{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T22:09:36Z","timestamp":1769810976728,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":107,"publisher":"Informa UK Limited","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["South African Historical Journal"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2001,11]]},"DOI":"10.1080\/02582470108671402","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,30]],"date-time":"2009-05-30T17:37:40Z","timestamp":1243705060000},"page":"53-78","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["\u2018Poor Whiteism\u2019, White Maternal Mortality, and the Promotion of Public Health in South Africa: The Department of Public Health's Endorsement of Contraceptive Services, 1930\u20131938"],"prefix":"10.1080","volume":"45","author":[{"given":"SUSANNE","family":"KLAUSEN","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"301","reference":[{"key":"CIT0001","unstructured":"1932. Between and 1936, birth-control clinics were established in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Benoni, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, East London, Durban (for a few months only) and Port Elizabeth. Elsewhere I discuss the origins of, and the extent of Opposition to, the South African birth-control movement: S. Klausen, \u2018The Formation of a National Birth-Control Movement and the Establishment of Contraceptive Services in South Africa, 1930\u20131939\u2019 (PhD thesis, Queen's University at Kingston, 1999)"},{"key":"CIT0002","first-page":"453","volume-title":"American Journal of Public Health","author":"Marks S.","year":"1997"},{"key":"CIT0003","volume-title":"Scientific Racism in Modern South Africa","author":"Dubow S.","year":"1995"},{"key":"CIT0004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511584121"},{"key":"CIT0005","volume-title":"White But Poor: Essays on the History of the Poor Whites in Southern Africa, 1880\u20131940","author":"Morrell R.","year":"1992"},{"key":"CIT0006","unstructured":"Gray, L. J. 1937.South African Medical Journal492 For example, \u2018Sterility and the Falling Birth-Rate\u2019, (24 July"},{"key":"CIT0007","volume-title":"Volkskapitalisme","author":"O'Meara","year":"1979"},{"key":"CIT0008","volume-title":"Racial Segregation","author":"Dubow"},{"key":"CIT0009","unstructured":"National Archives of South Africa, Pretoria (hereafter NASA), SAB (Central Archives Depot), GES (Department of Public Health) 2277 77\/38, Dr. E.G. Dru-Drury to Dr. A.W. Murray, n.d.;GES 2277 77\/38, JB. Holtzhausen to Dr. A.W. Murray, n.d"},{"key":"CIT0010","unstructured":"See Klausen, \u2018The Race Welfare Society\u2019"},{"key":"CIT0011","unstructured":"Malherbe, E. G. 1932.The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission, Part III: Education and the Poor White212\u201338. Stellenbosch"},{"key":"CIT0012","unstructured":"Ibid., 212"},{"key":"CIT0013","unstructured":"Ibid., 212\u201325"},{"key":"CIT0014","unstructured":"Ibid., 236"},{"key":"CIT0015","unstructured":"The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission: Joint Findings and Recommendation, xxiv\u2013xxv (emphasis added)"},{"key":"CIT0016","volume-title":"The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission, Part V: The Poor White and Society","author":"Albertyn J. R."},{"key":"CIT0017","unstructured":"Malherbe, E. G. 1981.Never A Dull Moment130\u20131. Cape Town"},{"key":"CIT0018","unstructured":"Ibid., 131"},{"key":"CIT0019","unstructured":"1932. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Assistant General Secretary for the South African Association for the Advancement of Science to Secretary for the Department of Public Health (hereafter SPH), 16 Sep."},{"key":"CIT0020","volume-title":"The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission, Part II: The Poor White","author":"Wilcocks R. W."},{"key":"CIT0021","volume-title":"The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission, Part V: The Mother and Daughter of the Poor Family","author":"Rothmann M. E."},{"key":"CIT0022","unstructured":"Ibid., 196\u20137"},{"key":"CIT0023","unstructured":"du Toit, M. 1996.\u2018Women, Welfare and the Nurturing of Afrikaner Nationalism: A Social History of the Afrikaanse Christelike Vroue Vereniging, c. 1870\u20131939\u2019277PhD thesis, University of Cape Town"},{"key":"CIT0024","unstructured":"Ibid., 278"},{"key":"CIT0025","unstructured":"The ACVV also petitioned the State in favour of forced sterilization of women who were \u2018unsuitable\u2019 for motherhood:ibid., 280"},{"key":"CIT0026","volume-title":"Introduction to Social Work in South Africa","author":"McKendrick B. W.","year":"1990"},{"key":"CIT0027","unstructured":"1935.Ibid., 62"},{"key":"CIT0028","volume-title":"Annual Report of the Department of Public Health"},{"key":"CIT0029","unstructured":"Giliomee, H. \u2018The Growth of Afrikaner Identity\u2019, in Adam and Giliomee,Ethnic Power Mobilized, 104\u20135"},{"key":"CIT0030","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol 1, SPH to the Minister of Public Health (hereafter MPH), 12 Dec."},{"key":"CIT0031","unstructured":"Loudon, I. 1880\u20131950.Women and Children First: International Maternal and Infant Welfare 1870\u20131945Edited by: Fildes, V., Marks, L. and Marland, H. 24\u20135. London and New York The rate of maternal mortality is defined by Irvine Loudon as \u2018the number of maternal deaths occurring in pregnancy, labour or the postnatal period (conventionally defined as the 6 weeks following delivery)\u2019 per 1 000 live births. From, \u2018Some International Features of Maternal Mortality,\u2019, in, eds, (1992, During the 1930s the DPH included indirect maternal deaths (in relation to pregnancy or childbirth) in its published figures. Other countries included only direct deaths (in relation to childbirth only), important to note when making international comparisons"},{"key":"CIT0032","volume-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly","year":"1930"},{"key":"CIT0033","unstructured":"ARDPH, Year Ended June 30, 1935, 57"},{"key":"CIT0034","unstructured":"Loudon. 1880\u20131950. \u2018Some International Features of Maternal Mortality,\u2019, 12"},{"key":"CIT0035","unstructured":"1930.Debates of the House of Assembly, 14 (17 Jan. to 4 Apr., 77;ARDPH, Year Ended June 30, 1938, 57\u20139"},{"key":"CIT0036","unstructured":"A white person required a certificate of indigency from a magistrate in order to obtain free medical attention"},{"key":"CIT0037","volume-title":"The Mother and Daughter of the Poor Family","author":"Rothmann"},{"key":"CIT0038","unstructured":"Loudon. 1880\u20131950. \u2018Some International Features of Maternal Mortality,\u2019, 15\u201322"},{"key":"CIT0039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marks, S. 1994.Divided Sisterhood: Race, Class and Gender in the South African Nursing Profession67\u20138. London","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-349-23603-9"},{"key":"CIT0040","first-page":"77","volume":"14","year":"1930","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0041","unstructured":"1932.Official Year Book of the Union233Pretoria"},{"key":"CIT0042","unstructured":"1932.South African Medical Journal303 See, for example, \u2018Minutes of the Meeting of the Cape Town Division of the Cape Western Branch of the Medical Association of South Africa (BMA)\u2019, (14 May"},{"key":"CIT0043","unstructured":"Ibid."},{"key":"CIT0044","first-page":"476","volume-title":"South African Medical Journal","author":"Goddefroy B.","year":"1932"},{"key":"CIT0045","first-page":"655","volume-title":"South African Medical Journal","author":"Woodrow E.","year":"1932"},{"key":"CIT0046","first-page":"492","volume-title":"South African Medical Journal","volume":"1","author":"Block I. J.","year":"1934"},{"key":"CIT0047","unstructured":"1931. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, RWS Executive Committee to SPH, 17 Feb."},{"key":"CIT0048","volume-title":"A History of Contraception. Front Antiquity to the Present Day","author":"McLaren A.","year":"1990"},{"key":"CIT0049","unstructured":"1931. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, \u2018Proposed Birth Control Clinic\u2019, to RWS Executive Committee, 11 Mar."},{"key":"CIT0050","first-page":"61","volume":"36","author":"Hyslop J.","year":"1934","journal-title":"Journal of African History"},{"key":"CIT0051","unstructured":"Toit, Du. \u2018Women, Welfare and the Nurturing of Afrikaner Nationalism\u2019, 14"},{"key":"CIT0052","unstructured":"Cited inibid., 282"},{"key":"CIT0053","volume-title":"The Mother and Daughter of the Poor Family","author":"Rothmann"},{"key":"CIT0054","unstructured":"Ibid., 190"},{"key":"CIT0055","unstructured":"Recommendation 47a,The Poor White Problem in South Africa. Report of the Carnegie Commission: Joint Findings and Recommendations, xvi"},{"key":"CIT0056","unstructured":"Toit, Du. \u2018Women, Welfare and the Nurturing of Afrikaner Nationalism\u2019, 304"},{"key":"CIT0057","volume-title":"Mothers of a New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States","author":"Koven S.","year":"1993"},{"key":"CIT0058","unstructured":"Toit, Du. \u2018Women, Welfare and the Nurturing of Afrikaner Nationalism\u2019, 291"},{"key":"CIT0059","unstructured":"Ibid., 293"},{"key":"CIT0060","volume-title":"Never A Dull Moment","author":"Malherbe"},{"key":"CIT0061","unstructured":"Rothmann was never a member of the DRC: Du Toit, \u2018Women, Welfare and the Nurturing of Afrikaner Nationalism\u2019, 200"},{"key":"CIT0062","unstructured":"1933.Die Burger, 3 Aug. See GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1"},{"key":"CIT0063","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 12 Dec."},{"key":"CIT0064","unstructured":"1933. In, women from the country's four Afrikaans women's welfare organizations, including the ACVV, held theFederale Vroue Kongres(the Federal Women's Congress) (hereafter the FVK) that requested the state to establish rural nursing services. The FVK brought much publicity to the Poor White question and, according to du Toit, prompted male Afrikaners to hold aVolkskongresat Kimberley the following year, the National Conference on the Poor White Problem. Women who had participated in the FVK took part in theVolkskongres, which also urged the DPH to establish a rural nursing service. Rothmann was the thread of consistency running through each event: the Carnegie Commission, the FVK and the Kimberley Conference (of which she was a member of the Executive and Continuation Committees)"},{"key":"CIT0065","unstructured":"Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa. 1936. 4 Johannesburg (hereafter PPASA), Minutes of the First Meeting of the South African National Council for Maternal and Family Welfare (SANCMFW) (6 and 7 Oct."},{"key":"CIT0066","unstructured":"1937.ARDPH, Year Ended June 30, 76"},{"key":"CIT0067","unstructured":"See DPH's flies on birth control. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1"},{"key":"CIT0068","unstructured":"1933. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Chair of the MCC to SPH, 10 June"},{"key":"CIT0069","first-page":"743","volume-title":"South African Medical Journal","author":"Thornton E.","year":"1935"},{"key":"CIT0070","first-page":"2391","volume":"25","year":"1935","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0071","unstructured":"1935.South African Medical Journal704 Thornton's comments at a symposium called \u2018Our Land: Is Our Population Satisfactory?\u2019 (26 Oct."},{"key":"CIT0072","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/hwj\/5.1.9"},{"key":"CIT0073","unstructured":"Marks, Andersson and. \u2018Industrialization\u2019, 146\u20137. The authors discuss how government commissions and the medical profession began calling for improvements in health services for Africans. Shula Marks elaborates on this theme in \u2018Doctors and the State: George Gale and South Africa's Experiment in Social Medicine', in Dubow,Science and Society, 188\u2013211"},{"key":"CIT0074","unstructured":"ARDPH, Year Ended June 30, 2009, 13\u201317, ARDPH, Year Ended June 30, 1939, 71\u20132"},{"key":"CIT0075","first-page":"1142","volume":"25","year":"1935","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0076","first-page":"2471","volume":"29","year":"1937","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0077","first-page":"778","volume":"25","year":"1935","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0078","unstructured":"1935\u20136. For example, see theOfficial Year Book of the Union, 219"},{"key":"CIT0079","first-page":"530","volume":"12","author":"Leipoldt C. L.","year":"1915","journal-title":"South African Journal of Science"},{"key":"CIT0080","unstructured":"1123.Debates of the House of Assembly, 25 (8 Mar. to 4 May 1935"},{"key":"CIT0081","unstructured":"Ibid., 1128"},{"key":"CIT0082","first-page":"778","volume":"25","year":"1935","journal-title":"Ibid."},{"key":"CIT0083","first-page":"4985","volume":"27","year":"1936","journal-title":"Ibid."},{"key":"CIT0084","unstructured":"1935.Ibid., 25 (8 Mar. to 4 May, 1139;ibid.27 (24 Jan. to 17 June 1936), 4985;ibid.29 (8 Jan. to 17 May 1937), 2471;ibid., 45 and 46 (16 Jan. to 27 Apr. 1943), 4408"},{"key":"CIT0085","first-page":"2238","volume":"43","year":"1942","journal-title":"Ibid."},{"key":"CIT0086","unstructured":"Ibid., 2195"},{"key":"CIT0087","unstructured":"1942\u201344. For discussion of the failure of the central government to implement the recommendations of the National Health Services Commission (see Andersson and Marks, \u2018Industrialization\u2019"},{"key":"CIT0088","unstructured":"1936. 7 PPASA, Minutes of the First Meeting of the SANCMFW (6 and 7 Oct."},{"key":"CIT0089","first-page":"743","volume-title":"South African Medical Journal","author":"Thornton E.","year":"1934"},{"key":"CIT0090","first-page":"2397","volume":"25","year":"1935","journal-title":"Debates of the House of Assembly"},{"key":"CIT0091","unstructured":"1931. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, \u2018Proposed Birth Control Clinic\u2019, SPH to RWS Executive Committee, 11 Mar."},{"key":"CIT0092","unstructured":"1931. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 27 Feb."},{"key":"CIT0093","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 12 Dec."},{"key":"CIT0094","unstructured":"1933. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to Dr. H.J. Milne, MOH for Johannesburg, and T. Shadick Higgins, MOH for Cape Town, 11 Sep."},{"key":"CIT0095","unstructured":"1933. GES 2281 85\/3 8, Vol. 1, Higgins to MPH, 15 Sep."},{"key":"CIT0096","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 12 Dec."},{"key":"CIT0097","unstructured":"Stopes, M. June 1934. June, 26 \u2018Birth Control News\u2019, 13, 2"},{"key":"CIT0098","unstructured":"Klausen. \u2018The Formation of a National Birth-Control Movement\u2019"},{"key":"CIT0099","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to the British Ministry of Health, 12 Feb."},{"key":"CIT0100","unstructured":"1937. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 7 Sep."},{"key":"CIT0101","unstructured":"1936. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to MPH, 12 Dec."},{"key":"CIT0102","unstructured":"1937. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Francis Phelps, Archbishop of Cape Town, to SPH, 7 Nov."},{"key":"CIT0103","unstructured":"1937. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, SPH to the Minister of Finance, 20 Nov.;SPH to the Secretary for Finance, 18 Sep. 1937;and SPH to MOH for Port Elizabeth, 19 Apr. 1938"},{"key":"CIT0104","unstructured":"1937. Numerous times in and 1938 Scott wrote to the Minister of Public Health and to Thornton to suggest that the DPH circularize local authorities \u2018on the necessity for establishing Mothers\u2019 Clinic or co-operating in voluntary efforts by subsidies or by making municipal premises and officers available for the work when desired by competent Committees'. See GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Chair of the SANCMFW to MPH, 27 Apr. 1937;GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Chair of the SANCMFW to MPH, 22 May 1938;GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Chair of the SANCMFW to SPH, 26 May 1938"},{"key":"CIT0105","unstructured":"1938. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Clerk of the Borough of King Williams' Town to the SPH, 12 July;Town Clerk of Germiston to SPH, 22 Mar. 1939"},{"key":"CIT0106","unstructured":"1938. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Town Clerk of Bloemfontein to SPH, 19 July;Town Clerk of Krugersdorp to SPH, 25 Mar. 1939"},{"key":"CIT0107","unstructured":"1938. GES 2281 85\/38, Vol. 1, Town Clerk of Durban to SPH, 14 July;Town Clerk of Grahamstown to SPH, 8 Aug. 1938;Town Clerk of Springs to SPH, 17 Apr. 1939"}],"container-title":["South African Historical Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1080\/02582470108671402","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,20]],"date-time":"2019-05-20T13:58:58Z","timestamp":1558360738000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/02582470108671402"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2001,11]]},"references-count":107,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2001,11]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1080\/02582470108671402"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/02582470108671402","relation":{},"ISSN":["0258-2473","1726-1686"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0258-2473","type":"print"},{"value":"1726-1686","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2001,11]]}}}