At the end of World War I, social hygienists and public health officials continued their campaign to stop the spread of venereal disease in the United States. The interwar period saw the continuation of public health policies that focused extensively on sex education.
The End of the Road follows the lives of two women, Vera and Mary, as they make different choices in their lives—one taking the immoral path and becoming infected with syphilis and the other focusing on her career and “doing her part” in the war effort as a nurse. The section of the film in this unit begins with Vera and Mary in New York. Vera is working in a department store when she meets a man with whom she engages in sexual relations. Mary, on the other hand, is shown pursuing her dreams of being a graduate nurse.
View excerpts from the film here. (The running time is 15 minutes.)
American Social Hygiene Association et al., End of the Road (1919), film.
Questions