Artist, architect & first husband of birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger. Born Wilhelm Sanger to Elias & Henrietta Wolffberg Sanger, William came from a Jewish family although he himself did not practice the faith. He studied architecture at Cooper Union (1893-95) & later at Atelier Masquery. He also studied painting at places including Society Beaux Arts & the Artists & Artisans Institute. While designing a house for a doctor, he met a nurse named Margaret Higgins. William & Margaret married on Aug 18, 1902. They had 2 sons (who lived to adulthood) & a daughter (who died as a child). During the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912, Margaret shepherded strikers' children to Union Square in New York City, where William chaired a mass meeting. In 1913 the family moved to Paris, France, so William could paint there. But the following year Margaret & the children returned to the United States; with the outbreak of World War I, so did William. He & Margaret divorced in 1921. Three years later he remarried to actress Vidya Merz; their daughter was born in 1927. In 1930 William moved to Albany to design government buildings for the State of New York, but was laid off in 1932 as the Depression worsened. In Brooklyn in 1935, with the WPA he put his art skills to use, including designing a mural for Brooklyn's Girls Industrial High School. During World War II he designed interiors for ships at Brooklyn's Navy Yard. His final job was designing aqueducts for the New York City Water Department. In 1955 William moved to Ridgefield Park, NJ, where he lived out the last 6 years of his life.
Artist, architect & first husband of birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger. Born Wilhelm Sanger to Elias & Henrietta Wolffberg Sanger, William came from a Jewish family although he himself did not practice the faith. He studied architecture at Cooper Union (1893-95) & later at Atelier Masquery. He also studied painting at places including Society Beaux Arts & the Artists & Artisans Institute. While designing a house for a doctor, he met a nurse named Margaret Higgins. William & Margaret married on Aug 18, 1902. They had 2 sons (who lived to adulthood) & a daughter (who died as a child). During the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912, Margaret shepherded strikers' children to Union Square in New York City, where William chaired a mass meeting. In 1913 the family moved to Paris, France, so William could paint there. But the following year Margaret & the children returned to the United States; with the outbreak of World War I, so did William. He & Margaret divorced in 1921. Three years later he remarried to actress Vidya Merz; their daughter was born in 1927. In 1930 William moved to Albany to design government buildings for the State of New York, but was laid off in 1932 as the Depression worsened. In Brooklyn in 1935, with the WPA he put his art skills to use, including designing a mural for Brooklyn's Girls Industrial High School. During World War II he designed interiors for ships at Brooklyn's Navy Yard. His final job was designing aqueducts for the New York City Water Department. In 1955 William moved to Ridgefield Park, NJ, where he lived out the last 6 years of his life.
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