Hilda Crosby Standish
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| First medical director of Connecticut 's first birth control clinic; distinguished contributor to sex education and planned parenthood.
Hilda Crosby Standish was born and raised in Hartford, attended the Northwest School, Hartford Public High School, Wellesley College and the Cornell Medical College. After a two-year rotating internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital and a year's residence at the St. Louise Maternity Hospital, she received a five year appointment to teach obstetrics in the Women's Christian Medical College and the Margaret Williamson Hospital of Shanghai, China (1932). She was forced to return from China in 1934 due to illness in her family and, in July of 1935, she helped to open and then was asked to serve as medical director of the new Maternal Health Center at 100 Retreat Avenue, Connecticut's first birth control clinic, which served the Hartford community until it was forced to close in 1940.
In 1936, she married E. Myles Standish, M.D. of Wethersfield, a dermatologist practicing in Hartford , and had five children. Dr. Hilda Standish lectured extensively over the years on planned parenthood and testified in the legislature on many occasions in an attempt to change the law making the use of contraceptives illegal. She also lectured to parents, students and pre-marital groups on sex education. She continued teaching and lecturing until her retirement in 1969. Dr. Standish has participated in numerous community activities, has served as a Trustee of Hartford College for Women and Wellesley College and has been the recipient of many honors and awards. In 1983, the Hartford Branch of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut named their clinic after her, in recognition of her work in this area. Dr. Standish still contributes to the clinic and has donated generously of her memorabilia to the clinic's library. | |||||||||||
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