Promotional Information

Weigand's staggeringly extensive research draws from previously unused sources, including the U.S. Communist press and the letters published therein on feminism. Red Feminism will become a classic work at the intersection of radical, feminist, and African-American history. -- Marvin E. Gettleman, Brooklyn Polytechnic University

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Old Left Women, the U.S. Women's Movement, and the Legacy of Anti-Communism
Part I: Foundations
Chapter 1. Building Unity Amidst Diversity: Ethnicity, Race, and Gender in the Early Years of American Communism
Chapter 2. The Mary Inman Controversy and the (Re)Construction of the Woman Question, 1936–1945
Chapter 3. The Congress of American Women: Catalyst for Progressive Feminism
Part II: Transformations
Chapter 4. Women's Work Is Never done: Communists' Evolving Approach to the Woman Question, 1945–1956
Chapter 5. Claudia Jones and the Synthesis of Gender, Race, and Class
Chapter 6. Communist Culture and the Politicization of Personal Life
Part III: Connections
Chapter 7. Old Left Feminism, the Second Wave, and Beyond
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

About the Author

Kate Weigand is an archivist at the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College and teaches courses in U.S. history and women's studies.

Reviews

Richly detailed... It will appeal to general readers interested in the history of U.S. progressive movements and women's history. Publishers Weekly The gulf between first- and second-wave feminism seems less broad thanks to this thoughtful analysis of women's activism with the Communist Party U.S.A. between World War II and the mid-1950s... An important supplement to standard histories of American feminism. Booklist This excellent book will play a strong part in passing on ideas and concepts to future Democrats, Republicans, Communists, and citizens of the world. -- Char Roone Miller History of Education Quarterly An interesting, well-documented book. -- Marian J. Morton American Historical Review

Richly detailed... It will appeal to general readers interested in the history of U.S. progressive movements and women's history. Publishers Weekly The gulf between first- and second-wave feminism seems less broad thanks to this thoughtful analysis of women's activism with the Communist Party U.S.A. between World War II and the mid-1950s... An important supplement to standard histories of American feminism. Booklist This excellent book will play a strong part in passing on ideas and concepts to future Democrats, Republicans, Communists, and citizens of the world. -- Char Roone Miller History of Education Quarterly An interesting, well-documented book. -- Marian J. Morton American Historical Review