Battling John Birch in California's Conservative Cradle
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--History History 2015 Save Our Republic: Battling John Birch in California's Conservative Cradle James A. Savage University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Savage, James A., "Save Our Republic: Battling John Birch in California's Conservative Cradle" (2015). Theses and Dissertations--History. 25. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/25 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the History at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--History by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. James A. Savage, Student Dr. Tracy A. Campbell, Major Professor Dr. David E. Hamilton, Director of Graduate Studies SAVE OUR REPUBLIC: BATTLING JOHN BIRCH IN CALIFORNIA’S CONSERVATIVE CRADLE ________________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By James Savage Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Tracy Campbell, Professor of History Lexington, Kentucky 2014 Copyright © James Savage 2014 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION SAVE OUR REPUBLIC: BATTLING JOHN BIRCH IN CALIFORNIA’S CONSERVATIVE CRADLE Previous accounts of the development of the New American Right have demonstrated the popularity and resonance of the ideology in Southern California. However, these studies have not shown how contention surrounded conservatism’s ascendancy even in regions where it found eager disciples. “Save Our Republic” uses one conservative Southern California community as a vehicle to better understand the foundations of a wider movement and argues the growth of conservatism was not nearly as smooth as earlier studies have suggested. Santa Barbara, California, experienced a much more contentious introduction to the same conservative elements and exemplifies the larger ideological clash that occurred nationwide during the late 1950s and early 1960s between “establishment,” moderate Republicans and the party’s right flank. In California’s cradle of conservatism, the ideology’s birth was not an easy one. Santa Barbara should have provided a bonanza of support for the John Birch Society, a staunchly anticommunist organization founded in 1958 by retired businessman Robert H.W. Welch. Instead, its presence there in the early 1960s divided the city and inspired the sort of suspicion that ultimately hobbled the group’s reputation nationally. Rather than thriving in the city, the JBS impaled itself in a series of self-inflicted wounds that only worsened the effect these characterizations had on the group’s national reputation. Disseminated to a nationwide audience by local newspaper publisher Thomas M. Storke, who declared his intention to banish the organization from the city, the events that occurred in Santa Barbara throughout 1961 alerted other cities of the potential disruption the JBS could inspire in their communities. The JBS would forever bear the battle scars it earned in Santa Barbara. “Save Our Republic” argues the events in Santa Barbara exemplify the more pronounced political battle that was occurring throughout the nation in the 1960s as conservatives grappled to determine the bounds of their ideology. The threat from the right that caused so much handwringing in the halls of conservative power had an equally unsettling effect in the city’s parlors, churches, schoolhouses and newsrooms. KEYWORDS: Conservatism, Anticommunism, John Birch Society, Thomas M. Storke, California James Savage Student’s Signature July 14, 2014 Date SAVE OUR REPUBLIC: BATTLING JOHN BIRCH IN CALIFORNIA’S CONSERVATIVE CRADLE By James Savage Dr. Tracy A. Campbell Director of Dissertation Dr. David E. Hamilton Director of Graduate Studies July 14, 2014 Date In memory of Tony J. Morrow and Dora Polozola Morrow ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr. Tracy Campbell asked two questions when I proposed this dissertation. “Are you sure you want to do a California topic?” was the first. He realized then as I did that doing the sort of research a dissertation—not to mention my own obsessive nature— demanded would be simpler if the sources were closer to home. He then asked, “How can I help?” and nearly six years later, he’s still helping. He delivers letters of support as easily as he does a joke, and his incredible humor, exacting eye, and plain good sense have made this process easier and much more fulfilling. The University of Kentucky History Department has also eased my path. Dr. David Hamilton and Dr. James Albisetti helped secure internal and external funding, including a Dissertation Enhancement Award that allowed me to research for five weeks along the West Coast. Dr. Hamilton initiated my nomination for a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the UK Graduate School that facilitated an entire year of writing and research uninterrupted by teaching. Dr. Karen Petrone wrote letters of support, gave stellar personal and professional advice, and pushed me to think more globally. Dr. JoAnne Pope Melish joined my committee at a particularly critical juncture, as did Dean Terry Birdwhistell. Both managed to find value in places where I saw only confusion. Dr. Ronald Eller’s gentle manner and praise during my first semester in Kentucky guided my return from a life of daily news deadlines to graduate study. Like Dr. Campbell, Dr. Eller exemplifies the kind of mentor I’d like some day to be, while Dr. Mark W. Summers sets a standard for teaching that one can only aspire to reach. He performs history for his students, who flock to class for the theater, but learn during the show. It was my pleasure to serve a year as his teaching assistant. iii I met Mandy Higgins during my first semester at UK. We found each other, shall we say, unlikeable. But last December, I joined her family and closest friends to celebrate her graduation. Mandy had become Dr. Higgins—and one of the best friends I’ll ever have. She, her husband Matt, and her parents Paula and Dave Duncan, personify what is so great about Kentucky—it welcomes all strays, teaches them about bourbon, bridles and basketball, and reminds them they’ll always have a home in the Bluegrass. More important, my unlikely friendship with Mandy shows how wrong first impressions can be and how a person risks missing out on truly great things if he’s implacable. I can’t imagine what the last six years would have been like without Mandy or the other extraordinary people I’ve befriend during my time here—Stephanie and Anthony Miller, Julia and Robert Turpin, Rachel Hogg, Amy and Robert Murray, Jeremiah Nelson, Adam Spease, and Daren Neel. My time here would have been far less fun if our paths had not crossed. I once described Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser as “extraordinary.” To that, I now add incomparable. Mary did not pack boxes or drive the truck, but more than any other person she influenced my move to Kentucky and pursuit of a doctorate. She still guides me, just as she guided my master’s thesis at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Even from this distance, she is incomparably extraordinary. I am fortunate that the repositories that housed my research employed such wonderful staffs. Some toiled in cheerful anonymity, and I never did learn their names. Others never failed to answer an e-mail or happily pull yet another box to satisfy my obsessions. Although they may never see this record of my gratitude, I must thank the archivists at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, especially David iv Kessler; UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Special Collections, especially Ed Fields; the Library of Congress’ Manuscript Division, which employs more supportive and knowledgeable people than I could possibly list; the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, especially Doris Jackson; the University of Oregon’s Special Collections and University Archives, especially Shelley Wallace; the California Judicial Center Library’s Martha Noble; the California State Archives’ Jessica Herrick; Amanda Neal and Brent Field at the Santa Barbara Public Library; and the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s Michael Redmon. Closer to home, the Interlibrary Loan staff at W.T.