
Transcriber’s Note:
MARGARET SANGER An Autobiography
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One FROM WHICH I SPRING
Chapter Two BLIND GERM OF DAYS TO BE
Chapter Three BOOKS ARE THE COMPASSES
Chapter Four DARKNESS THERE AND NOTHING MORE
Chapter Five CORALS TO CUT LIFE UPON
Chapter Six FANATICS OF THEIR PURE IDEALS
In this candid memoir, a pioneering advocate for women's health recounts the humble beginnings that shaped her lifelong mission. Growing up in the river‑split town of Corning, New York, she watched the daily climb of its streets and felt the weight of her mother's chronic cough, a reminder of the fragile state of women's bodies in the early twentieth century. The forested hills surrounding her father's modest home offered both solace and a vivid backdrop for a childhood marked by curiosity and a keen awareness of social inequities.
These early impressions sparked a fierce determination to challenge the medical and legal restraints that limited women's choices. As she entered adulthood, she began organizing lectures, publishing pamphlets, and forging alliances with like‑minded reformers, laying the groundwork for a movement that would transform public discourse on reproductive rights. The narrative captures the energy, setbacks, and unwavering optimism that propelled her from a small‑town girl to a national voice for change.
Language
en
Duration
~18 hours (1057K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2018-02-20
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1879–1966
A fierce and influential voice in the fight for birth control, this American nurse and writer helped push reproductive health into public debate. Her work changed access to contraception in the United States, even as her legacy remains deeply debated.
View all books
by Margaret Sanger

by Margaret Sanger

by Margaret Sanger

by Margaret Sanger

by Margaret Sanger, Winter Russell