning, 1941-1953,” Special Collections, Box 1, Folder 3, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Maryland. “Medically indigent” refers to those who cannot afford health care or are ineligible for health care services.
  7. “Summary Report.”
  8. Georgia K. Benjamin, “Peace Begins in the Home,” Georgia K. Benjamin Papers, “Speeches and Papers on Family Planning, 1941-1953,” Special Collections, Box 1, Folder 3, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
  9. Karl Menninger, MD., “Psychiatric Aspects of Contraception,” Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 7, no. 1 (1943), Georgia K. Benjamin Papers, “Speeches and Papers on Family Planning, 1941-1953,” Special Collections, Box 1, Folder 3, University of Maryland Libraries, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
  10. “Planned Parenthood. What Does It Mean?,” 1947, Planned Parenthood of Maryland LC215, Langsdale Library Special Collections, Box 6, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD.
  11. Watson, “A Voice from the Eastern Shore,” para. 4.
  12. Watson, “A Voice from the Eastern Shore,” para. 10.
  13. Watson, “A Voice from the Eastern Shore,” para. 13.
  14. “Planned Parenthood. What Does It Mean?”
  15. Watson, “A Voice from the Eastern Shore,” para. 14
  16. Benjamin, “The Maryland Plan for Medical Services.”