Motherhood and Protest in the United States Since the Sixties
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Motherhood and Protest in the United States Since the Sixties Georgina Denton Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of History November 2014 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2014 The University of Leeds and Georgina Denton ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisors Kate Dossett and Simon Hall, who have read copious amounts of my work (including, at times, chapter plans as long as the chapters themselves!) and have always been on hand to offer advice. Their guidance, patience, constructive criticism and good humour have been invaluable throughout this whole process, and I could not have asked for better supervisors. For their vital financial contributions to this project, I would like to acknowledge and thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Association for American Studies and the School of History at the University of Leeds. I am grateful to all the staff and faculty in the School of History who have assisted me over the course of my studies. Thanks must also go to my fellow postgraduate students, who have helped make my time at Leeds infinitely more enjoyable – including Say Burgin, Tom Davies, Ollie Godsmark, Nick Grant, Vincent Hiribarren, Henry Irving, Rachael Johnson, Jack Noe, Simone Pelizza, Juliette Reboul, Louise Seaward, Danielle Sprecher, Mark Walmsley, Ceara Weston, and Pete Whitewood. I am especially indebted to Nick and Mark for proofreading various sections of this thesis, and to Rachael for proofreading, sustaining me with cups of tea and an array of tasty baked goods, and generally being an amazing housemate. I had the pleasure of spending the 2011-12 academic year in the United States, where most of the archival research for this project was conducted. This was made possible, in large part, by the Center for Research on Gender and Women at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who welcomed me as a visiting scholar for the year – and I am extremely thankful to them for help with visas, providing office space, and the chance to attend some truly fascinating seminars and events. In particular, I owe an enormous amount to Rima Apple, who gave generously of her time in her role as my host advisor and whose insights, suggestions and challenges were invaluable in helping to formulate my ideas during the archival process. Since I have been back in the UK, Rima has continued to go above and beyond the call of duty by reading and providing feedback on my work, and her enduring interest in this project and lasting friendship have been sources of great support. While in the States, I was also fortunate to meet and exchange ideas with a number of other academics and researchers, including Amy Schneidhorst, Laura Kalmes and Jennifer Holland. I am also grateful for the assistance I received from staff at the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, the Bentley Historical Library, Snell Library at Northeastern University, the Schlesinger Library, and the iii Sophia Smith Collection. Outside of academia, I would like to thank Jaime Rhemrev, Judy Sherburn, Ryan Hanke, Brent Wittig, Monica Styles, and the Hanke and Anderson families for their friendship and kindness, and for making my time in Madison such an enjoyable and memorable experience! I am very grateful to a number of friends for supporting and encouraging me over the past four years – and for providing innumerable exciting distractions! In Leeds, Chris Mumford, Rebecca Nahapiet and Dave Tucker all deserve a mention, while further afield Nick Blakeley, Ian Raby, Deborah Raine, Amy Punshon and Alison Durrans have all been fantastic. I would especially like to thank Maria Brown, for her unwavering enthusiasm for this project and for always being there when I needed her. I also owe a tremendous amount to my family. My sister Harriet – along with Kenn – has always supported and believed in me. Meanwhile, my nephew Joshua deserves special thanks for showing absolutely no interest in this project and being a source of much joy and distraction during the final stages of this process. Most of all, my thanks go to my parents – their love and constant support have made this thesis possible and I dedicate it to them. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Morgan, for everything. iv Abstract Focusing on Women Strike for Peace, the welfare rights struggle, the battle against busing and the anti-abortion movement, this thesis highlights the integral role ideologies of motherhood played in shaping women’s activism during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In doing so, it challenges conventional understandings of maternalism, social protest since the sixties, and second-wave feminism in important ways. Indeed, the activists in this study, most of them mothers, many of them middle-aged, do not fit with popular images of the 1960s – centred, as they often are, on youth protests, student movements and a vibrant, colourful counterculture. Meanwhile, studies of mothers’ movements tend to focus disproportionately on white, middle-class women’s reform work during the early twentieth century, eliding maternalism with progressivism, the politics of respectability and nonviolence. However, by revealing the persistence of this political tradition into the 1960s and beyond, and exploring how motherhood was used by activists across the political spectrum during this turbulent era, this study underscores the flexibility, malleability and lasting appeal of maternalism. Within all of these movements, women shared a belief in motherhood as a mandate to activism and a source of political strength. But, as this thesis will show, they ultimately forged distinctive versions of maternalism that were based on their daily lives, and informed by an intersection of race, ethnicity, class, religion and local context. And as a result, there were important differences in the way these activists understood and deployed motherhood. The women in this study also combined more traditional forms of maternal protest with modes of activism popularised during the 1960s, employing direct action tactics to dramatise their maternal concerns in the public arena. Furthermore, some activists espoused a militant brand of maternalism that did not preclude the use of force if deemed necessary to protect their own or others’ children. Finally, although experiences varied widely, many of the women examined here were influenced by, engaged with, and contributed to the era’s burgeoning feminist movement. Thus, this study challenges the popular assumption that maternalist politics are inherently incompatible with women’s liberation – while also providing a vital reminder that second-wave feminism took multiple forms. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………. ii Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………….. iv Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………… v List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………… vi List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………. vii Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 1: Women Strike for Peace and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement ………… 22 Chapter 2: The Welfare Rights Struggle ……………………………………………... 88 Chapter 3: The Battle Against Busing ………………………………………………. 152 Chapter 4: The Anti-Abortion Movement …………………………………………... 216 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………... 278 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………… 287 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Front covers of The Washington WSPer, January 1966 and N.Y. WSP Peaceletter, August-September 1972…………………………………………………. 39 Figure 2: Front cover of Memo, May 1967…………………………………………... 44 Figure 3: Women for a Peaceful Christmas leaflet…………………………………... 70 Figure 4: Instructions by Women for a Peaceful Christmas on how to make ‘6 Felt Ornaments’ and a ‘Tote Bag.’………………………………………………………… 73 Figure 5: Cartoon in NOW!, December 1968……………………………………….. 107 Figure 6: NWRO ‘Mother Power’ and ‘¡Viva Mama!’ flags……………………….. 117 Figure 7: Front cover of NOW!, 6 June 1968 shows Johnnie Tillmon and Coretta Scott King during NWRO’s Mother’s Day March on 12 May 1968……………………… 119 Figure 8: Photographs in NOW!, 6 June 1968 show marchers carrying a large ‘Mother Power’ banner during NWRO’s Mother’s Day March on 12 May 1968……………. 120 Figure 9: Anti-busing activists in Detroit march behind a large banner reading ‘Northeast Mothers Alert.’…………………………………………………………... 180 Figure 10: Louise Day Hicks leads a ‘mothers’ prayer march’ through South Boston, 12 September 1975…………………………………………………………………... 183 Figure 11: Carmen Roberts at Mothers Alert Detroit’s ‘Freedom Dinner-Dance,’ October 1975; beside her, a school bus-shaped piñata………………………………. 187 Figure 12: Children wear placards reading ‘I Get Car Sick, I Want To Walk’ and ‘I’d Rather Hide Than Ride’ at anti-busing rallies in Detroit……………………………. 190 Figure 13: Lynn Mills demonstrates outside the Supreme Court, 1985…………….. 244 Figure 14: Front covers of A.L.L. About Issues, July 1984, May 1985, July-August 1987 and September 1985…………………………………………………………… 245 Figure 15: Anti-abortion women draw chalk outlines of their children on the sidewalk outside a Los Angeles-area clinic, 10 September 1987……………………………… 248 Figure 16: A woman and her two-year-old son take part in a ‘Life Chain’