Title Gendering radicalism : women and communism in twentieth-century California / Beth Slutsky

Published Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2015

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Description 1 online resource Series Women in the West Women in the West. Contents 1. Three Generations of American Communist Women -- 2. Parlor Pink Turned Soapbox Red : Charlotte Anita Whitney, the American Communist Matriarch, 1867-1955 -- 3. Red Queen of the West : Dorothy Ray Healey and the Grounding of California's Old Left, 1914-2006 -- 4. The New Old Left : Kendra Harris Alexander, 1946-1993 -- 5. American Communism after Three Generations Summary "In 1919 Charlotte Anita Whitney, a wealthy white woman, received one of the first Communist Labor Party membership cards for the charter group of the northern California Communist Labor Party. Less than a decade later in Berkeley, California, a Jewish woman named Dorothy Ray Healey became a card-carrying member of the Young Communist League. Nearly forty years later, in 1966, Kendra Claire Harris Alexander, a mixed-race woman, enlisted with the Los Angeles branch of the Communist Party, determined to promote class equality. In Gendering Radicalism, Beth Slutsky examines how American leftist radicalism was experienced through the lives of these three women who led the California branches of the Communist Party from its founding in 1919 to its near dissolution in 1992. Separately, each woman represents a generation of the membership and activism of the party. Collectively, Slutsky argues, their individual histories tell the story of one of the most infamous organizations this country has ever known and in a broader sense represent the story of all women who have devoted their lives to radicalism in America. Slutsky considers how gender politics, California's political climate, coalitions with other activist groups and local communities, and generational dynamics created a grassroots Communist movement distinct from the Communist parties in the Soviet Union and Europe. An ambitious comparative study, Gendering Radicalism demonstrates the continuity and changes of the party both within and among three generations of its female leaders' lives"-- Provided by publisher "An examination of how American leftist radicalism was experienced in a gendered and raced context through the lives of three women (Charlotte Anita Whitney, Dorothy Ray Healey, and Kendra Harris Alexander) who joined and led the California branches of the Communist Party from 1919 to 1992"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Print version record Subject Alexander, Kendra, 1946-1993. Healey, Dorothy, 1914-2006. Whitney, Anita, 1867-1955. SUBJECT Alexander, Kendra, 1946-1993 Healey, Dorothy, 1914-2006 Whitney, Anita, 1867-1955 Alexander, Kendra, 1946-1993 fast Healey, Dorothy, 1914-2006 fast Whitney, Anita, 1867-1955 fast Subject Communist Party of the United States of America (Calif.) -- History SUBJECT Communist Party of the United States of America (Calif.) fast Subject Intergenerational relations -- Political aspects -- California -- History -- 20th century Sex role -- Political aspects -- California -- History -- 20th century Women political activists -- California -- Biography Women radicals -- California -- Biography Women communists -- California -- Biography HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY) SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Women's Studies. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Ideologies -- Communism & Socialism. Intergenerational relations -- Political aspects Politics and government Sex role -- Political aspects Women communists Women political activists Women radicals SUBJECT California -- Politics and government -- 20th century Subject California Genre/Form Biographies History Form Electronic book LC no. 2015002920 ISBN 9780803278622 0803278624 080325475X 9780803254756 0803278608 9780803278608 0803278616 9780803278615

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