The woman who fought for women’s freedom and gave us birth control pills.
Katharine McCormick is our WOMAN OF THE WEEK and the most outstanding example of women being women’s best allies.
What did Katherine do?
She funded the research for birth control pills and gave women the freedom of choice.
Katharine was born in Michigan in 1875 and was raised in a prominent Chicago family with deep American roots. Her lineage traced back to the Mayflower. Unlike most girls of her time, Katherine’s father encouraged her to pursue an education. This was rare, and it shaped her into the undaunted personality she became.
McCormick was fighting for women’s rights before birth control was even a conversation. She helped secure the 19th Amendment as an officer in the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, and gave women the right to vote.
She co-founded the League of Women Voters to educate women on political power in 1919, because voting was just the beginning.
Katharine McCormick’s greatest impact?
She funded the research that led to the birth control pill. In the 1950s, when the government and pharmaceutical industry wanted nothing to do with contraceptive research, McCormick single-handedly financed the project, ensuring women had the power to control their bodies.
She didn’t just write checks but was an active participant. She pushed scientists to speed up the trials, demanding results, and making sure the pill became a reality in her lifetime.
No, that’s not her only contribution towards the betterment of fellow women.
McCormick was a biology graduate of MIT in 1904. She knew education was the key to gender equality.
But MIT had a problem.
Women weren’t enrolling because there was no campus housing for them. She changed that. In 1959, she fully funded MIT’s first women’s dormitory, boosting female enrollment from 3% to 40%.
Despite her groundbreaking contributions, history nearly forgot her.
When the birth control pill hit the market in 1960, scientists and doctors were celebrated, but McCormick’s role was overlooked.
Even her death in 1967 didn’t make major headlines.
But this women’s history month, let’s come together and celebrate Katherine’s contributions for us.
Let her inspire us to do better for women and womanhood.
Let’s be each other’s cheerleaders, friend, supporter, and motivator.