Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Harriet F. Pilpel Papers, 1913-1981

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Kara M. McClurken.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003

Biographical Note

Harriet Fleischl Pilpel was born in New York City in 1911 to businessperson Julius and Ethel (Loewy) Fleischl. She was graduated from Vassar in 1932 and received a Master's degree in 1933 and a law degree in 1936, both from Columbia University.

She married Robert Pilpel, a social service executive on June 15, 1933. They had two children, Judith Ethel Pilpel Appelaum and Robert Harry Pilpel.

Harriet Pilpel was a member of the New York Bar and senior partner in the law firm of Greenbaum, Wolff & Ernst who specialized in First Amendment issues. Between 1937 and 1991, she participated in twenty-seven cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. A prolific lecturer and author of publications related to copyright, abortion, marriage, birth control, civil liberties, and the law, she was also active in many organizations including the board of directors of Planned Parenthood Federation of America for whom she was legal counsel. Pilpel was also counsel to a number of other associations, including Sex Information and Educational Council of the United States, Association for the Study of Abortion, and Association for Voluntary Sterilization. In addition, she served on the boards of the National Abortion Rights Action League, the American Civil Liberties Union, and The Alan Guttmacher Institute. She died in her sleep April 23, 1991.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Harriet F. Pilpel Papers consist of 13.75 linear feet and are primarily related to her professional work with sexual and reproductive rights, dating from 1913 to 1981. The bulk of the papers date from 1966-81 and focus on sexual rights and liberties. The collection is essentially Pilpel's reference files, and is primarily composed of court documents from various legal cases on the state and federal level, as well as newspaper clippings and articles. There is very little personal correspondence or other materials that are not accessible through the public domain in the collection. However, the files allow for a comprehensive, state-to-state comparison of a variety of sexual and reproductive laws, and provide a sense of the debates going on in individual states and the country regarding sexual and reproductive issues. Types of material include correspondence, memoranda, press releases, reports, legislation, notes, journal and newspaper articles, and court documents.

Major topics found throughout these papers include family planning, abortion, contraception, sterilization, as well as the funding of these activities. Related topics include consent and notification for family planning activities, distribution and advertisements related to sex, sexual activities, and the sexual and reproductive rights of minors. The subject "reproductive rights" serves as an all-inclusive category that contains information about subjects such as maternity rights and population, as well as materials related to several aspects of sexual rights and liberties. "Minors" includes all subjects related to minors except the sterilization of mentally incompetent minors, which is located with the materials related to the sterilization of the mentally incompetent. Organizations represented include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL); Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), briefly known as Planned Parenthood-World Population; the Association for the Study of Abortion; and the Association for Voluntary Sterilization. Prominent Supreme Court cases documented include Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), United States v. Vuitch (1971), Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), Roe v. Wade (1973) and Doe v. Bolton (1973), Bellotti v. Baird (1975), T.H. v. Jones (1975), Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth (1976), and Carey v. Populations Services International (1977).

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into two series:

• I. United States
• II. Individual States and Territories
• III. International
• Oversize Materials

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SERIES I. UNITED STATES (1937-81) 4 linear ft.

This series provides an overview of sexual and reproductive liberties on a national level during the late 1960s and 1970s. The series is arranged alphabetically by subject, and chronologically within each folder. The bulk of this series is composed of material that covers more than one state or discusses a subject from the national perspective. Abortion, contraception, and the rights of minors can be examined on a state-to-state basis. Federal legislation and materials related to national organizations, including the ACLU, NARAL, and PPFA form a large part of this series. All of the cases that have been heard by the Supreme Court are found within this series, and include all materials related to lower court decisions. Cases that the Supreme Court refused to hear can be found in SERIES II. INDIVIDUAL STATES AND TERRITORIES. The subject categories "families and family law" and "status of women" cover both state and national topics. "Civil rights and liberties" includes material on a wide variety of subjects not related to gender or sexual rights. The only biographical material related to Harriet Pilpel is found under the organization, Sex Information and Education Council of the United States.

SERIES II. INDIVIDUAL STATES AND TERRITORIES (1913-81) 9.25 linear ft.

This series comprises the bulk of the collection and covers topics related to sexual rights and liberties within each of the states and territories. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order first by state or territory, and then by topic within each state or territory. New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan form the largest portions of the series. Most of the daily transcripts from Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Edelin, a widely publicized trial of an abortion doctor accused of manslaughter in 1975, are also included. [Note: The transcripts from days two through four and fifteen are missing.] In 1971, Pilpel worked on a Health, Education, and Welfare survey that compared family planning and reproductive rights laws in each of the states and territories. The results of that survey, as well as the correspondence relating to it, are found in most of the states and territories under reproductive rights. Many court cases at both the state and district court levels can be found within this series under the subject of the case.

SERIES III. INTERNATIONAL (1967-79) .5 linear ft.

This series examines sexual rights and liberties as well as the status of women around the world during the 1970s. The categories "abortion," "family planning and population programs," "sterilization," and the "status of women" are predominantly composed of articles and newspaper clippings. If a document discusses more than one country or looks at a subject from a global perspective, it is located within the general files under the subject. If the focus of an article is specific to one country, then it is filed under the individual country. The names of individual countries are arranged in alphabetical order

SERIES I. UNITED STATES (1937-81)

SERIES II. INDIVIDUAL STATES AND TERRITORIES (1913-81)

SERIES III. INTERNATIONAL (1967-79)

OVERSIZE MATERIALS (Drawer 33)