Endometrial Tissue Slides
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Lantern slides
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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image
still image
DigID0002467
Clarence J. Gamble
Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-
Photographs
Gamble was a key advocate for family planning and worked with the Birth Control Federation and Planned Parenthood Federation to create global awareness regarding the benefits of contraceptives for the individual, family and community.
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002407
Gregory “Goody” Pincus
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Birth control
Photographs
Pincus is among the leaders at the International Growth Symposium at Purdue University. (Left to right: Dr. Gregory Pincus, President Frederick L. Houde, Dr. T.H. Jukes, and Dr. K. Knobil.)
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002365
Miriam Menkin with her daughter Lucy
Menkin, Miriam
Menkin, Lucy
Fertilization in vitro
Photographs
With Miriam Menkin, Rock paved the way for the million-plus children since conceived through in vitro fertilization. With eggs harvested from consenting women having hysterectomies, Menkin fertilized the first egg in vitro in 1944.
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002368
Fertilized Egg
Contraception
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Photographs
Fertilization in vitro
Ovum
Another project was under way at the same time by Rock and Miriam Menkin that focused on in-vitro fertilization. Gregory Pincus had previously performed successful in-vitro fertilization studies with rabbits earlier in his career at Harvard. The project gave hope to infertile couples, but some also feared the future implications of this “fatherless” technology.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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image
still image
DigID0002371
Arthur T. Hertig, M.D.
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Photographs
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002384
Bernard Trum, Ed Bridges, John Rock and Arthur Hertig
Contraception
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Photographs
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002364
Senior Staff Group
Photographs
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Free Hospital for Women
The Free Hospital’s Chief Surgeon, William Graves, and his successor, Frank A. Pemberton, assembled a strong staff of clinical researchers: from left: George V. S. Smith, who with his wife Olive, proposed uses for the synthetic estrogen, DES; John Rock; Joe H. Phillips; Christopher A. Duncan; Frank A. Pemberton; Ed Sheehan; Arthur T. Hertig; and G. P. Sturgis
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002385
Dr. John C. Rock
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Photographs
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002367
The Free Hospital for Women
Free Hospital for Women
Infertility
Picture postcards
The hospital was the focal point of Rock’s early career and provided him with the needed participants to conduct his various research trials. His infertility studies here would later provide crucial information concerning the effects of hormones on the reproductive system.
Unknown
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image
English
still image
DigID0002366
Rhythmeter
Tilbrook, Gilmore Lee
Rhythmeter
Rhythm method (Birth control)
Rock became the Director of the Free Hospital for Women’s Sterility Clinic in 1926. At the Free Hospital, Rock saw many infertile women who were eager to have children. Some of his patients, however, sought the means to control conception. For these women, Rock offered the only legal contraceptive approach, the rhythm method. In 1936 he founded a Rhythm Clinic, helping women to estimate their likelihood of fertility based on a record of the length of previous menstrual cycles.
Tilbrook, Gilmore Lee
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image
English
still image
DigID0002408
The Human Embryo
Life Magazine
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Human embryo
Periodicals
Life Magazine
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image
English
still image
DigID0002382
Dr. Robert L. Dickinson
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
Photographs
Unknown
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image
still image
DigID0002363
Cartoon
Birth control
Cartoon
Medical Opinion and Review
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text
English
text
DigID0002370
Catholic doctor urges planned parenthood
Birth control
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Clippings (information artifacts)
Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)
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text
English
text
NewsclipPP
DigID0002425
Rock wages birth control battle
Birth control
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Clippings (information artifacts)
Ohio University Post
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text
English
text
NewsBCBattle
DigID0002426
Fan Mail
Birth control
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Correspondence
One letter from many addressed to Dr. Rock by women interested in birth control and other fertility matters. In this letter, the author applauds his work as described in the Good Housekeeping article, and asks where to find more information on the temperature method and double ovulation.
[Restricted]
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text
English
text
DigID0002369
We can end the battle over birth control!
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Birth control
Contraception
Good Housekeeping
Periodicals
The development of the pill as a non-medical drug had been a controversial and groundbreaking issue. The pill faced a critical backlash from religious, social, political and even medical groups. Rock used the media to deliver his message that the pill would indeed help humankind.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002401
DigID0002402
DigID0002403
DigID0002404
Statement on steroids passed by Medical Committee
Planned Parenthood of America
Birth control
Contraception
Planned Parenthood of America
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text
English
text
DigID0002409
Letter from William Crosson to Clarence J. Gamble
G.D. Searle & Co.
Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-
Correspondence
Birth control
Contraception
Crosson, William L. (William Lewis)
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text
English
text
DigID0002406
Enovid Medical Brochure
G.D. Searle & Co.
Contraception
Birth control
Brochures
The pill was intensely scrutinized by the Food and Drug Administration. Results from these trials lead the FDA to approve the Enovid pill in 1957, but only for disorders of the female reproductive system. Searle would then seek the approval for the pill as a contraceptive, a non-therapeutic drug. The FDA launched an intense investigation and finally approved the 10mg Enovid pill for contraceptive use in 1960. This early brochure for the contraceptive Enovid was not for patient education, but for medical professionals only.
G.D. Searle & Co.
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text
English
text
DigID0002376
DigID0002377
Field Trials with Norethynodrel as an Oral Contraceptive
Title pages
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Contraception
<em>“In a previous paper (1) we have reported on the results of 16 months of study of the effects of the oral administration of a norethynodrel-estrogen tablet employed as a contraceptive agent by 265 Puerto Rican housewives in San Juan. We have now analyzed various data obtained in this project over a 30 month period. In addition, we have similar data from three additional projects; two were established in Puerto Rico in a more rural area than San Juan, namely Humacao, under the overall supervision of Dr. Adeline Pendleton; the other was established at Port-au-Prince in Haiti under the supervision of a committee consisting of Drs. F. Laraque, R. Nicolas, and R. Borno. Information on the date of initiation of each project, the numbers of subjects, and the number of steroid medication cycles recorded is listed in Table 1.”</em> <em></em>
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
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text
English
text
DigID0002400
Letter to Dr. Adeline Pendleton Satterwaite and team from Dr. Clarence J. Gamble
Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-
Satterwaite, Adeline Pendleton
Contraception
Birth control
Correspondence
Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-
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text
English
text
DigID0002405
Fertility Control with Oral Medication
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Birth control
Contraception
Title pages
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002378
Suitable Experimental Subjects
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Birth control
Contraception
Instructions (document genre)
Gregory Pincus had success testing a hormonal compound in animals; to pursue oral hormone contraceptive for humans, he needed an experienced clinician. Rock, who had used hormone treatments to successfully halt ovulation in his infertility patients in 1952, was his choice. The first field trials using the Searle-manufactured hormone were established in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1956. Rock, Pincus, and Celso-Ramon Garica wrote the protocols for the study; Edris Rice-Wray was selected to manage the project on a daily basis. The field trials expanded over the years and involved additional sites in Puerto Rico and Haiti. Clarence J. Gamble, with his associate Adeline Pendleton Satterwaite, followed suit and formed trials in Puerto Rico based on the previous work of Rock, Pincus and Garcia.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002379
DigID0002380
Effects of certain 19-Nor steroids on the normal human menstrual cycle
Garcia, Celso-Ramon, 1921-
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Infertility
This is one of the first articles to publish results from the early study at the Free Hospital for Women involving 50 female participants being treated for infertility with a hormonal regimen. Rock found that using a combination of estrogen and progesterone would fool the body into thinking it was pregnant. The women, thus “rested,” would be taken off hormones; a surprising number of these patients subsequently conceived children in what was termed the “Rock Rebound.” The effects upon ovulation, i.e. preventing the ovum from being released, indicated its potential to act as a contraceptive.
Garcia, Celso-Ramon, 1921-
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
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text
English
text
DigID0002399
Conference on Population Trends and the Family
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Human Reproduction
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Programs (documents)
Rock promoted the Committee on Human Reproduction research agenda in 1949. During discussion of his paper, "Next Steps in Research on the Physiology of Reproduction in Man," he describes a possible approach to hormonal contraception.
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Human Reproduction
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text
English
text
DigID0002394
DigID0002395
Meeting Minutes of the Committee on Human Reproduction
of the National Research Council
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Human Reproduction
Birth control
Minutes (administrative records)
After World War II, Dickinson’s National Committee on Maternal Health and Planned Parenthood (the successor to Margaret Sanger’s American Birth Control League) asked the National Research Council to oversee a program of research in reproductive science and medicine. Rock was a founding member of the resulting Committee on Human Reproduction and wrote its research agenda. In 1948, the committee planned to support 10 research projects, including projects headed by Gregory Pincus, Rock, and Clarence J. Gamble. Rock would later head the first trial of progesterone and estrogen on a small group of women at the Free Hospital of women.
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Human Reproduction
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text
English
text
DigID0002362
In Vitro Fertilization Notes
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Pincus, Gregory, 1903-1967
Werthessen, Nicholas Theodore, 1911-
Lists (document genre)
Fertilization in vitro
As the IVF experiments continued, adjustments were considered from the initial protocols established in 1941.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002375
Human Ova Plan and IVF sketch
Menkin, Miriam
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Plans (reports)
Scientific illustrations (images)
Fertilization in vitro
These notes outline the procedures for the year’s work on in-vitro fertilization. Along with the outline came a test tube sketch from James Snodgrass to Miriam Menkin.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002372
DigID0002373
DigID0002374
Egg Chart
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Charts (graphic documents)
Human embryo
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
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text
English
text
DigID0002393
Concerning the Harvard and Yale struggle for supremacy in the Carnegie (egg) Cup Classic
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Parody
Human embryo
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
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text
English
text
DigID0002386
DigID0002387
DigID0002388
Science and Sex Ethics
Saturday Evening Post
Human embryo
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Periodicals
Saturday Evening Post
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text
English
text
DigID0002383
Embryo Case Questionnaires
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Questionnaires
Each participant that entered into the Rock-Hertig study was asked to fill out a survey form and monitor her cycle, as well as record dates of coitus. This information was then used during the ‘egg hunting’ process after surgery.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
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text
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text
DigID0002396
DigID0002397
DigID0002398
Correspondence
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Streeter, George Linius, 1873-1948
Correspondence
With funding from the Carnegie Institution, Rock worked with Arthur T. Hertig and Eleanor Colby Adams to identify 34 fertilized ova that document the first 17 days after conception. Hertig had completed a fellowship at the Carnegie Institution in 1934, and corresponded regularly with the Institution’s director, George Streeter. In October of 1938, Hertig was at last able to report the discovery of something that “is quite suggestive of an early implanted egg.” Streeter agreed that Hertig should send it to the Carnegie for examination. Hertig concluded,
<p><em> If this proves to be nothing it won’t be from lack of staff’s and patient’s [sic] cooperation. As Dr. Rock philosophically remarked, “If this thing is not ‘it’ then some other one in the future will be.”</em></p>
<p>But the specimen was “it.” Carnegie egg number 7699 was the first ovum they discovered and, at 11 and one-half days, the youngest found to that time.</p>
Hertig, Arthur Tremain, 1904-
Streeter, George Linius, 1873-1948
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text
English
text
DigID0002389
DigID0002390
DigID0002391
DigID0002392
Control of Conception, Chart of Chief Methods
Birth control
Charts (graphic documents)
Contraception
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
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text
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text
DigID0002411
Program for Future Research on Birth Control
National Committee on Maternal Health
Birth control
Programs (documents)
National Committee on Maternal Health
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text
English
text
DigID0002360
The Sexual Behavior of Primates
Rock, John, 1890-1984
Lecture notes
Sexual behavior in animals
In response to the 1929 NCHM survey, Harvard Medical School’s Dean David Edsall reported, “The men are taught something of the methods of contraception and sterilization during their regular course work, but there is no specific class in it.” Dr. Arthur T. Hertig recalled Rock’s lecturing about the taboo subject as early as 1928. As these lecture notes illustrate, Rock would occasionally integrate such material into his lectures about primates thus stepping around the legal barriers.
Rock, John, 1890-1984
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text
English
text
DigID0002381
Survey of Medical Schools
National Committee on Maternal Health
Contraception
Questionnaires
Sterilization
Contraception, sterilization, sterility, and premarital hygiene were taught in less than half of American medical schools. The National Committee on Maternal Health surveyed medical schools to determine the state of human reproduction education in 1929 and 1933. Of the 77 schools surveyed, 34 taught contraception and 41 lectured on sterilization.
National Committee on Maternal Health
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text
English
text
DigID0002361
Are Present Birth Control Methods Satisfactory?
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
Birth control
National Committee on Maternal Health
Speeches
Reproduction
Another barrier, as Dickinson argued in a lecture he prepared for Margaret Sanger’s first world congress on birth control in 1934, was the lack of scientific knowledge of human reproduction.
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
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text
English
text
DigID0002359
Agencies Active in Study of Human Sex Problems
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
Birth control
National Committee on Maternal Health
Charts (graphic documents)
In 1929, Robert Latou Dickinson, MD visualized the relationships among organizations in this chart, created for the Committee on Maternal Health (CMH), an organization he established as a medical counterpart to Sanger’s Birth Control League.
Dickinson, Robert Latou, 1861-1950
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text
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text
DigID0002358