Lessons from Life History: Learning Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy, Abortion and Rape

The topics of unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and rape have long histories as taboo topics not fit for polite conversation. This paper showcases a life history project addressing these issues within the context of higher education in the mid 20^th century. It not only considers methodological lessons learned regarding how to discover, recover and retell the histories of unplanned pregnancy, rape and abortion – especially with elderly women who often regard the topics as unfit for conversation.  This paper also traces the networks of support for women that often ran counter to legislation regarding sensitive issues.  In doing so, this paper considers how to approach oral history as an informative resource about a time before rape crisis centers and pregnancy counseling became institutionalized features of American society.