TLS plus printed material from Marie Stopes about birth control dated 1921

STOPES, Marie Carmichael (1880-1958). Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress.
 
Typed letter signed (TLS) to writer Douglas Sladen, with printed foundation document and membership form. 2 May 1921.
 
2 items: (1) TLS, 1 page, 4to, headed “Givons Grove, Leatherhead, Surrey”, to “Douglas Sladen Esq., The Avenue House, Richmond”. (2) printed prospectus (3 pp) for The Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress, with membership form intact; light folds, creases and handling wear; both very good.
 
Stopes writes to author Sladen enclosing “two tickets for the stalls for what I hope will be a historic meeting on the subject of Constructive Birth Control … the first time the matter has been seriously and publicly presented”, and encourages Sladen to circulate notice of the meeting or return the tickets “to avoid any gaps in the Hall.”
 
The accompanying printed document lists the inaugural officers of the Society, founded in 1921, with Stopes as President, and among its vice-presidents H. G. Wells, Lady Constance Lytton, and Anthony Hope Hawkins.
 
The Society was established to promote Stopes’ campaign for accessible birth control, at this early stage framed in terms of “racial progress”, reflecting its connection to contemporary eugenic thought. While her advocacy for women’s reproductive rights was pioneering, the Society’s original formulation proved contentious and was soon altered, with the latter part of its title and emphasis dropped.
 
An early, rare letter from Stopes at the launch of her Society, with accompanying printed material relating to its initial organisation and promotion.