socialhygiene CT Society of Social Hygiene Collection guide written by Jennifer D. Miglus. Collection processed by Jennifer D. Miglus. This project was made possible in part through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Connecticut State Library on behalf of the State Archives and Conservation ConneCTion. Hartford Medical Society
PO Box 4003 263 Farmington Ave Farmington CT 06030-4003 email: miglus@uchc.edu URL: http://library.uchc.edu/hms/ Phone: 860-679-3200
Nov 27, 2017

http://library.uchc.edu/hms/

 . Description is in English Collection number: 2011-01 Hartford Medical Society PO Box 4003 263 Farmington Ave Farmington, CT 06030-4003

This project was made possible in part through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Connecticut State Library on behalf of the State Archives and Conservation ConneCTion.

Jennifer D. Miglus Jennifer D. Miglus

© 2017 Hartford Medical Society. All rights reserved.

 Collection Summary Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene CT Society of Social Hygiene 1910-1921 2011-01 1.0 3 Hartford Medical Society The Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene was formed in 1910 with the intent to combat venereal disease and promote healthy living through education. The group was active through the middle of 1917 when the United States entered World War I. After the war they struggled to regain their financial footing. They re-formed as the Connecticut Social Hygiene Association in 1920 in an attempt to operate as a state chapter of the American Social Hygiene Association. The group disbanded in 1921. English. Restrictions

Collection open for research by appointment.

 Publication Rights

For copyright status, please contact the Hartford Medical Society.

 Preferred Citation

Records of the CT Society of Social Hygiene, Hartford Medical Society Historical Library

 Acquisition Information

Acquisition information unavailable.

 Processing Information

Collection processed by Jennifer D. Miglus

 Biography

“We, the undersigned, realizing the serious menace to humanity – moral, physical, and financial, – of the diseases which have their origin in the social evil, agree to organize ourselves into a body for the purpose of studying the means, - moral sanitary, and administrative, - which may seem to us best suited to limit the spread of these diseases.”

This petition, signed by 110 people from Hartford and the surrounding area, launched the Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene in 1910.

A description of the working of the Society is given in the first page of their scrapbook:

“The work of this Society is carried on by means of the Executive Board with its five committees; the General Educational, Treatment, Social Evil, Legislative, and Finance, assisted by a Field Secretary and a Special Research Worker. The free lecture and research worker is supported by voluntary contributions from individual members, the membership dues covering office expenses.”

The Society published pamphlets on “Sex Hygiene”, in multiple languages for broad distribution. They financed the production of a play: “Damaged Goods” showing the disastrous effect a husband's phliandering has on his innocent wife. They had a traveling library with titles such as “The House of Bondage” and “My Little Sister” along with “The Education of the Young in Sex Hygiene” and “The Power of Womanhood”. The Society also sponsored legislation.

Dr. Thomas N. Hepburn, father of the actress Katherine Hepburn, was a prominent Hartford urologist and one of the founding members of the CT Society of Social Hygiene. He was secretary of the group throughout its existence. Many prominent men and women of Hartford and surrounding towns were members. In some ways their thinking was very progressive; for example they encouraged age-appropriate sex education for children.

Although the main purpose of the Society was healthy living and specifically the prevention of venereal disease, their efforts sometimes crossed over into eugenics. In one example, the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting from January 18, 1913 state: “. . . the bills concerning rape and the sterilization of degenerates prepared by the Legislative Committee were presented by Dean Rogers.”

Scope and Content of Collection

Collection has 3 series:

Series 1: scrapbook, with sections on Literature, Lectures and Legislation.

Series 2: promotional posters created by the American Social Hygiene Association ca.1914.

Series 3: typed minutes for all Executive Board meetings.

 Arrangement

The collection consists of 3 series: Scrapbook, Posters and Minutes.

 Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Eugenics Social hygiene pamphlet scrapbooks political posters Related Collections

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 Separated Material

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 Series 1: Scrapbook 1 Cover circa 1916

Click to view digital rendering of: Cover

 1 p.1 circa 1916 General Note

paragraph describing how society operates

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 1 p.2 1914 General Note

Publication: Report of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene, November 23, 1914

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 1 p.3 1915 General Note

Publication: Report of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene, November 29, 1915

Click to view digital rendering of: p.3

 1 p.4 circa 1916 General Note

Paragraph describing the publications of the society

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 1 p.5 1911-1913 General Note

3 leaflets on sex-hygiene: English, 1913; Polish, 1912; Italian, 1911

Click to view digital rendering of: p.5

 1 p.6 1911-1913 General Note

3 leaflets on sex-hygiene: French, 1912; English, Sex-hygiene for young men, 1911; English, Sex-hygiene for young women, 1913.

Click to view digital rendering of: p.6

 1 p.7 1911 General Note

3 leaflets on sex-hygiene: Information for persions having venereal disease, 1911; Recommended literature, [undated]; The so-called sexual necessity in man [undated].

Click to view digital rendering of: p.7

 1 p.8 1911 General Note

Leaflet: Sex-hygiene for parents. . . Handbook of Connecticut Statutes Relating to Social Hygiene, published by the Social Evil Committee of the CT Society of Social Hygiene, 1911

Click to view digital rendering of: p.8

 1 p.9 circa 1916 General Note

Paragraph describing the lectures and dramatic readings offered by the society. Leaflet describing the same.

Click to view digital rendering of: p.9

 1 p.10 circa 1916 General Note

Another edition of leaflet describing the lectures, readings and traveling library of the society. Promotional postcard of the play "Damaged Goods" by Eugene Brieux

Click to view digital rendering of: p.10

 1 p.11 circa 1916 General Note

The list of books contained in the traveling libraries of the society

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 1 p.12 circa 1916 General Note

Paragraph on legislation introduced by the society to the CT legislature

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 1 p.13 circa 1916 General Note

Letter sent by Chairman of the Legislative Committee to members of the CT Society of Social Hygiene

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 1 p.14 circa 1916 General Note

An Act Defining the Word Frequenter: passed by legislature 1915

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 1 p.15 circa 1916 General Note

Two bills presented to the State of Connecticut General Assembly, January 1915: not passed

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 1 p.16 circa 1916 General Note

Paragraph on treatment of people with venereal disease in the Hartford area

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 1 p.17 circa 1916 General Note

Report of the Commission on a Reformatory for Women to the General Assembly, 1915. This report was endorsed by the CT Society of Social Hygiene

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 1 p.18 circa 1916 General Note

Report of the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Society of Social Hygiene, November 24, 1916

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 1 p.18 verso circa 1916 General Note

Leaflet: Connecticut Prison Association Committee on Delinquent Women, Miss Mary Goodman, Chairman, Hartford. A State Home for Women in Connecticut: Why Do We Need It?

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 1 p.19 circa 1916 General Note

An invocation

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 1 inside back cover circa 1916

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 Series 2: Posters 2 A unanimous opinion circa 1914

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 2 Amusements and their environment circa 1914

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 2 An antidote for immorality circa 1914

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 2 Application circa 1914

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 2 Demonstration circa 1914

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 2 Health, habits, handicaps circa 1914

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 2 Industry conserves morals circa 1914

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 2 Interpreting the fable of the stork circa 1914

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 2 Marriage and the law circa 1914

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 2 Investigation circa 1914

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 2 Education circa 1914

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2 Guide, philosopher and friend circa 1914

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 2 Industry menacing morals circa 1914

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 2 Marriage: a sacred union circa 1914

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 2 Present opportunities for sex education circa 1914

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 2 Progress: 1909, 1914 circa 1914

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 2 Progress: 1876, 1914 circa 1914

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 2 Progress: ancient law of Athens, law of modern civilization circa 1914

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 2 Religion fulfilling its opportunity circa 1914

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 2 Stop, look and think circa 1914

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 2 The home and its environment circa 1914

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 2 The lawless union circa 1914

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 2 The makeshift home circa 1914

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 2 The questioning child circa 1914

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 2 The unbroken chain of life circa 1914

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 2 Venereal disease circa 1914

Click to view digital rendering of: Venereal disease

 2 Ten chapters on social hygiene [missing chapter 6] circa 1914

Click to view digital rendering of: Ten chapters on social hygiene [missing chapter 6]

 2 Parents, chapter 1 circa 1914

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 2 Home, chapter 2 circa 1914

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 2 Knowledge, chapter 3 circa 1914

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 2 Recreation, chapter 4 circa 1914

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 2 Occupation, chapter 5 circa 1914

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 2 Education, chapter 7 circa 1914

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 2 Religion, chapter 8 circa 1914

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 2 Medicine, chapter 9 circa 1914

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 2 Law, chapter 10 circa 1914

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 Series 3: Minutes 3 1 Original members who signed Mrs. Hepburn's petition circa 1910

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 3 1 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1910

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 3 2 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1912

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 3 2 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1912

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 3 3 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1913

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 3 3 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1913

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 3 3 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1913

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 3 4 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1914

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 3 4 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1914

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 3 5 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1915

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 3 6 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1916

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 3 6 scrap of notes on Rx from T.N. Hepburn inserted here undated

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 3 6 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1916

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 3 6 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1916

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 3 6 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1916

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 3 7 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1917

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 3 7 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1917

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 3 7 Handwritten notes and typed statistics. Perhaps used at an executive committee meeting. Found interleaved. undated

Click to view digital rendering of: Handwritten notes and typed statistics. Perhaps used at an executive committee meeting. Found interleaved.

 3 8 Executive Committee meeting, CT Society of Social Hygiene 1920

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 3 8 Certificate of Incorporation of CT Social Hygiene Association 1920

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 3 8 By-laws of CT Social Hygiene Association, Inc. undated

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 3 8 Board of Directors, minutes 1920

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 3 8 Executive Committee, minutes 1920

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 3 8 Board of Directors, minutes 1920

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 3 8 Board of Directors, minutes 1920

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 3 8 Board of Directors, minutes 1920

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 3 9 10th Annual Meeting CT Social Hygiene Assn., minutes 1921

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 3 9 Board of Directors, minutes 1921

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 3 9 Amendments to by-laws undated

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 3 9 Special Meeting: Board of Directors, minutes 1921

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 3 9 Board of Directors, minutes 1921

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 3 9 Board of Directors, minutes 1921

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 3 9 11th Annual Meeting CT Social Hygiene Assn., minutes 1921

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