As we close this 2024 American Womens HerStory Month. I want to end with the name that a lot of woman may not know. But should.
Katherine Dexter McCormick a real American Shero.
Katherine MCormick provided the majority of the funding to develop the BC- birth control or oral contraceptive. McCormick put up $2 million (around $20 million) of her own money to help with the development of oral contraceptives.. The Food and Drug Administration or FDA (yeah the one the GOP wants to defund) approved the sale of the Pill in 1957 for menstrual disorders. Then in 1960 as a contraceptive. Wonder when SCOTUS will strike this down.
Katherine McCormick was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1904, one of the first women to study in MIT’s biology research lab. As an undergraduate McCormick confronted administration officials as it required that women wear hats (fashionably spruced up with feathers), she refused. She argued that it was a fire hazard for feathered hats to be worn in laboratories. WHO THE HELL WANTS TO WEAR A BIG BIRD HAT TO CLASS. The chemistry department finally repealed the rule on the grounds of safety.
Katherine McCormick also did more.
She smuggled diaphragms from France through the lining of fancy fur coats. (She purchased hundreds of the devices and hired local seamstresses to sew them into dresses, evening gowns, and coats). French Customs was none the wiser.
She created a research center for the care of the mentally ill at Worcester State Hospital. (Her husband suffered from schizophrenia and was under psychiatric care for the rest of his life). McCormick also funded research for schizophrenia.
She provided funding to help created an all female dorm at MIT so women could be housed and seen. (Out of sight means out of mind).
The FDA approved the birth control pill in 1960, seven years before her death. McCormick died in 1967 at the age 92. In her will provided $5 million to the #StanfordUniversitySchoolofMedicine to support female physicians, $5 million to the #PlannedParenthoodFederationofAmerica and $1 million to #WorcesterFoundationforExperimentialBiology
Katherine McCormick believed that “to be free, women needed some measure of control over their reproductive lives.”
Katherine McCormick this is an American HerStory and she is a true American Shero.
References:
"A Mind of Her Own". MIT Technology Review.
"Katharine Dexter McCormick: Fierce Feminist and Secret Smuggler". Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
CellyBlue - I Do know This!
Thank you, I had not heard of her before this.
Thank you!