The Socialite Smuggler

Katharine Dexter’s great-grandfather, Samuel Dexter, had served in the cabinets of both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Her father, Wirt Dexter, was a prominent attorney in Chicago. He married Josephine Moore, a wealthy socialite, in 1866. Katharine was born on August 27, 1875.

In 1904, Katharine was the first woman to graduate from MIT with a degree in science, majoring in biology. Her thesis was titled “Fatigue of the Cardiac Muscles in Reptilia.” She wanted to be a doctor.

Katharine married Stanley McCormick, educated at Princeton and heir to the vast McCormick fortune. Stanley’s father, Cyrus McCormick, had patented the mechanical reaper and Stanley, as comptroller of the company, had facilitated the mergers of several manufacturers to found International Harvester.

Two years into their marriage, Stanley began to display signs of schizophrenia and dementia. Katharine gave generously to medical research and founded the Neuroendocrine Research Foundation at Harvard Medical School. However, her husband’s mental health continued to decline and he soon required round-the-clock care.

Katharine turned her energies to the growing women’s suffrage movement and joined the fight for a woman’s right to vote. She helped Carrie Chapman Catt found the League of Women Voters. As its first vice president, she educated women in the political process and worked to promote women’s political power.

Katharine became friends with Margaret Sanger, an outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive rights. While the diaphragm had been invented in 1882, and easily available in Europe, the Comstock Act of 1873 made birth control illegal in the U.S. It was a crime to possess, distribute or provide information about contraception. The penalty for breaking the law was a large fine and up to five years in jail. Sanger (who established Planned Parenthood) was indicted for sending a newsletter providing birth control information through the mail. She had to flee the country for a while.

Katharine decided it was a good time to sail to Europe to do a little shopping. She bought lots of coats. She had seamstresses remove the linings and sew diaphragms inside. She filled eight steamer trunks with her coats. Not one border guard questioned the rich American socialite about her abundant luggage — and her contraband sailed easily across the Atlantic. Her 1,000 diaphragms also sailed through U.S. customs, who recognized the wealthy socialite, although one agent did comment on her love of coats. She gave her ill-gotten gains to Sanger to distribute at her women’s health clinic.

Sanger told Katharine about the development of a birth control pill that was as easy to take as an aspirin. Sanger wanted Katharine to fund the research, and she did. Katharine also fully funded MIT’s first on-campus residence for women which increased the number of women at MIT from 3 percent to 40 percent.

Katharine fought for the right for women to vote, equal pay for equal work, education, and reproductive rights. Her actions and financial support intensified the social, political, and scientific achievements that improved women’s lives.

The first oral contraceptive was approved in 1960. It was only available by prescription and only to married women. Within two years more than one million American women were using “the pill.” It was safe and effective. Women have made speeches, marched, signed petitions, and argued for the right to make decisions about their body.

For the first time, after more than 60 years, “the pill,” will be available without a prescription. It will be sold in pharmacies and grocery stores at an affordable price. Why did it take so long?