The Bureau for Contraceptive Advice was founded in 1927 and served as Maryland's first birth control clinic. In order to skirt around laws limiting interstate distribution of contraceptives, The Bureau for Contraceptive Advice operated as a research institute that studied the effectiveness of various contraceptive options such as diaphragms and condoms. The Bureau for Contraceptive Advice started in a row house in a working-class neighborhood and served to provide birth control to married women looking to space out the birth of children and limit family sizes due to health reasons. The clinic became Planned Parenthood in the 1940s.

Dr. Bessie Moses, founder and director of The Bureau and clinic until 1956, was the first female obstetrical intern at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1938 she established the first clinic in the nation to be staffed by African American physicians, the Northwest Maternal Health Center. She, along with Margaret Sanger, became the first woman to win the Lasker Award in 1950.

For more information on Dr. Moses, visit the Encyclopedia of Jewish Women: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/moses-bessie-louise AND The Jewish Museum of Maryland: http://www.jewishmuseummd.org/

Photo of Dr. Bessie Moses (1980) courtesy of the Jewish Museum of Maryland.