Virtual Tenement Talk: The Complex History of Birth Control

How did women living in tenements manage family planning? What discussions would they have had about their reproductive health, about birth control? In turn, how did uptown reformers shape their women’s health policies in tenement districts?

Watch a special virtual Tenement Talk with author Lara Vapnek, a historian of gender and labor in the 19th and 20th centuries. She’s joined by Tenement Museum President Annie Polland for a timely conversation broadcast from our tenement at 97 Orchard Street. They explore the genesis of the organization that became Planned Parenthood, connections to immigration policy, and the echoes of the past in today’s debates.