Estelle Griswold

Estelle Naomi Trebert Griswold (née Trebert; June 8, 1900 – August 13, 1981) was a civil rights activist and feminist most commonly known as a defendant in what became the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, in which contraception for married couples was legalized in the state of Connecticut, setting the precedent of the right to privacy. Griswold served as the executive director of Planned Parenthood in New Haven when she and Yale professor C. Lee Buxton opened a birth control clinic in New Haven in an attempt to change the Connecticut law banning contraception. Their actions set into motion legislation that resulted in both Poe v. Ullman and Griswold v. Connecticut.

Griswold's personal role in both cases was vital to achieving success and starting a women's rights movement that went on to aid the support for such cases as Roe v. Wade, for which Griswold v. Connecticut is often considered a precursor.

Early life

Estelle ("Stelle") Trebert was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 8, 1900, to Frank (a toolmaker of Irish and German descent) and Jennie Church Trebert. Throughout Griswold's childhood, her father educated her thoroughly in Native American customs and strongly advocated for outdoor activity. Her mother is most commonly described as being reserved and "placid." Griswold was the younger of two surviving children (a brother had died before she was born); her older brother was Raymond Trebert. Their parents were said to have had a tumultuous marriage and serious "personality differences", but never divorced. Griswold was raised as a Roman Catholic but was not devout later in life.

Griswold attended Hartford public schools throughout her youth. Due to academic process, she skipped both fourth and seventh grades but graduated from high school in five years instead of the typical four due to her habitual truancy and her encouragement of other students, mainly boys, to skip school. After graduation from high school in 1920, Griswold began taking music classes at the Hartt School of Music. She wanted to go to college and further her academic career, but her family could not afford the tuition. As such, she worked in a bank in order to pay for the music school.

In 1922, Griswold moved to France to pursue a singing career, ignoring the disapproval of her parents. She had what was described as an impressive contralto singing voice, and traveled to both Paris and Nice for employment. While in France, Griswold contracted tuberculosis, limiting her abilities to work. She also became engaged to an aspiring playwright, but the relationship ended prior to the marriage.

Upon learning that her mother had fallen seriously ill, Griswold left Paris. Soon thereafter, both her parents died. Griswold did not return to Paris after their deaths but stayed in Hartford. Hoping to further her singing career, she did travel briefly, auditioning in New York and touring for six months with a Chicago-based show group. After this, she returned to Hartford and remained there until her marriage to Richard Griswold.

Marriage

Estelle married Richard "Dick" Whitmore Griswold (b. Feb. 11, 1898 – d. Oct. 1, 1966) on October 20, 1927, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The two had both attended Hartford High School, Richard being two years her senior. Though not close friends, they knew each other during their school years. Upon graduating from high school, he attended Yale University and spent a brief time in service during World War I. He went on to work in advertising, traveling throughout New York and New England for various jobs. After Griswold's return from France, they met again, beginning a relationship, and marrying in the fall of 1927.

In 1935, Richard and Griswold moved from Connecticut to Washington D.C., where she began taking classes at George Washington University. While in D.C., Griswold decided to end her singing career given that her tutor had died, and she instead began studying medicine. Her advancement in the subject led her to become a medical instructor with the university.

Griswold ended her time with the Church World Service in 1951, feeling that the organization was not properly aiding refugees, instead being crass in their efforts.

Poe v. Ullman

Shortly after Griswold became executive director, she became involved in the movement to abolish the birth control laws within Connecticut. An 1879 state law outlawing the sale or manufacture of contraception had been upheld since its enactment, despite frequent protest at several state legislative meetings within the decades since. The law was sponsored by State legislator P. T. Barnum, of the Barnum and Bailey circus. Griswold, in an attempt to change the law, employed the help of two married women and a young married couple, all of whom needed contraception for medical reasons. She and Dr. C. Lee Buxton, Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor at Yale School of Medicine, brought the matter to the courts with the assistance of civil rights lawyers Fowler Harper and Catherine Roraback. The case involved a married couple, who underwent the aliases Paul and Pauline Poe, a young couple that had given birth to three children that had all died of medical complications shortly after their birth, as well as a woman under the alias of Jane Doe, who had experienced paralysis and speech impediment after almost dying in childbirth.

Buxton, the medical expert in the case, stated to the court that the couple required contraception to prevent further physical or mental deterioration, as this issue was genetic and could potentially recur if they were to have another child. However, the state courts upheld the statute, allowing Roraback to appeal to the US Supreme Court, who accepted their case. Griswold and Buxton had intended only to change the statute so that married women could seek contraception for medical purposes. However, in a 5–4 ruling issued on June 20, 1961, the Court upheld the Connecticut statute, declaring that the law had never been enforced and the consequence of its violation was not harmful and so was constitutional.

Shortly before the decision was announced, a Connecticut man was arrested and fined for providing condoms to gas stations, hoping that workers would sell them to customers. Multiple cases were reported in which people called the police regarding the incident. The man accused, however, did not face any serious punishment, which may have affected the Court's decision. Hearing this, Griswold and Buxton were angered by the Court's ruling and decided to test it further with the understanding that the law had never been significantly challenged.

Griswold v. Connecticut Griswold located a small building in which to open the clinic near to the Planned Parenthood offices at 79 Trumbull Street. The PPLC had saved $60 in the event that they should open a clinic, be it after contraception was legalized or as an experiment to test the law. They found several qualified and safe doctors willing to advise women and provide the proper medical care. The clinic opened in early November 1961 and almost immediately was met with controversy, largely due to protesters such as James Morris who picketed outside of the clinic with the message that what Griswold and Buxton were doing was immoral. Within days, detectives arrived to inspect the practice. Griswold allowed them to inspect and clearly informed them of the functions of the clinic. She was enthusiastic in her descriptions and provided specific and detailed information that she assumed would be used in the trial. She informed the detectives as they were leaving the clinic that she was fine with being arrested but refused to be fingerprinted or photographed.

Two days later, the detectives returned to the clinic demanding names of at least two patients that had been treated since the clinic's opening. Griswold chose a 33-year-old Yale Divinity School graduate and a graduate student in the Yale School of Public Health who was an English citizen and married to a colleague of Fowler Harper. Both provided their names and details of the assistance they were given at the clinic and signed formal statements. Though they had not specifically intended to get arrested to achieve their goals, Griswold and Buxton had no fear of doing so, believing that it would help their cause. The clinic was shut down on November 9, 1961, after the witnesses had given their statements, and Griswold and Buxton were charged with minor infractions pertaining to their distribution of birth control and each fined $100. As per Griswold's demand, neither she nor Buxton were fingerprinted or photographed.

Later life

Shortly after the Supreme Court decision was announced, Griswold resigned as executive director of Planned Parenthood. Reportedly, there was much tension between colleagues within the organization that she wanted to avoid.

Griswold was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.