nce was also a strong one. Her father was said to be a free thinker and outspoken radical (About Margaret Sanger, 1) Although he was something of an autocrat, she admired him for his advocacy of liberal issues, including woman suffrage and tax reform, which he discussed with her as his intellectual equal. He was an indifferent businessman, and the two eldest daughters were compelled to leave school early to go to work. Sanger recognized the bravery in her father and was driven to measure the amount of courage within herself. Margaret resented the familys poverty and lack of status and blamed the Catholic teaching, which promoted the bearing of many children without regard to the parents ability to support them. Her early life consisted of a search for personal power and autonomy. Margaret, at a very young age, was convinced that she would always be able to do what she set out to do. When her eighth grade teacher teased her in class, she refused to return to school. With the help of her older sisters, she attended Claverack College. (Katz, 1) This was a secondary school in New York, where she earned her room and board by waiting on tables and washing dishes. After graduation, she taught briefly in Little Falls, New Jersey, and then returned home to take care of her mother, who died in March 1896. Michael Higgins expected his daughter to continue taking care of the household, but in the spring of 1899, she acquired a job as a nurse probationer at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. She underwent several operations for tubercular glands, but by 1902, she had completed two years of practical-nurse training. In August, she married William Sanger, and architect, artist, and socialist. Through her work as a nurse, Margaret witnessed many traumatic experiences that would change the course of her life forever. Through her working experience, she saw women deprived of their health, sexuality, and ability to care for their already bor...
