1921: Oklahoma-born Woman Dies in Chicago

On December 19, 1921, 18-year-old Marie Pickle died in Chicago after an abortion perpetrated by Clarence Shoere, who was identified as a nurse or midwife. Shoere was held by the coroner but not tried.

Marie, a native of Howe, Oklahoma, was a single Black woman whose occupation was listed as "Housework, general." SHe was the daughter of Robert and Bertha (Walters) Pickle.

Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more about abortion in this era, see Abortion in the 1920s.

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For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion