(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A new collaborative mixed media installation at the International Museum of Surgical Science explores the complex history of birth control in the United States.
The focal point of "Unplanned Parenthood" is a display of just some of the hundreds of thousands of letters mothers wrote to Planned Parenthood's founder Margaret Sanger in the 1920s.
"This one letter right here where she's asking for information about birth control because she doesn't want to have any more kids, and she said, ‘I will take poison or kill myself before I would have another child.’"
Michelle Hartney said her installation both discusses the role Sanger played in sharing these women's stories and acknowledges her problematic history.
"I won't even allow this exhibition to be shown without wall text that talks about her history, because a lot of folks don't know that she supported eugenics for a period of time, she spoke to the KKK."
Hartney said the exhibit is approachable to everyone, no matter what your views are on bodily autonomy.
"I wanted this to kind of bridge that gap and hopefully get people who are anti-abortion to set that aside and look at where we started and what it was like when there just wasn't even birth control."
The exhibit will be on display through December.
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