The Union of the American
Vigilance Association and
the American Federation for Sex Hygiene
James Bronson Reynolds
The union of the American Vigilance Association and the American Federation for Sex Hygiene was consummated at the annual meeting of the Federation at Buffalo, August 27, 1913. The Vigilance Association had previously approved the union or merger which had been considered carefully and in detail by both organizations. Both realized that the important services rendered by each could be made more effective by their union in a single, national organization.
The activities of the two organizations overlapped. On the one side sex hygiene and sex education, the special interests of the Federation, were part of the program of the Vigilance Association, while on the other side, the program of the Federation as outlined in its constitution covered a portion of the distinctive field of the Vigilance Association. These mutual encroachments were almost inevitable and tended to divide and confuse public interest. The union was achieved to coordinate their separate and common activities and thereby eliminate the waste of overlapping, to increase efficiency of effort, and to focus public support on a single and stronger national body.
It is proposed to extend this national organization into every State of the American Union and to affiliate with national associations in the leading countries of Europe and Asia. Its sphere of action will include sex education, sex hygiene and the passage and enforcement of national and state laws, for the better promotion and protection of public health and public morals. Its aim will be to join scientific knowledge and methods with moral enthusiasm in a forward movement which the present widespread interest in the problems of sex makes opportune.
It is with profound gratification that we announce the acceptance by Dr. Charles W. Eliot of the presidency of the merged organizations. Dr. Eliot was the unanimous choice of both organizations, and his generous response is notable testimony to the importance and timeliness of the movement. The address delivered by Dr. Elliot, under the auspices of the American Federation for Sex Hygiene, on August 27, at the Fourth International Congress for School Hygiene at Buffalo, impressively indicated the need and opportunity contemplated by this new national organization.
With quickened confidence and courage we appeal to all who share our interest and aims to support this movement in its reorganized form and under its distinguished leadership.
James Bronson Reynolds
