Goldwater Girls to Reagan Women: Gender, Georgia, and the Growth of the New Right PDF
Preview Goldwater Girls to Reagan Women: Gender, Georgia, and the Growth of the New Right
Goldwater Girls to Reagan Women SERIES EDITORS Lynn Itagaki, University of Missouri Daniel Rivers, Ohio State University FOUNDING EDITORS Claire Potter, The New School Renee Romano, Oberlin College ADVISORY BOARD Mary Dudziak, University of Southern California Devin Fergus, University of Missouri David Greenberg, Rutgers University Shane Hamilton, University of Georgia Jennifer Mittelstadt, Rutgers University Stephen Pitti, Yale University Robert Self, Brown University Siva Vaidhyanathan, University of Virginia Susan Ware, General Editor, American National Biography Judy Wu, Ohio State University Goldwater Girls to Reagan Women GENDER, GEORGIA, AND THE GROWTH OF THE NEW RIGHT Robin M. Morris The University of Georgia Press ATHENS © 2022 by the University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia 30602 www.ugapress.org All rights reserved Set in 10/13 Kepler Std Regular by Kaelin Chappell Broaddus Most University of Georgia Press titles are available from popular e- book vendors. Printed digitally Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Morris, Robin M., 1975– author. Title: Goldwater girls to Reagan women : gender, Georgia, and the growth of the New Right / Robin M. Morris. Description: Athens : The University of Georgia Press, 2022. | Series: Since 1970 : histories of contemporary America | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2022015993 | isbn 9780820360676 (hardback) | isbn 9780820360690 (paperback) | isbn 9780820360683 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Women—Political activity—Georgia—History—20th century. | Women, White—Political activity—Georgia—History—20th century. | Conservatism—Georgia—History—20th century. | Republican Party (Ga.)—History—20th century. | Political culture—Georgia— History—20th century. | Social values—Political aspects—Georgia— History—20th century. | Georgia—Politics and government—1951– Classification: lcc hq1236.5.u6 m66 2022 | ddc 320.082/09758—dc23/ eng/20220521 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015993 For Mom and Dad This page intentionally left blank 349-99188_Rothfels_ch01_3P.indd 6 CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xiii INTRODUCTION “First, Take a Shoebox” 1 PROLOGUE “The gop Has Been Asleep” 9 CHAPTER 1 The Two Party Tea Party 13 CHAPTER 2 The Go Bo Girls 34 CHAPTER 3 Fighting Factions 59 CHAPTER 4 Thousands of Mothers Make a Movement 79 CHAPTER 5 The Cause of American Womanhood 94 CHAPTER 6 Breadmaker Politics 110 CHAPTER 7 The End of an era 120 CONCLUSION Payment Due 137 Notes 147 Bibliography 183 Index 195 This page intentionally left blank 349-99188_Rothfels_ch01_3P.indd 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book began with a simple question, “Why did the era fail?” Thanks to the help, patience, and kindness of many, I learned that while the answer was not simple, it was fascinating. So many people helped me peel the layers, taking what I thought was a late-1 970s question back a couple of decades. My first step was an email to my former boss and former Georgia state representative, Cathey Steinberg. In high school, I worked on her campaign and interned for her when I was in college. Thankfully, she remembered me nearly twenty years later. I asked Steinberg, the former sponsor of the era in the Georgia legislature, who had been her biggest obstacle. She replied with one name: “Dunaway.” Like any historian with a nugget of hope, I was off. At the time, I was one of few researchers to look at Kathryn Dunaway’s unpro- cessed papers at Emory University, where I soon realized that hers amounted to much more than a stop era story.1 I have been fortunate to study women who, I believe, knew they were making history and saved everything in hopes someone would come looking. I thank them for saving it and their families for recognizing the stacks of papers in mom’s house as the treasures they really are. Past Georgia Federation of Republican Women president Millie Rogers in- troduced me to Lee Ague Miller. As I asked question after question, an ex- asperated Miller said, “I wish I hadn’t given all those boxes away in the 70s!” Boxes? What boxes? Just about every archivist in Georgia got an email from me the next day. Finally, I tracked those boxes down at the Georgia Archives. Not only had they not been processed, I even got to rip off the tape that had sealed them.2 While I may be the first to tell Lee Ague Miller’s story, I know more scholars and activists will find uses for her papers. I owe much to the archivists who recognized the value of preserving the papers of housewives who labored as unpaid political organizers. Randy Gue, Kathy Shoemaker, and the entire staff of Rose Library at Emory University stand out for preserving these papers, even granting me space to sit with Lee Wysong as we looked through Dunaway’s papers together one day. The staff of Georgia Archives displays a great dedication to preserving the state’s his- tory, even through budget battles that have challenged their very ability to re- ix
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