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- National League of Women Voters, 1920
“Infancy and Maternity Care” and public health education are part of the planks presented by the National League of Women Voters during the 1920 Democratic Convention
Courtesy Collection of the Oakland Museum of California
Right after American women received the vote in 1920, women’s rights advocates briefly succeeded in winning government support for expanded public health nursing with the Sheppard-Towner Act (1921–29), the first federal program to assist babies and expectant mothers.
- A pamphlet supporting the Sheppard-Towner bill, 1920
“Write your representatives to support…H.R. 10925,” supported passage of the Sheppard-Towner bill, 1920
Courtesy Library of Congress
A pamphlet in support of the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act urges federal action to combat the high maternal and infant mortality rates in the United States.
- Supporters of the Sheppard-Towner bill, ca. 1920–1921
Group portrait of women leaders supporting passage of the Sheppard-Towner bill, ca. 1920–1921
Courtesy Library of Congress
Women who supported the federal Sheppard-Towner bill for maternity and infant care included prominent suffragists, consumer and children’s advocates, and peace activists.