Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title from contents of the collection.
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Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
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Physical description area
Physical description
.5 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Parents' Information Bureau (PIB) was a clinic for family planning and birth control set up by A.R. Kaufman of the Kaufman Rubber Company in the 1930's in Kitchener, Ont. Kaufman became interested in birth control during the Great Depression after determining that seasonal employees with large families were disproportionately impacted by layoffs. He began offering family planning services to his employees, eventually extending them to anyone in Canada with the founding of the PIB. At its peak, the organization employed approximately 50 people in locations across the country who provided services to families in their homes, rather than at clinics. The model allowed families to order supplies by mail, receiving kits that included spermicides, condoms and information about purchasing additional items like diaphragms.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of publications and ephemera issued by the Parents' Information Bureau, correspondence, biographical and autobiographical material about A.R. Kaufman in the form of clippings, reminsiscences, interviews, speeches, etc.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated in 1982 by the estate of A. R. Kaufman.
Arrangement
Arranged in five series:
1. Forms, Publications : Numbered;
2. Forms, Publications : Unnumbered;
3. General Files;
4. Correspondence;
5. Gerald Stortz Research Materials.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Select items are available online as part of the Waterloo Digital Library.
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Related materials are located in WA17 - Dorothea Palmer collection.
Accruals
General note
The views expressed in Parents' Information Bureau records include family planning thinking rooted in eugenics, the belief that the genetic makeup of the human population can be improved by limiting the ability of people deemed inferior from reproducing. Demeaning language about lower class and disabled people appear throughout. These materials are being shared and maintained as they were created in keeping with Special Collections & Archives’ approach to language in archival descriptions, which prioritizes speaking openly about and clearly identifying problematic, harmful, and otherwise offensive records in the department’s holdings. This approach, while potentially upsetting, allows for the critical assessment and questioning of historical material by contemporary researchers.