Birth Control Battles: How Race and Class Divided American Religion PDF
Preview Birth Control Battles: How Race and Class Divided American Religion
Birth Control Battles how race and class divided american religion Melissa J. Wilde university of california press Birth Control Battles Birth Control Battles how race and class divided american religion Melissa J. Wilde university of california press University of California Press Oakland, California © 2020 by Melissa J. Wilde Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wilde, Melissa J., 1974- author. Title: Birth control battles : how race and class divided American religion / Melissa J. Wilde. Description: Oakland, California : The University of California Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2019023215 (print) | lccn 2019023216 (ebook) | isbn 9780520303201 (cloth) | isbn 9780520303218 (paperback) | isbn 9780520972681 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Birth control—Religious aspects—History. | Birth control—United States—History. | Social classes—United States. | Eugenics—United States—History. | Race relations—Religious aspects. Classification: lcc hq766.5.u5 w534 2020 (print) | lcc hq766.5.u5 (ebook) | ddc 261.8/36—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019023215 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019023216 Manufactured in the United States of America 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Illustrations and Tables vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 part i from abolition to eugenics 1. American Religious Activism in the Twentieth Century 33 2. Mobilizing America’s Religious Elite in the Service of Eugenics 57 part ii liberalization, 1929–1931 3. The Early Liberalizers: “The Church Has a Responsibility for the Improvement of the Human Stock” 77 4. The Supporters: “God Needed the White Anglo-Saxon Race” 105 5. The Critics: “Atlanta Does Not Believe in Race Suicide” 129 6. The Silent Groups: “Let the Christian Get Away from Heredity” 154 part iii from legality to the pill, 1935–1965 7. The Religious Promoters of Contraception: Remaining Focused on Other People’s Fertility 173 8. The Forgotten Half: America’s Reluctant Contraceptive Converts 198 Conclusion: A Century Later 215 Notes 221 References 251 Index 279 Methodological appendix is available on the UC Press website at www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303218/birth-control-battles. Illustrations and Tables figures 1. “Roman Catholics, Jews, and Protestants in New York City,” 1909 63 maps 1. Roman Catholics as a percentage of all American religious adherents, 1926 71 2. Early liberalizers 78 3. Unofficial supporters 106 4. Critics (excluding Roman Catholics) 142 5. Silent groups 155 tables 1. Sample of religious denominations 8 2. Demographics of American religious denominations circa 1926 14 viii illustrations and tables 3. Key words searched 20 4. Stances on birth control by belief in race suicide and the social gospel 27 5. Early religious activism in the American religious field 36 6. Religious identity and membership in the American religious field circa 1930 50 7. Measures of feminism among American religious groups circa 1930 60 8. Support for eugenics in the American religious field circa 1930 68 9. American religious denominations then and now 178
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