author
Maurice A. (Maurice Alpheus) Bigelow
1872–1955
A biologist and educator who helped shape early sex education in the United States, he wrote practical, widely read books that brought sensitive topics into public discussion. His career also reflects the complicated reform movements of his era, including his ties to eugenics.
1 Audiobook
Sex-education A series of lectures concerning knowledge of sex in its relation to human life
by Maurice A. (Maurice Alpheus) Bigelow
About the author
Maurice Alpheus Bigelow was an American biologist, educator, and writer born in 1872. Reliable biographical sources describe him as a professor of biology and a longtime figure at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he worked from 1899 to 1939. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1901 and became known for teaching and public speaking on health and sex education.
He was especially active in the early twentieth century movement for sex education. Archival records from the Smithsonian note that he was a prominent speaker on the subject, an officer of the American Social Hygiene Association, and also the founder and editor of Nature Study Review as well as a founder of the American Nature Study Society. His book Sex-Education is one of the works most closely associated with his name.
Bigelow's legacy is mixed. Alongside his work in public health and education, sources also identify him with the eugenics movement, including service as president of the American Eugenics Society from 1940 to 1945. That makes him an important but challenging figure to read today: someone who helped open public conversation about sex and health, while also representing ideas that are now widely rejected.