Eleanor Bellows Pillsbury

Eleanor Bellows Pillsbury (January 16, 1913 – August 27, 1971) was an American activist who was the president of Planned Parenthood from 1950 to 1953 and helped create the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Early life Pillsbury was born in 1913 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated from the Northrop Collegiate School and then received a bachelor's degree from Smith College. Syracuse University Dean Eugenia Leonard advised "women college graduates to enter volunteer work rather than accept a salary," which Pillsbury followed.

Only 38 years old in 1951, she was the youngest member of the initial group of women to serve on the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. She also served on the Minneapolis Junior League and the Minnesota Research Council (part of the National Health Council).

In 2000, the Women's Refugee Commission established the Eleanor Bellows Pillsbury Fund for Reproductive Health Care and Rights for Adolescent Refugees to provide grants for adolescent reproductive health projects.