Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78047993
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Gregory Pincus, biologist, were given to the Library of Congress by Pincus and his family, 1966-2016.
The papers of Gregory Pincus were arranged and described in 1970 and revised in 1978, 1989, 2014, and 2016.
A video recording has been transferred to the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where it is identified as part of these papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Gregory Pincus in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of Gregory Pincus are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on one reel. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Gregory Pincus Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967) span the period 1920-2006, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years 1950-1967. The collection consists of diaries, correspondence, writings, research files, and miscellaneous material relating to Pincus's life and career, especially his role in developing and testing the contraceptive pill. The papers are organized into nine series: Diaries; Personal Correspondence; Professional Correspondence; Speech, Article, and Book File; Research Material; Notebooks; Financial Papers; Miscellany; and Addition. The largest portion of the collection, the Professional Correspondence series, is compartmented into four subseries: General File, G. D. Searle & Company File, Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center File, and Grants File.
Prominent in the General File subseries of the Professional Correspondence are materials pertaining to the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, which Pincus helped found, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Among the studies documented are projects conducted by Pincus in Haiti and Puerto Rico while developing and testing the oral contraceptive. Correspondence and reports concern the women who participated in the project and note their experiences, side effects, and thoughts and feelings about the contraceptive pill. Significant correspondents include Alberto Ercoli, Celso-Ramon Garcia, Mary Lasker, Katherine Dexter McCormick, Edris Rice-Wray, Hector Rocamora, John Rock, and Margaret Sanger.
Files relating to the G. D. Searle & Company, which manufactured most of the compounds investigated by Pincus in the search for the oral contraceptives, document his relationship with Searle from as early as 1942, including research projects that predate its association with the pill. The files are primarily correspondence and include related material. The Grants File subseries of the Professional Correspondence documents the range of research grants provided Pincus and his staff from many sources.
Also in the collection are data files and experiment books kept by Pincus, the reports of his staff at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, and manuscripts and correspondence relating to the many articles he wrote concerning the results of his research. The chronological arrangement of the Research Material series reveals the development of his interests and the thrust of his research at different periods in his life. The volume of writings in the Speech, Article, and Book File on the topic of the contraceptive pill suggests the importance of this development and some of the controversy which surrounded it.
The Diaries series contains two volumes, one from 1920, with original poetry, recounting the thoughts and experiences of Pincus as a youth of sixteen, and the other, from a few months in 1941, describe the research in which he was engaged and prospects for the future.
The Addition includes writings by Pincus; correspondence; glass slides containing data and results of fertility control experiments, clinical trials, and control groups in the form of tables, graphs, and charts; a scrapbook of newspaper clippings related to the birth control pill; and other papers.
This collection is arranged in nine series:
Diaries and appointment books.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically thereunder. Condolences on Pincus's death are arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Organized in the general arrangement in which it was kept by Pincus and his staff. The subseries reflect divisions in the records when they were received by the Library. Since these were working files, they are generally in reverse chronological order within folders.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, reports, memoranda, near print, and printed matter relating to Pincus's professional work.
Arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically thereunder.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, including related material concerning the G. D. Searle & Co. and Pincus's relation to it.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports, memoranda, and related material concerning Pincus's work with the center.
Arranged by type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and data concerning grants received by Pincus and his staff.
Arranged by grant and alphabetically by title of research project.
Correspondence, manuscript and typescript drafts, notes, and other data concerning writings, speeches, and lectures by Pincus.
Arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically therein by title.
Notebooks and papers containing research data, records of experiments, and illustrations relating to scientific studies by Pincus and his staff. Much of this material was labeled by Pincus.
Arranged chronologically.
Reports and memoranda of research projects by members of Pincus's staff.
Arranged chronologically.
Laboratory notebooks.
Arranged chronologically.
Financial statements of the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology and bills, statements, and correspondence relating to personal financial matters.
Arranged by type of material.
Awards, biographical material, family correspondence, memoranda, financial papers, notes, photographs, transcripts, writings, estate material, printed matter, and other miscellaneous items.
Arranged by type of material.
Writings, correspondence, glass slides, notebook, scrapbook, and other papers.
Arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material.