This thesis examines the formative years (1931-1940) of Canada's first birth control clinic, the Birth Control Society of Hamilton (BCSH). The focus of this work is to place the activities of the BCSH in an international and national context. Canada's first birth control clinic drew directly on the writings and experience of two well known birth control pioneers, the American Margaret Sanger and the English woman Marie Stopes. This reliance on foreign models demonstrates the enormous influence that the British and Americans had on the formation of Canadian social and medical institutions. This thesis also challenges the traditional perception of the BCSH as a low key and non-ideological endeavour. New historical evidence indicates that the BCSH shared in the eugenic ideology of other contemporary Canadian birth control organizations and was an active participant in the debates surrounding contraception and eugenics.

No description available.