The social hygiene movement was an attempt by Progressive era reformers to control venereal disease, regulate prostitution and vice, and disseminate sexual education through the use of scientific research methods and modern media techniques. Social hygiene as a profession grew alongside social work and other public health movements of the era. Social hygienists emphasized sexual continence and strict self-discipline as a solution to societal ills, tracing prostitution, drug use and illegitimacy to rapid urbanization. The movement remained alive throughout much of the 20th century and found its way into American schools, where it was transmitted in the form of classroom films about menstruation, sexually transmitted disease, drug abuse and acceptable sexual behavior in addition to an array of pamphlets, posters, textbooks and films.

• Tupper, Kenneth (2013). “Sex, Drugs and the Honour Roll: The Perennial Challenges of Addressing Moral Purity Issues in Schools”. Critical Public Health. 24 (2): 115–131. doi:10.1080/09581596.2013.862517. S2CID 143931197.

The Progressive Era (1896–1917) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency.  (fail) The main themes ended during American involvement in World War I (1917–1918) while the waste and efficiency elements continued into the 1920s. (and we know what happened next…maybe)

• John D. Buenker, John C. Boosham, and Robert M. Crunden, Progressivism (1986) pp 3–21
• Arthur S. Link, “What Happened to the Progressive Movement in the 1920s?.” American Historical Review 64.4 (1959): 833–851.

•  “Progressive Era to New Era”. Library of Congress.