Gamble, Clarence James, 1894-

Gamble (1894-1966) (Harvard, M.D. 1920) became involved in the birth control movement in 1929 when he helped to establish the Maternal Health Clinic and Committee in Cincinnati and became associated with a Philadelphia clinic. In 1933 he chaired the board of Philadelphia Maternal Health Centers, and began a term as president of the Pennsylvania Birth Control Federation. He later served in an executive capacity with the Birth Control Federation and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He provided funding for research for the National Committee for Maternal Health and supported field tests for contraceptives. In 1957 he established the Pathfinder Fund to advise and work with major family planning agencies. In addition, he did research on family planning and population control and taught at the Harvard Medical School.

From the description of Papers of Clarence J. Gamble, 1920-1966 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 86145195

Clarence Gamble was born into one of America's wealthiest mercantile families (Proctor & Gamble) and was educated at Princeton University and Harvard Medical School. A man with a mission for using his considerable wealth and intellectual expertise for the good of mankind, Gamble devoted his life to “The Great Cause”--his goal of making each and every child birth the result of a conscious decision on the part of responsible parents.** From the late 1920s until his death in 1966, Gamble took part in almost every important gain in behalf of planned parenthood: initiating, directing, or financing a considerable number of programs advancing the cause of population control. As his efforts to work through and with the professional organizations in the field left much to be desired, Gamble eventually formed the Pathfinder Fund, which served as a family foundation for the remainder of his lifetime, but has since acquired a highly competent professional staff which advises and works with major worldwide family planning agencies.

* James Reed centers his book, From Private Vice to Public Virtue: The Birth Control Movement and American Society Since 1830 (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1978) around the efforts of Sanger, Dickinson, and Gamble. ** A full-length biography, Every Child a Wanted Child: Clarence James Gamble, M.D., and his Work in the Birth Control Movement (Boston: Countway Library Associates, 1978) has been written by Doone and Greer Williams and edited by Emily P. Flint. Both the Williams and Reed books have drawn heavily on the papers in the Gamble Archive.

• 1894: born on January 10 at Cincinnati, Ohio
• 1910: graduated from Occidental Academy, Pasadena, California
• 1910 - 1911 : spent freshman year at Occidental College
• 1911 - 1914 : attended Princeton University and was awarded Litt. B. magna cum laude
• 1914 - 1915 : worked for California State Commission on Immigrants and Housing
• 1915 - 1916 : returned to Princeton University and received M.A. degree in the biological sciences
• 1916 - 1920 : attended Harvard Medical School and was awarded M.D. degree
• 1920 - 1922 : served 18-month internship under Dr. Richard C. Cabot at Massachusetts General Hospital
• 1922: suffered multiple injuries in private airplane crash in July
• 1923: began work in the Laboratory of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. A. N. Richards
• 1924: married Sarah Bradley on June 21
• 1925 - 1928 : worked with Dr. Isaac Starr, Jr., on studies of cardiac output
• 1929: beginning of birth control activities: became associated with Philadelphia clinic; helped to establish maternal Health Clinic and Committee in Cincinnati
• 1930: sent Elsie Wulkop to Detroit for birth control organization
• 1932 - 1933 : served as chairman of the board of Philadelphia Maternal Health Centers
• 1933: began term as president of Pennsylvania Birth Control Federation
• 1934: provided funding for Standards Program of the National Committee for Maternal Health (NCMH)
• 1935: provided funding for the R.L. Dickinson Research Fellowship at New York University through NCMH; initiated contraceptive field test at Logan, West Virginia, under sponsorship of NCMH; became associated with the American Birth Control League
• 1936: sent Phyllis Page to Puerto Rico for birth control organization and to Berea, Kentucky, for contraceptive project
• 1937: became associated with Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau; began conducting spermicidal times laboratory tests with R.L. Brown
• 1938: moved from Philadelphia to Milton, Massachusetts; helped to initiate first state public health contraceptive program in North Carolina
• 1939 - 1941 : served on Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Birth Control Federation of America
• 1942: continued service on Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; appointed instructor in physical diagnosis at Harvard Medical School
• 1944: began work in behalf of sterilization as a means of birth control through Birthright, Inc.
• 1946: proposed experiment in population control in Puerto Rico; became director of the Population Reference Bureau's College Project
• 1947 - 1948 : worked in behalf of sterilization through the Human Betterment Leagues of North Carolina and Iowa
• 1948: attended International Conference on Population and World Resources at Cheltenham, England
• 1949: established Human Betterment Federation for work in behalf of sterilization through state leagues; helped with family planning study initiated by Dr. Yoshio Koya in Japan
• 1950: publication of Human Sterilization (with Dr. R.L. Dickinson)
• 1951: proposed pilot study to test control of population growth in India (later known as India-Harvard-Ludhiana Project or Khanna Study)
• 1952: appointed research associate in anatomy at Harvard Medical School
• 1953 - 1954 : first and second field trips by C.J. and R.B. Gamble
• 1954: sponsored tests of Dr. Sanyal's oral contraceptive in India; attempted to channel family planning efforts through the International Planned Parenthood Association (IPPF); hired Margaret Roots and Edith Gates as NCMH field representatives in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
• 1956: helped arrange for oral contraceptive tests at Ryder Memorial Hospital, Humacao, Puerto Rico
• 1957 - 1958 : established the Pathfinder Fund
• 1958: appointed research associate in population studies at Harvard School of Public Health
• 1961: IUD added to Ryder Hospital Project in Puerto Rico; separate department of population problems proposed at Harvard School of Public Health
• 1962: IUD mailings initiated by Pathfinder Fund
• 1964: David Burlson hired to supervise Pathfinder's worldwide IUD project
• 1965 - 1966 : plans for future direction of Pathfinder Fund prompted by CJG's failing health
• 1966: died on July 15 at Kennebec Point, Maine

From the guide to the Papers, 1920-1970s, (Center for the History of Medicine. Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.)