Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts and Archives Department

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL INDIANA
RECORDS, 1932-1985

Collection #
M 0468
BV 2252-2254
OMB 0053

Table of Contents

Collection Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Box and Folder Inventory
Cataloging Information

Processed by
Paul Brockman
December 22, 1986

COLLECTION INFORMATION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Indianapolis (now Central Indiana) branch of the Planned Parenthood Association was established on February 4, 1932 and was known as the Indiana Birth Control League. Dr. R. Clyde White of Indiana University presided over the first meeting which was held at the Hotel Lincoln in Indianapolis. The organization's name was changed to the Maternal Health League of Indiana in January, 1934, and later that year the public was invited to the association's annual meeting for the first time.

The agency employed a full time executive director in 1947. Prior to this time all workers were volunteer except for the clinic's doctors and nurses. Mary Sinclair was named the first executive director (then called Executive Secretary), and she, in turn, was followed by Mrs. Dorothy McClamroch in 1948. Helen McCalment assumed the duties from McClamroch in 1955 and retained them until her retirement in 1979, at which time she was succeeded by the association's present director, Delbert Culp.

The association's major purpose is the establishment and maintenance of birth control clinics, which provide medical services, counsel, and dispense supplies. The first clinic, known as the Maternal Health Clinic, was established in 1933 and was located in the Meridian Life Building in Indianapolis. The clinic was staffed by a doctor and a nurse and was limited to married women with two or more children who were "referred by a licensed physician or a recognized social agency with a written report accompanying the patient." The average number of patients in the clinic's first years was 32, with a total of 1,534 by 1938. The number of children restriction was lifted for the use of its services in 1940, and in 1943 the clinic received 525 new patients. In the mid-1950s the association expanded from traditional birth control services into the areas of premarital counseling, services to teens, and infertility services. A continued increase in the number of new patients and returnees led to the establishment of a number of neighborhood birth control clinics, the first of which was opened in July, 1963, in Lockefield Gardens. Grants obtained from Title X, Title XX, and Title V (Maternal and Child Health) provided the much needed finances to allow increases in staff and supplies that resulted in the establishment of additional clinics including those in the surrounding counties of Boone, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Morgan, Bartholomew, and Shelby. In 1978 the agency served 21,604 patients.

Financing for the association and its clinic originally came only from private sources and campaigns. Although the organization had been admitted into the Council of Social Agencies around 1952, it was not until 1965 that a recognized organization, the Indianapolis Foundation, supported the association. The agency's primary goal of "every child a wanted child" began to be accepted in the early 1960s with the legalization of birth control pills and was greatly aided by the attainment of federal grants in the 1970s. In 1979 the executive director was able to administrate with a budget of $100,000. In addition to the Indianapolis area, Planned Parenthood has maintained organizations in a number of Indiana cities with some tracing their origin to the 1930s. Indiana cities with Planned Parenthood Associations include Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Gary.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The largest portion of the collection contains the association's records after the 1970s. With a few exceptions, the only items that predate the 1970s is a complete run of the board of directors minutes and related materials from 1932-1976 (BV 2252-2254; Box 1 and Box 2, folder 1). Information contained in the minutes includes appointments and resignations of officers, committee reports, financial reports, seeking outside advise on organizational matters, obtaining speakers and arranging for annual meetings, and campaign fund raising. Also included are political endorsements (p. 36 in 1937-1942 minutes) and detailed information and statistics on the clinic's operation such as the number of patients (broken down by races in the earlier years), number of new patients, who recommended, and cash received.

The remainder of the collection comprises the association's records, correspondence, and printed items including other board of director's materials such as correspondence, membership lists, bylaws, manuals, and general information. Also contained are meeting minutes, correspondence, and general information regarding the organization's various committees including Public Affairs, Executive, Personnel, Nominating, Education, and Legislative (1975-1982). In addition there is information, financial and operational records, printed information, and statistics regarding the association's clinics (1935-1980). There is also correspondence with the Great Lakes Regional Office and the national and local offices, as well as with other service related organizations such as the United Fund's refusal to include Planned Parenthood as a member organization (1957-1970; Box 5, Folder 2). Also contained are financial statements, budgets, and financial ledgers (1967-1983). Additional financial records include grant applications, invoices, reports, worksheets, revisions, agreement for services, vouchers, expenditures, budgets, contracts, agreements, and correspondence for federal government titles V, X, XX, and applications and claim vouchers to the Indiana State Board of Health (1974-1981). The collection also includes reports to the BCRR (Bureau of Community Health Services Common Reporting Requirements, 1977-1981--a federal agency) and the financial records and correspondence of the BBJ (Bartholomew, Brown, and Jackson Counties) Branch. Among the patient related materials are questionnaires regarding clinic visits, educational information, and items of a general nature (1960s-1970s). There are also association and clinic personnel materials such as employee information and changes, changes in board membership, including the search for a new executive director (1979), and orientation and operational manuals. The association's records also contain correspondence, records, and publications regarding fund raising and other financial contributions (1957-1980). Also included are Planned Parenthood and other related publications regarding overpopulation, contraception, sex, and general topics, as well as publicity materials, advertising publications, and scrapbooks (1940s-1980s).

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog
2. Click on the "Local Catalog" icon.
3. Search for the collection by its call number, using the letter or letters designation and four digits (e.g., M 0715, SC 2234).
4. When you find the collection, go to the "Holdings" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.

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