Dr. Mary Brennan has just published:
Wives, Mothers, and the Red Menace: Conservative Women and the Crusade Against Communism, with the University Press of Colorado.

In the Cold War years following World War II, many Americans saw communism as a real danger to domestic security and the family. Consequently, millions of women expanded their notions of household responsibilities to include the crusade against communism, engaging in activities that ranged from writing letters and hosting teas to publishing books and running for political office. In the process, they discovered their power to effect change through activism. Brennan's book details the anti-communist activities of prominent conservatives Jean Kerr McCarthy, Margaret Chase Smith, Freda Utley, Doloris Thauwald Bridges, Elezabeth Churchill Brown, and Phyllis Stewart Schlafly, revealing how the willingness of these deeply conservative women to leave the domestic sphere and engage publicly in politics evinces the depth of America's postwar fear of communism. Brennan argues that these women pushed the boudaries of traditional gender roles and challenged assumptions about women as political players by entering political life to publicly promote their ideals.


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