Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
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
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
.5 m of textual records
3 photographs : b&w ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
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
Accrual consists of material belonging to A.R. Kaufman relating to the incorporation and operation of the Parents' Information Bureau in Kitchener, 1935 to 1976. Includes letters patent, financial and accounting records, publications issued by the Bureau, photographs and clippings.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated in 2005 by the Kaufman family.
Arrangement
Arranged in six series:
1. Incorporation;
2. Financial records;
3. Literature: numbered;
4. Literature: unnumbered;
5. Photographs;
6. Clippings.
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
Material relating to the Dorothea Palmer trial can be found in WA 17.
Some of A.R. Kaufman's personal birth-control related material can be found in GA 173, including scrapbooks he maintained relating to birth control in general, to the Bureau, and to the trial of Dorothea Palmer.
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.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Description by Jane Britton.