Estelle+Griswold

Daniel Rickert = **Estelle Griswold**   =



**Life, Education, and Early Careers**
Estelle Trebert Griswold was born on June, 8 1900 in Hartford, Connecticut. Estelle lived a simple life. Her father earned a living for the family as a toolmaker and often clashed with her mother. According to Estelle, her parent’s had a difficult marriage due to their personality differences. Estelle was baptized as a Roman Catholic like her Mother, but her family was not particularly religious and she attended public schools (Garrow, 1994). She excelled in elementary school and was double promoted in both the fourth and seventh grade. She graduated from Hartford High School in 1920 and unlike some of her friends, Griswold did not attend college due to her parents’ finances. However, Estelle was interested in pursuing a music career and she enrolled at Hartt School of Music in Hartford to develop her singing skills (Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, n.d.). In 1922, she moved to Paris and quickly adapted to life abroad. She became fluent in French, performed regularly at the American Cathedral, and worked in various office jobs to support herself. Sadly, in the late 1920s, her parents became ill and she was forced to return home. After she came back to Hartford, she became reacquainted with Dick Griswold who was two years older than her during her time at Hartford High School. Estelle and Dick eventually decided to marry in 1927 and the couple moved to New York where Estelle landed various singing jobs on the radio. In addition, she also had the opportunity to go on a six month multi-city tour with a Chicago based performance group (Garrow, 1994). In 1935 upon Dick’s relocation to Washington DC, Estelle decided to end her pursuit of a music career and enrolled at George Washington University to become a medical technologist. She began working as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office and later became an instructor in the labs at George Washington (Garrow 1994). After the end of the Second World War, she worked for the UN and religious organizations assisting refugees and impoverished people in cities around the world (Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, n.d.). The couple returned to their native Connecticut in 1950 and purchased a home in New Haven. While living in New Haven, Estelle gained notoriety for her victories legal battles while she was the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut from 1953 to 1965.

**Estelle Griswold’s Entry Into Advocacy and Cultural Views of Sexuality in the 1950s**
The 1950s and preceding decades was an era of restraint and repression in regard to sexuality in the United States. The topic was rarely discussed openly and viewed primarily as a means of reproduction. Even in the doctor’s office, discussions about non-reproductive sex or contraception were viewed unfavorably and patients risked hearing a moral lecture rather than receiving proper medical advice (Saperstein, 2005). In 1954, a troublesome new regulation in Connecticut prohibited women from obtaining diaphragms without the prescription from a doctor. The Connecticut State Food and Drug Commission issued this regulation in a directive referencing a previously unenforced statue from 1879 that “placed broad criminal sanctions on sexual speech and commerce, including all materials related to sexuality, birth control and abortion” (Chesler, 2005). According to David McBride of PBS (2006), “The 1879 law provided that "any person who uses any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purposes of preventing conception shall be fined not less than forty dollars or imprisoned not less than sixty days”. Due to the conservative attitudes on sexuality this regulation would further restrict women’s access to birth control since many doctors and pharmacists were reluctant to provide contraceptives out of fear of being stigmatized. The President of the advocacy group Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, Molly Milmine, was particularly impressed with Griswold and her qualifications and offered her a job at the organization in 1953 (Garrow, 1994). The organization was in great need of a skilled leader and the increased erosion of sexual freedom and the denial of beneficial medical advice was a way to save failing organization. Estelle first became interested in the issue and benefits of birth control while working for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation. During her time there she “helped relocate displaced persons and learned first-hand about the devastating effects of poverty when she visited the slums of Rio de Janiero, Algiers and Puerto Rico” (Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, n.d.). These experiences shaped her belief that “inadequate information about contraception was a major cause of human misery both abroad and even in certain segments of the Connecticut population” (Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, n.d.). Although she was interested in increasing education and availability of contraceptive practices, Griswold knew almost nothing about birth control. For example, “at the time of her first conversation with Molly Milmine, Stelle Griswold had never seen a diaphragm, did not know what one was, and was not sure what the word meant” (Garrow, 1994). Despite Griswold’s lack of knowledge about the League or birth control in general, she was approved by the board to be the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut along with a generous salary due to her interest and qualifications.

**The 1960s and Victory in Griswold v. Connecticut ** Estelle Griswold’s contributions to the women’s rights movement and sexual freedom began during her time in New Haven as executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut (Saperstein, 2005). Throughout her tenure, Griswold labored for legalization of contraceptives and progressive birth control bills across the state and became increasingly involved and committed for expanded access to contraception. The league held numerous informational sessions and began a service that helped poor women obtain birth control by referring them to Planned Parenthood clinics across the border in New York. However, the project was expensive and political gridlock prevented any favorable birth control legislation from being passed. By the 1960s, Griswold and Dr. C Lee Buxton from Yale University decided to open a clinic that provided birth control in New Haven (McBride, 2006). In addition to being a revenue source for the league, the birth control clinic also was a way for the League to test the birth control law. Griswold and Buxton’s clinic was still in violation of the Connecticut State Law from 1879 that banned the sale and a state agency directive resumed enforcement and after nine days, both Griswold and Buxton were both arrested for providing birth control to a married couple that came into their clinic and received 100 dollar fines (McBride, 2006). After numerous appeals to the various Connecticut courts in the early 1960s, the original conviction was upheld (McBride, 2006). However, she refused to give up the battle and appealed to the United States Supreme Court and her arguments were heard in 1965. Griswold v. Connecticut was the first of many landmark cases that “later provided the foundation for expanding privacy protections to encompass abortion” (Chesler, 2005). Griswold argued that denial of contraception in Connecticut was in violation of the privileges and immunities protected by the federal government in the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found the outdated Connecticut statute to be unconstitutional and ruled that despite the absence of an explicit clause regarding privacy, “the "spirit" of the First, Third, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments, as applied against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, creates a general right to privacy” (McBride, 2006). This right to privacy was deemed by the court to be fundamental for married couples and was to be protected if they used or sought contraception. **Conclusion ** Estelle Griswold was an influential figure in the establishment of a constitutional right to privacy guaranteed by the United States Constitution and became noteworthy after her successful appeal to the United States Supreme Court in Griswold v. Connecticut. Griswold was a dedicated and successful advocate for increased availability of birth control and education about contraception while she was the director of the Planned Parenthood League. Griswold herself had little knowledge of birth control due to the repressive cultural climate in the first half of the twentieth century. However, later in life she saw the many benefits sexual education and the freedom to obtain contraception would provide. Not only did Estelle Griswold’s victory in the Griswold v. Connecticut case expand civil liberties, the new constitutional right to privacy provided a frame for future cases regarding sexual freedoms and women’s reproductive rights. Although Estelle died in August of 1981, her legacy lives on through successive court victories that enhance the fundamental right to privacy and expand personal freedoms.

** References ** Corbis Images. (1961). Estelle Griswold and Dr. C Lee Buxton After Being Arrested. //Corbis Images.// Retrieved from http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/U1304174.html <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; line-height: 27.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -40pt;">Chesler, E. (2005). Public Triumphs, Private Rights. //Ms. Magazine Online//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2005/birthcontrol.asp <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; line-height: 27.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -40pt;">Estelle Griswold. (n.d.). //Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.cwhf.org/browse_hall/hall/people/Griswold_Eslelle.php <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; line-height: 27.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -40pt;">Garrow, D. J. (1994). //Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade//. Berkeley: University of California Press. 130-200. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; line-height: 27.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -40pt;">McBride, A. (2006). The Supreme Court. //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_griswold.html <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; line-height: 27.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -40pt;">Saperstein, S. (2005). Honoring Mrs. Griswold - No Delays, No Hassles. No Lectures. //Center for American Progress//. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/kfiles/b739485.html