Social hygiene movement

In the United States, the social hygiene movement was an attempt by Progressive Era reformers in the late 19th and early 20th century to control venereal disease, regulate prostitution and vice, and disseminate sexual education through the use of scientific research methods and modern media techniques.

Social hygienists emphasized sexual continence and strict self-discipline as a solution to societal ills, tracing prostitution, drug use and illegitimacy to rapid urbanization.

The definition adopted by Commissar Nikolai Semashko was less focussed on eugenics and more in line with what is now regarded as public health: “study of the influence of economic and social factors on the incidence of disease and on the ways to make the population healthy”.

[7] The idea of prostitution was considered a “necessary evil” in light of an artificial demand that had been created through various forms including political corruption and advertising.

Finally, the two organizations had realized their mutual interest and called a meeting in Buffalo, New York which the term “social hygiene” was coined.

It was said that the Progressive Era had physicians and women moral reformers working together to help manage prostitution and educate the people on social hygiene.

The proposal emphasized two main aspects of the Negro Project, “that the higher rate of prevalence of venereal diseases among the black population was alarming; and two, that this higher prevalence rate was not the fault of the black community.” (A. Sharma) The main purpose of the Negro Project was to provide educational materials and methods for instruction regarding syphilis.

After being rejected by private funding organizations, the project found support from the Social Protection Division of the Federal Security Agency.

In November 1943, in New York City, the Negro Project held its first major activity which was the National Conference on Wartime Problems in Venereal Disease Control.