Mary Calderone
| Mary Calderone | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Mary Steichen July 1, 1904 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | October 24, 1998 (aged 94) Kennett Square, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Vassar College |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Employer | SIECUS |
| Known for | Sex education |
| Title | Dr. |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. Frank A. Calderone |
Mary Steichen Calderone (July 1, 1904 – October 24, 1998) was a physician and a public health advocate for sexual education. Her most notable feat was overturning the American Medical Association policy against the dissemination of birth control information to patients.
Calderone served as president and co-founder of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) from 1954 to 1982. She was also the medical director for Planned Parenthood. She wrote many publications advocating open dialogue and access to information at all ages. Her extensive work with popularizing sexuality education has often been compared to the Margaret Sanger campaign for birth control.
She was born in New York, New York on July 1, 1904. Biographer Jeffrey Moran suggests that her bohemian childhood (her father, Edward Steichen, was a noted photographer; her uncle was poet Carl Sandburg) and Quaker upbringing influenced her liberal outlook on sex as well as contributed to her opinionated and passionate nature. When Calderone was six, for instance, she berated the family-friend and sculptor Constantin Brâncuși for his horizontal-headed bird pieces, which would undoubtedly hinder the bird from singing. Brâncuși complied and began sculpting birds with more upturned heads.
Calderone attended the Brearley School in New York City for her secondary education. After graduation, she entered Vassar College, graduating in 1925 with an A.B. in Chemistry. Calderone decided to go into theatre after graduation and studied for three years at the American Laboratory Theater. She was also the model for the figures on the Pratt Institute flagpole, whose bronze was sculpted by her uncle Willard Dryden Paddock, which was erected in 1926 to commemorate the soldiers who served in World War I.
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