UWM Libraries Research and Course Guides: Reproductive Health, Rights, and History: Primary Sources

Digitized (Online) Primary Sources

Digitized Books
Online Primary Source Collections

The Herball, or, Generall historie of plantes (1597)
Pages discussing abortificant. Imprinted at London, By Iohn Norton, 1597. Text primarily in English with some prefatory material and names of plants in Latin.
The English physitian: or an astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation
Discussion of herbal menstrual stimulant. By Nicholas Culpeper, printed in London by P. Cole, 1652,
The Accomplish'd lady's delight in preserving, physick, beautifying, and cookery
Contains recipe with instructions on how to "bring down the flowers" (stimulate menstruation). Published in 1675.
The useful family herbal (1770)
An account of English plants including those used to promote menstruation. By John Hill, 1714-1775.

Museum of Contraception and Abortion
The museum for Contraception and Abortion (MUVS) in Vienna was founded in 2003 by DDr. Christian Fiala (born 1959), medical practitioner and gynecologist. The main goal of the museum´s team is to document the cultural history of birth control by means of contraception and abortion. About 2,000 objects and about 3,000 partly out of print books are available via this website. Good source for non-western primary sources and digital objects.
National Library of Medicine
Digital Collections provides access to the National Library of Medicine's distinctive digital content in the areas of biomedicine, health care and the history of medicine.
The Medical Heritage Library
The Medical Heritage Library (MHL), a digital curation collaborative among some of the world’s leading medical libraries, promotes free and open access to quality historical resources in medicine. The MHL’s growing collection of digitized medical rare books, pamphlets, journals, and films number in the tens of thousands, with representative works from each of the past six centuries, all of which are available here through the Internet Archive. Use subject filters to find materials about your topic.
ProQuest Congressional Topics Page: Abortion and Reproductive Rights
This page contains a brief overview of the legislative history of abortion and reproductive rights, including links to congressional documents, hearings, government records, and related news stories.

The UWM Archives holds a variety of primary source materials related to women's and reproductive rights movements in the Milwaukee metro area. Archives staff can also help request materials from the other Wisconsin Historical Society Collections. Contact the Archives directly with research questions. The Archives offices are open to the public 9AM-4:30PM Appointments strongly encouraged. Email: askarch@uwm.edu or call (414) 229-5402.

Women's Coalition, Inc. (Milwaukee, Wis.), 1972-1987 (Collection Finding Aid)
Minutes, newsletters, miscellaneous print and near print materials of an umbrella group of women's organizations in Milwaukee (Wis.) whose activities included advocating for battered women, “Take Back the Night” rallies, running a women's crisis line, and fighting for other feminist goals. Their subject files concern topics such as women's health issues, the Equal Rights Amendment, sex role stereotyping, legal issues, and pornography.
Lloyd A. Barbee Papers, 1933-1982 (Collection Finding Aid)
Papers of Lloyd A. Barbee, a Milwaukee civil rights activist, lawyer, and Wisconsin state legislator (Assembly, 1964-1977). Included are personal correspondence; legal files; campaign files; legislative subject files concerning abortion, the ERA, prison and court reform, the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Democratic Party, the Judicial Council, and court reorganization; and files concerning his involvement in groups such as the Milwaukee United School Integration Committee, Freedom Through Equality, Inc., the NAACP, and Milwaukee Legal Services.
National Organization for Women. Milwaukee Chapter: Records, 1971-1983 (Collection Finding Aid)
Records of the Milwaukee (Wis.) chapter of NOW consisting of board minutes, bylaws, newsletters, and subject files concentrating on such issues as abortion and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

UWM Special Collections hold a wide variety of rare and special printed materials related to reproductive rights. Their office is open to the public Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Contact the Special Collections directly with research questions. Appointments strongly encouraged. Email: libspecial@uwm.edu or call (414) 229-4345.

My fight for birth control by by Margaret Sanger (1931)
American birth control activist Margaret Sanger recounts her struggle to win support for getting women access to legal and available contraception.
Voluntary motherhood by Antoinette F. Konikow (1933)
"A discussion of the various contraceptive methods, with emphasis on generally approved techniques"--Cover.
Planning your family (1969) Chicago : G.D. Searle
"This booklet is made available for the purpose of assisting physicians, who desire that it be so utilized, to instruct patients and other interested persons about the menstrual cycle and the usual mode of use of Ovulen tablets"--P. [3] of cover.
This is an emergency!: a reproductive rights + gender justice portfolio. Providence, R.I. : Justseeds; 2012
This portfolio contains a hand sewn 'zine' with text by Meredith Stern and Judy Kashoff, a colophon page, and a collection of 17 prints containing stories about reproductive rights and gender justice.