Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland opened its first clinic on March 20, 1928 in the Osborn Building, located at Huron Road and Prospect Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. Before the organization was recognized for its affiliation with Planned Parenthood Federation of American Inc., it was known as the Maternal Health Association (MHA). The MHA was started by Dorothy Hamilton Brush, Katherine Bingham Fisher and Hortense Oliver Shepard, a group of women who wanted to help families who needed birth control services for social and economic reasons. When the organization first began, services were only available to married women. As the organization grew, however, so did the number of services it offered. By 1965, the organization had added a west side branch, a fertility clinic, and a "mobile unit" that dispersed various maternal health services around the Cleveland area. In 1966, the Maternal Health Association changed its name to Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland (PPGC). Today the organization has been expanded to six different locations in Greater Cleveland and offers a variety of services including contraceptives, disease prevention education, pregnancy testing, HIV testing, and health services to men.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland
From the guide to the Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland, Inc. Records, 1917-1988, (Western Reserve Historical Society)
