Cold War Progressives

Jacqueline Castledine is a member of the core faculty in the University Without Walls at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and director of historical programs for the Valley Women's History Collaborative of Western Massachusetts. She is coeditor of Breaking the Wave: Women's Political and Public Activism, 1945–1990.

"Cold War Progressives offers an engaging and accessible chronicle of women's experiences within the Progressive Party, their contributions to postwar left politics, and their legacy to the movements of the 1960s and 1970s.  It is well researched, making use of interviews and the archives of numerous women Progressives to bring to life the personal and political lives of these activists."--H-Net Reviews"Cold War Progressives adroitly interweaves many themes of leftist activism, including feminism, civil rights, labor, communism, and peace, all under the same heading of women's struggle for a political voice. I don't know of any other book that brings together these themes in one study."--Erika Kuhlman, author of Of Little Comfort: War Widows, Fallen Soldiers, and the Remaking of the Nation After the Great War  "Remarkably well researched.  Castledine has given us the first full-fledges history of what was arguably some of the most innovative interracial organizing in Progressive-era and postwar American history."--American Historical Review"This study makes a vital contribution not only to women's history, but also post-World War II political history and the history of social movements and the left. Mini-biographies of more than a dozen key activists bring these women to life and explain their commitments to peace and equality. A must-read for scholars of modern U.S. history, women's history, and African American history."--Susan M. Hartmann, author of The Other Feminists: Activists in the Liberal Establishment    "Castledine accounts for the impact of McCarthyism on the lives of women engaged in progressive activism. Castledine's thoroughly documented interpretation of their struggle explains the present understanding of leftist women's Cold War era activism. This highly readable and important book reminds us of the difficulties early feminists faced as they sought equality in American society."--Rhetoric & Public Affairs"Cold War Progressives provides a lively introduction to the diverse constituency of a postwar Popular Front along with much-appreciated biographies of many progressive female activists."--The Journal of American History