Benjamin Segal Papers
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Abstract
Dr. Benjamin Segal (1989-1973) was a Romanian-born American obstetritian and political activist. He helped popularize the Lamaze birthing method in the United States and advocated for the rights of physicians who had been targeted for their political beliefs during the McCarthy Era. The Benjamin Segal Papers relate primarily to his advocacy on the part of physicians targeted for their political belief, with particular focus on the case of Dr. John P. Peters in 1955 and the case of Dr. Jeremiah Stamler in 1965. These materials consist of letters to legal and political officials, a petition against the 1955 Employee Security Program, petition responses, and fundraising mailers. The collection also contains papers from The Physicians Forum regarding the defense of physicians' civil rights in the 1950s and the group's stance on abortion in 1970. Other materials in the collection include correspondence, ephemera and lecture notes related to Segal's medical career and his political activism. The collection also contains one CD of FBI/FOIA files on Dr. Benjamin Segal.
Biographical Note
Dr. Benjamin Segal (1989-1973) was a Romanian-born American obstetrician and political activist. Born in Romania in 1898, his parents and seven siblings immigrated to the United States when he was four years old. Segal grew up in New York City in the Jewish enclave St. Nicholas Terrace in Harlem. After graduating high school, he attended City College, and was later admitted to Columbia Medical School during the height of World War I. He later became head of obstetrics at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, and also served as an OBGYN for notable individuals, delivering the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and Sidney Poitier.
One of Segal's largest contributions to the medical profession was his promotion the Lamaze method of childbirth, also referred to as psychoprophylaxis, in the United States. During several trips to Europe and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s, Segal met with physicians practicing the technique including the successor of Dr. Fernand Lamaze, Dr. Pierre Vellay. Segal became the President of the American Society of Psychoprophylaxis in Obstetrics, and advocated for the inclusion of fathers in the birthing process. He was also a proponent of the legalization of abortion in the United States.
Segal joined the Communist Party of the United States in the 1930s, and although he often kept quiet about his membership, he made frequent donations and remained a party member until Nikita Khruschev's 1958 revelations about abuses of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. In 1951 Segal's passport was confiscated by the United States government because of his affiliation with the Party. It was eventually restored in 1957. Segal also engaged in campaigns to protect the rights of physicians during the McCarthy era.
Segal was married to fellow physician Dr. Cheri Appel, who was an early promoter of birth control in America. Segal died of a heart attack in 1973.
Arrangement
Materials in this collection are roughly grouped by subject. These materials have not been arranged.
Scope and Content Note
The Benjamin Segal Papers (1947-2013, bulk 1950-1973) is a small collection that relates primarily to Dr. Benjamin Segal's advocacy on the part of physicians targeted for their political belief during in the 1950s and 1960s. These documents relate to the cases of Dr. John P. Peters in 1955 and Dr. Jeremiah Stamler in 1965, both of whom were subjected to government investigations about their political affiliations. These materials consist of letters to legal and political officials, a petition in opposition to the 1955 Employee Security Program, responses and questionnaires from practicing physicians, and fundraising mailers. The collection also contains an assortment of documents related to causes and organizations in which Dr. Segal participated. These materials include speech transcripts and notes from discussions at the American Jewish Congress and the Physicians Forum regarding the defense of physicians' civil rights in the 1950s and the group's stance on abortion in 1970. There is also a small amount of correspondence, ephemera and lecture notes related to Segal's medical career and his political activism. The collection also contains three PDF files of FBI documents about Dr. Benjamin Segal obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
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Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by Mimi Daitz, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Benjamin Segal Papers; TAM 681; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Mimi Daitz in 2015. The accession number associated with this gift is 2015.065.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials in this collection have been moved into archival housing. For the most part, original groupings have been maintained. A small subset of correspondence and documents that had no apparent arrangement were grouped by topic. No attempt has been made to arrange these materials further. Electronic files have been viewed using a write-blocker, and have not been manipulated in any way.
