Roswell Johnson, MD staff

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Abstract:: In this interview, Roswell Johnson, MD, discusses his time at Brown University as the director of health services in the 1960s. Specifically, he recounts the controversy surrounding his willingness to prescribe birth control to Pembroke students in 1965. He explains how his first request for birth control came from Brown's Chaplain and the consideration that went into prescribing the Pill. Johnson details how the issue appeared in the Brown Daily Herald and resulted in his appearance on The Today Show. Additionally, he answers questions concerning the perception of gender roles and birth control among students and faculty and briefly summarizes some of the consultations he had with students and families.
Notes:: Class year: null; Biographical note: Dr. Roswell Johnson graduated from Ottumwa (Iowa) High School in 1930 and completed undergraduate work and medical school at the University of Iowa. He obtained his B.A. in 1935 and his M.D. in 1938. He began working at Brown University in 1963 as the director of health services and worked closely with students at Brown and Pembroke College. He is best known for prescribing birth control pills to an engaged couple who attended Brown in 1965 and later to other students. Johnson had three children, seven grandchildren, and a greatgrandchild. He died on July 22, 2000.

"Roswell Johnson, MD staff" (1989). Pembroke Center Oral History Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:712542/

Pembroke Center Oral History Collection

This collection contains oral history interviews with alumnae of Brown University, which admitted its first women students in 1891. The Women's College at Brown was renamed Pembroke College in 1928, and in 1971, Pembroke College merged with the Men's College …
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