Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: H MS c155

Alan F. Guttmacher papers

Overview

The Alan F. Guttmacher Papers, 1860s, 1898-1974, are the product of Guttmacher's activities as President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and as a family planning advocate from the 1950s to his death in 1974. The bulk of the collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, article and lecture notes and drafts, and photographs resulting from his administrative activities as President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1962 to 1974.

Dates

  • Creation: 1860s, 1898-1974.

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Access requires advance notice. Access to personal and patient information is restricted for 80 years from the date of creation. These restrictions appear in Series I, II, and III. Researchers may apply for access to restricted records. Consult Public Services for further information.

The Alan F. Guttmacher Papers are stored offsite. Researchers are advised to consult Public Services for further information concerning retrieval of material.

Conditions Governing Use

The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in the collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting any third-party copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish. For more information on the Center's use, publication, and reproduction policies, view our Reproductions and Use Policy.

Extent

19.75 cubic feet ((18 record cartons, 1 flat document box, 1 legal document box, and 2 half document boxes) )

The Alan F. Guttmacher Papers are the product of Guttmacher's administrative and professional activities as the President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, from 1962 to 1974 as well as his work in private practice and research as a family planning advocate and administrator, obstetrician, and gynecologist. The collection also contains personal and family correspondence and papers.

The bulk of the collection contains Guttmacher's records from his tenure as President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and include correspondence, memoranda, travel diaries, research files, itineraries, meeting minutes, lecture notes, and patient records produced from his administrative activities and travels. Topical correspondence and writings in this collection focus on abortion, birth control,contraception, family planning, fertility, multiple birth,global population control, and pregnancy. Records from Guttmacher's training, early practice, and research in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine include operating room journals and research files. Few items address the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court abortion case. Limited records are available from Guttmacher's tenure at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York before he became President of the PPFA in 1962. The collection contains correspondence and notes from Guttmacher's service as medical director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau in New York City. Personal and biographical records include research completed away from his activities at PPFA, family correspondence, notes, and candid photographs.

Biographical Note

Alan F. Guttmacher (1898-1974) was President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) from 1962 to 1974. During his tenure, Guttmacher counseled women on reproductive health matters and was an advocate for family planning and women's reproductive rights. Guttmacher was an obstetrician,gynecologist, and family planning advocate in Baltimore, MD before relocating to New York City in 1952 to The Mount Sinai Hospital, and later to the PPFA.

Alan Frank Guttmacher was born on 19 May 1898 in Baltimore, Maryland. He received an A.B. from Johns Hopkins University 1919, and an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1923. Guttmacher completed his internship in obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore in 1924, and finished his residency at Johns Hopkins Unviersity in 1928. He spent one year, 1927-1928, of his residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City as a junior, and later Chief resident.

Guttmacher held several academic appointments at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine between 1926 to 1952, culminating in his appointment as Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. While practicing obstetrics and gynecology in Baltimore from 1929 to 1952, Guttmacher served as Chief of Obstetrics at the Sinai Hospital in Baltimore from 1943 to 1952. He was appointed Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 1952, and was simultaneously appointed the first combined Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Guttmacher held this position at The Mount Sinai Hospital until 1962. He was later named Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Guttmacher was named visiting professor of maternal health at Harvard Medical School in 1961, and later also served as visiting professor at the Albert Einstein Medical School.

While practicing at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Guttmacher served as director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau (MSRB), a facility that worked closely with the PPFA and focused on the service, research, training in the control of human reproduction, from 1959 to 1962. Guttmacher left Mount Sinai in 1962, when he was named President of the PPFA. He served as President of the PPFA until his death in 1974.

Guttmacher first became involved in the family planning movement in Baltimore, when as an intern, he watched a woman die from a failed abortion. He subsequently became an active member and advocate for women's reproductive rights at the Baltimore PPFA affiliate; he later became nationally involved in the organization when he moved to New York in 1952. Guttmacher served as the volunteer chairman of Planned Parenthood's National Medical Committee before assuming the PPFA presidency in 1962.

As President, Guttmacher spearheaded PPFA's transition to a social advocate for the problems of poverty in the United States. In the early 1960s, the PPFA merged with an existing national program, World Population Emergency Campaign, to provide voluntary family planning services to low-income communities who needed and wanted them, and to highlight the inadequacies of health care for the poor. By 1968, the organization assisted the government in the creation of public policy and programs. Guttmacher also worked closely with the leadership of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) throughout the 1960s to advocate for family planning programs in Asia, Latin America, and Africa in an effort to curb global overpopulation. Guttmacher and his colleagues traveled to these areas to lecture to physicians and medical professionals, assist local family planning agencies, and to meet with citizens and government officials to discuss the advantages of family planning services. Guttmacher also continued to counsel individual women about family planning, providing abortion provider referrals and information, via correspondence and in-office consultation while President of PPFA.

Aside from Guttmacher's responsibilities at PPFA, he remained involved in other professional organizations including the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the New York Obstetrical Society. Guttmacher published several books and articles and lectured on topics such as abortion, family planning, fertility, global overpopulation, pregnancy and delivery, and teenage sex throughout his career. In 1961 he published The Complete Book of Birth Control, the first paperback book solely focusing on birth control. He traveled internationally lecturing to family planning groups, physicians, and college students on the importance of legalized abortion, birth control, and sexual responsibility.

Alan F. Guttmacher died of leukemia on 18 March 1974. He was 75 years old.

Series and Subseries in the Collection

  1. Series I. Planned Parenthood Administrative Records, 1935, 1958-1974, undated
  2. ___Subseries A. Administrative Correspondence and Outgoing Letters, 1935, 1958-1974
  3. ______Sub-subseries 1. Administrative Correspondence, 1935, 1958-1974
  4. ______Sub-subseries 2. Outgoing Letters, 1968-1974
  5. ______Sub-subseries 3. Operations Correspondence, 1958-1974
  6. ___Subseries B. Administrative Records and Subject Files, 1958-1971
  7. ______Sub-subseries 1. Administrative Records, 1958-1968
  8. ______Sub-subseries 2. Subject Files, 1961-1971
  9. ___Subseries C. Outreach Activities Records, 1956-1974
  10. ______Sub-subseries 1. Itineraries and Calendars, 1961-1971
  11. ______Sub-subseries 2. Travel Diaries and Reports, 1961-1971
  12. _________Sub-sub-subseries a. Travel Diaries, 1961-1971
  13. _________Sub-sub-subseries b. Travel Reports, 1961-1971
  14. ______Sub-subseries 3. Lectures and Speeches, 1956-1973, undated
  15. ______Sub-subseries 4. Legal Testimonies, 1970-1973
  16. ______Sub-subseries 5. Audio-Visual Recordings, 1958, 1974
  17. ___Subseries D. Planned Parenthood-World Population President's Letters, 1964-1974
  18. ___Subseries E. Planned Parenthood Writings, Publications, and Publisher Correspondence, 1959-1974
  19. ______Sub-subseries 1. Writings and Publications, 1959-1974
  20. ______Sub-subseries 2. Publisher Correspondence, 1958-1973
  21. Series II. Professional Activities Records, 1968-1974
  22. ___Subseries A. International Research Records, 1970-1974
  23. ___Subseries B. Professional Organization Records, 1968-1974
  24. Series III. Personal and Biographical Records, 1860s, 1898-1974
  25. ___Subseries A. Personal and Family Correspondence and Papers, 1923-1974, undated
  26. ______Sub-subseries 1. Guttmacher Personal Correspondence and Papers, 1923-1974, undated
  27. ______Sub-subseries 2. Leonore Guttmacher Correspondence and Papers, 1938-1974
  28. ______Sub-subseries 3. Guttmacher Family History Records, 1905-1973, undated
  29. ___Sub-subseries 2. Leonore Guttmacher Correspondence and Papers, 1938-1974

Arrangement

The Alan F. Guttmacher Papers consist of three series: Series I. Planned Parenthood Administrative Records; Series II. Professional Activities Records; Series III. Personal and Biographical Records. Series I and III contain personnel and patient information that is restricted for 80 years. The end of the restriction period is noted with each folder. Media, including phonographic records and film reels, are housed in box 18. Oversized items are housed in boxes 19, 21, and 22. There are 54 files of photographs including candid photographs of Guttmacher with colleagues and his family located in Series I, II, and III.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Alan F. Guttmacher Papers were donated to the Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine in 1975 by Mrs. Leonore Guttmacher.

Related Collections in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine

  1. Papers of Manfred Guttmacher.
  2. Papers of John Rock.
  3. Papers of Abraham Stone.

Consult the Public Services Librarian for further information.

Related Records at Other Institutions

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America Records, 1915-1974, can be found at Smith College, Sophia Smith Collection.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America Records, 1921-1981, can be found at Smith College, Sophia Smith Collection.

Processing Information

Processed by Anne Woodrum and Jennifer Pelose, July 2005.

Processing staff in the Center for the History of Medicine refoldered, reboxed, and created a finding aid for the Alan F. Guttmacher Papers. Processing staff discarded duplicate records and records that did not meet the collection policy of the Center for the History of Medicine.

Title
Guttmacher, Alan Frank, 1898- . Papers, 1860s, 1898-1974: A Finding Aid.
Author
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.
Language of description
und
EAD ID
med00035

Repository Details

Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository

The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.

Contact:
10 Shattuck Street
Boston MA 02115
(617) 432-2170