Two tales of activists
Mary Calderone: Principal founder and first director of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States.
Born in France on July 1, 1904, Mary Steichen Calderone moved to the United States to change the future of sexual reproductive health. Her family moved to the United States when she was 10. However, due to her parents’ occupation they always had to be on the move, so they sent Calderone to live with family friends in New York. There she grew interested in medicine. She gained experience by shadowing her family friend, Dr. Stieglitz, during his hospital rounds.
She enrolled in pre-med courses at Vassar College. But instead of continuing to medical school, she turned to music and acting, kickstarting her early adult life and following in her parent's footsteps. She made a triumphant return to medicine when she was 30 years old by enrolling in the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1935. Then she gained further education by receiving an M.P.H. from Columbia University School of Public Health in 1942.
In 1953, Dr. Mary Calderone became the new medical director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She now was a hot topic in every New Yorker’s life. Calderone pushed for a new era of sexual reproductive health. She advocated for more open discussions and transparency surrounding sexual talks. Calderone also launched the movement of separating sex from reproduction. She laid the foundation for open conversations about STDS, AIDS, and unwanted pregnancy.
https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_49.html
Helen Rodriguez Trias: was a founding member of the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse and the first Latina to be elected president of the American Public Health Association.
While born in New York in 1929, Helen Rodriguez Trias spent her early childhood in Puerto Rico, moving back to the US when she was 10. Growing up Puerto Rican in New York was not easy. She experienced daily racist remarks, which fueled her to become an activist for underserved people.
Rodriguez-Trias became a student activist on issues such as freedom of speech and Puerto Rican independence at her alma mater, the University of Puerto Rico. Later she re-enrolled to study medicine, her inspiration being that the field "combined the things I loved the most, science and people." Living in Puerto Rico until 1970, Rodriguez-Trias established the first care center for newborn babies in Puerto Rico. Under her leadership the hospital's death rate for newborns decreased by 50 percent within three years.
After moving back to New York in 1970 she commenced her work in community medicine. She saw that most of her patients were part of the lowest-income population and struggled to get basic care. Seeing people struggle, fueled the flame in her heart to be an activist. Through the 1970s she became an active member of the women's health movement. She was a founding member of the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse and the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse. She advocated for the women’s health movement and spoke about real stories from women’s struggle with healthcare at various places. During her work with the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse and the Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse, she was able to draft a contract for a woman's written consent to sterilization to prevent forced sterilization. Helen Rodriguez Trias lobbied all her life for women’s reproductive rights, and shined a light on unseen stories from underserved communities. Her influential activism is the reason today why the conversation surrounding neglected communities’ health and rights are more open today.
https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_273.html
