the two sisters and theatre artist fania mindell opened a birth control clinic in brooklyn in october 1916. the three feminist activists advertised the services offered by the clinic by passing out flyers in different languages, including english, yiddish and italian. although byrne is not widely known today, her early activism had long lasting impact on raising awareness of the importance of access to information about birth control. the arrest of ethel byrne compelled a group of politically active new york women to ask for a meeting with president woodrow wilson to request that he contribute to overturning laws criminalizing distribution of birth control.