{"id":137,"date":"2026-02-07T10:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/suffer-not-copy\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T10:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:26:57","slug":"red-roots","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/red-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"702\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1-1024x702.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1-1024x702.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1-300x206.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1-768x527.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1-1536x1053.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/Image-Hoffman-1.png 1721w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">China and Berlin, 1949\u20131951. Sophia Smith Collection of Women&#8217;s History, Smith College Archives, Northampton, MA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong><strong>Red Roots: Betty Millard\u2019s Stake in Communism Beyond the Confines of the Model Feminist<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Adela Hoffman, Smith College<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Adela Hoffman<\/strong> graduated from Smith College in January of 2026. She grew up in the small town of Red Hook, New York, just a twenty-five-minute drive from Betty Millard\u2019s final residence near Lake Taconic. Hoffman majored in History and minored in Philosophy, the former being one of her longest academic interests and the latter a new challenge to strengthen her writing and argumentative skills. At Smith College, Hoffman spent her free time working on productions with Smith Shakes, competing for Smith\u2019s equestrian team, and serving on the Academic Honor Board. Hoffman\u2019s historical research, prior to this paper, focused on American conservatism in the 20th century. Branching out of her comfort zone, Betty Millard piqued Hoffman\u2019s interest in her final history writing seminar with Casey Bohlen due to her tenacity, rebellious nature, and anti-capitalist commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1246\/2026\/02\/red-roots-pdf.pdf\">read as pdf<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not that nothing never changes\u2013 it\u2019s just that it changes minimally and always differently from the way you think it\u2019s going to.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3\" id=\"e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3-link\">1<\/a><\/sup> Elizabeth Millard wrote these words in retrospect of her time within the Communist Party. A woman faithfully devoted to the American Communist dream from 1936 to 1956, Millard imagined a world within her lifetime free of poverty and prejudice. Reflecting on her youthful optimism, Millard chuckled at her naive dreams of retiring in her old age as a \u201cheroic old Bolshevik.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba\" id=\"1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba-link\">2<\/a><\/sup> Although Millard abandoned the Communist Party USA in the mid 1950s, her commitment to dismantling a racist, sexist, and classist world order never faltered. However, within the historical academy, Millard\u2019s vast production of literature for the Communist party falls neatly into one singular category: feminism. Historian and leading scholar in the field of American feminist Communists Kate Weigand argues that Millard and her fellow Communist feminists \u201cset in motion a powerful movement to transform women\u2019s status and gender relations that continues to shape American politics and culture.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb\" id=\"427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb-link\">3<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Communist feminists contributed significantly to women\u2019s struggle for gender equality, the Communist Party and the historical academy have largely ignored their other contributions to the broader American Communist movement. Women within the Communist Party have withstood two separate rounds of patriarchal cleansing. The Communist party itself inflicted the first round, limiting women to organize and write for their female peers and barring them from substantial roles of authority and influence.<sup data-fn=\"74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86\" id=\"74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86-link\">4<\/a><\/sup> Although many women comrades recognized this chauvinistic attitude and promptly fought to dismantle sexism systematically within the party, they experienced varying levels of success. Historians themselves inflicted the second round. Women largely exist in their own category historically: as feminist activists, feminist authors, feminist philanthropists, etc. This reflects a much larger societal assumption that the term \u201cfeminist\u201d can be interchanged with the word \u201cwoman.\u201d The historical academy functions under the assumption that any woman participating in traditionally male dominated fields furthers the feminist agenda simply by existing. However, this double patriarchal fragmentation of women in history makes it impossible to fully embrace the multitudes of women\u2019s contributions to society.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Betty Millard established herself as a respected journalist, feminist, and activist. However, much of the work she produced does not center solely on women&#8217;s issues. In fact, Millard originally joined the Communist Party in resistance to the United States\u2019 support of Francico Franco during the Spanish Civil War, not the Communist Party\u2019s commitment to gender equality.<sup data-fn=\"7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601\" id=\"7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601-link\">5<\/a><\/sup> Her determination to dismantle oppressive regimes and fight imperialism presents itself consistently throughout her work, along with her feminist ideology. Of course, Millard dedicated herself to ending all forms of social hierarchy and oppression, including sex discrimination, but the Communist Party and American historical academy have minimized her other social contributions in order to uplift and simultaneously confine her as a feminist icon. In order to properly analyze Betty Millard, her anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, and feminist sentiments must be given equal priority and attention.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This paper is an intellectual history of Millard that investigates her understanding of communism and feminism, and criticizes the historical academy and Communist Party for their role in flattening women in history to a singular facet of their identities. Focusing mainly on Millard\u2019s time as a member of the Communist Party from the mid-thirties to mid-fifties, I will showcase Millard\u2019s complex understanding of sex discrimination as a product of capitalism and social conditioning, her deeply rooted commitment to fighting a colonial world order, and her personal devotion to dismantling facism and capitalism. Utilizing Millard\u2019s vast publications for the Communist party in the progressive magazines <em>New Masses<\/em> and<em> Latin America Today<\/em> and her personal writings, this paper will convey Millard as a dedicated communist, first and foremost, rather than as a feminist alone. Focusing on Millard as a feminist first and communist second falsely prioritizes her commitment to gender equality above her commitment to anti-fascism and anti-colonialism. By focusing solely on her feminism, we lose Millard\u2019s contributions to the broader anti-capitalist communist movement outside of feminism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Part 1: Millard the Anti-Fascist&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">He looked angrily away. Then he gripped her shoulder and said harshly, \u201cIt\u2019s because you can\u2019t understand about Franco. About the killings, the arms and legs scattered in the street. The screaming when a bomb comes. If I caught Franco I would run a bayonet through him until I was too tired to pull it out. You know what he did to me too? Now I am never going to be happy again. Now I can never be happy any more,\u201d he cried.<sup data-fn=\"d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976\" id=\"d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976-link\">6<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">\u2014 Betty Millard, c. 1930<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard\u2019s fiction from her early life offers us a window into her frame of mind. Although one excerpt from an unfinished story, like the one above, should not be extrapolated to demonstrate her entire world view, the brutal depiction of killing fascist dictators appeared throughout Millard\u2019s short stories from the 1930s and early 1940s. This particular short story entitled \u201cThe Repatriate\u201d details how a young Spanish man, Stephan, tries to cope with the horrors he\u2019s seen in Spain under Franco, including the murder of his best friend. He is at a young woman\u2019s apartment, and although she wants to dance and listen to the radio, Stephan finds himself preoccupied with the past and Spain\u2019s descent into fascism. Stephan pushes the young woman he is seeing to indulge him in his violent political urges and he attempts to inspire similar hatred in her. Alas, the young woman finds his obsession concerning and asks him to leave her apartment. Millard\u2019s own passion and political views come through in her personal fiction, demonstrating her empathy for the rage felt by the Spanish people under Franco\u2019s brutal regime. Millard\u2019s obsession with graphically depicting the murders of Fascist leaders, like Hitler and Franco, fit into a larger narrative of how she understood fascism, communism, and capitalism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to fully understand Millard as a communist, she first needs to be understood as an anti-fascist. The Communist International functioned as the official governing body for the international communist movement, holding conferences and distributing literature.<sup data-fn=\"6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476\" id=\"6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476-link\">7<\/a><\/sup> The Sixth World Congress of the Communist International composed a program entitled \u201cProgram of the Communist International, Together With Its Constitution\u201d in 1929, which detailed the official communist ideology that all national CPs should abide by. Millard collected the third edition in 1936, the same year she joined the Young Communist League, two years after she graduated from Barnard College.<sup data-fn=\"903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5\" id=\"903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5-link\">8<\/a><\/sup> The program explicitly detailed the roots of fascism as \u201cinstability of capitalist relationships; the existence of a considerable declassed social element, the pauperization of broad strata of the urban petty bourgeois and intelligentsia; discontent among the rural petty bourgeoisie and, finally, the constant menace of mass proletarian action.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61\" id=\"e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61-link\">9<\/a><\/sup> Essentially, the Communist Party\u2019s explanation of fascism places it directly in opposition to communism. When capitalist societies begin to fail, the social hierarchies that capitalism perpetuates start to crumble into increasing class instability and general discontent.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Communists, following the Communist Internationals&#8217; ideology, believed that a communist revolution should naturally follow this instability. However, when the state apparatus attempts to hold onto power, it adopts new methods and forms of administration that work to consolidate power away from the people.<sup data-fn=\"c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5\" id=\"c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5-link\">10<\/a><\/sup> This consolidation of power in the form of \u201cinner cabinets and oligarchical groups acting behind the scenes\u201d works to \u201cdestroy the revolutionary vanguard of the working class.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8\" id=\"ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8-link\">11<\/a><\/sup> This understanding of fascism not only as the product of late stage capitalism but as an ideological force created to combat Communism offers us a deeper explanation of Millard\u2019s staunch anti-fascist sentiments. Millard continued to apply this framework to her journalistic writings while a member of CP-USA.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Millard joined the Communist Party officially in 1940, she established herself as an editor and writer for the progressive magazine <em>New Masses <\/em>and became an active member of The Congress of American Women.<sup data-fn=\"87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d\" id=\"87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d-link\">12<\/a><\/sup> In 1949 she joined the Women\u2019s International Democratic Federation, WIDF, which sponsored her to travel to Europe and beyond the Iron Curtain to report on the status of women and attend international women\u2019s conferences.<sup data-fn=\"2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349\" id=\"2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349-link\">13<\/a><\/sup> Considering Millard\u2019s anti-fascist convictions as well as her feminist ideology provides a more accurate analysis of her journalism for the WIDF. Millard created a short pamphlet entitled \u201cWomen on Guard: How the Women of the World Fight for Peace\u201d in 1952.<sup data-fn=\"ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7\" id=\"ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7-link\">14<\/a><\/sup> She discussed the privilege American women experienced because of their physical separation from the wars of the 20th century, and depicts the rising fear women abroad experienced because of the escalating Cold War. She wrote,&nbsp;\u201cWomen of Western Europe are told that they must be prepared to give their sons in a \u2018crusade against communism.\u2019 But they remember another \u2018crusade against communism\u2019\u2014 only a few years ago\u2014 Hitler\u2019s. They remember how dearly it cost them. They know that another such war would be a thousand times more dreadful.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028\" id=\"84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028-link\">15<\/a><\/sup> Analyzing this quote from a feminist perspective leads us to believe Millard\u2019s sole motivation to push for peace was to spare the women of Western Europe from more war and death. However, in this passage, Millard offered her readers a complex criticism of American imperialism through comparing the American anti-communist rhetoric during the Cold War to fascist Nazi Germany\u2019s rhetoric. She created a broader allusion to America as a country floundering in the midst of a rising pro-communist world order, slipping into fascist ideology in order to maintain power.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard continually compared American warmongering abroad to Nazism. Without a full understanding of Millard\u2019s devotion to anti-fascism, readers might interpret these allusions as hyperbole to grab their attention, making them seem out of place\u2014especially considering that her most popular feminist work, \u201cWomen Against Myth,\u201d only mentions Nazism and fascism once. For instance, Millard wrote an article for <em>New Masses<\/em> in 1952 entitled \u201cA Look at \u2018Operation Killer,\u2019\u201d where she detailed the horrors of the Korean War and implored Americans to see through the American war propaganda machine. She wrote:,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">These people (Americans) forget that any soldiers taking part in an aggressive war of annihilation against a whole people, become quickly brutalized and commit acts that they themselves would never have dreamed themselves capable of a few months before. <em>An unjust war can only be fought by barbarous means. <\/em>An army\u2019s politics determines its techniques.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Of course, the U.S. soldier is only obeying orders.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">So was the Nazi.<sup data-fn=\"5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89\" id=\"5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89-link\">16<\/a><\/sup> &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard insisted on pushing the comparison of America\u2019s unjust wars to Nazism in order to highlight the hypocrisy within the American government. This excerpt from Millard\u2019s article created a clear distinction between the American people and the American government, highlighting her dedication to not blaming individuals for the failings of their government. However, she made clear the consequences of becoming a tool to export capitalism and violence, condemning American soldiers to the same fate as Nazis. Millard urged her reader throughout her article \u201cOperation Killer\u201d to analyze the American war machine and consider the benefits communism offers when compared to the violence produced by capitalism. Her point that \u201can army\u2019s politics determines its techniques\u201d directly criticized capitalistic wars because they wage for profit, not human betterment.<sup data-fn=\"ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455\" id=\"ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455-link\">17<\/a><\/sup> Communist literature on the inherent ties between fascism and capitalism influenced Millard\u2019s writing and anti-war agenda. Millard\u2019s insistence on highlighting the parallels between the American anti-communist agenda and the fascist regimes of the 1930s and 1940s in her writings demonstrates her commitment to communism, as an&nbsp;anti-fascist.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Understanding Millard as an anti-fascist illuminates complexity in her writings that a feminist lens fails to provide. Millard\u2019s commitment to peace and critiquing American warmongering demonstrates her dedication to communism as an ideology, again in ways her feminist literature does not. Although Millard\u2019s feminist ideology gave her further opportunities to participate in the international communist movement, such as her enrollment in the WIDF, they did not singularly shape her understanding of communism. Anti-fascism from an early age dictated her political and journalistic career in equal measure to feminism. Stephan\u2019s words for Franco, \u201cYou see these thumbs? I would gouge his eyes out. Slowly. It would be horribly painful. I would pull his nails out\u201d find themselves neatly aligned with Millard\u2019s personal fervent dedication to ending fascism.<sup>&nbsp;<\/sup><sup data-fn=\"4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97\" id=\"4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97-link\">18<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Part Two: Millard the Anti-Colonialist, Anti-Imperialist, and Communist&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow I wish I could tell you about my country that would make it seem less remote, grim and unreal to you\u2013 that\u2019s the way it seemed to me after two years away. I\u2019ve gotten used to the fat cars, fat newspapers and fat people, and the ceaseless, hopeless attempt to make people think the outer world is inhabited by insatiable demons on the one hand and hungry millions on the other who hope we will save them from the demons.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627\" id=\"4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627-link\">19<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;Millard wrote these words to her lifelong friend and pen pal Gita in 1952. Millard had just finished her two-year tour of the Soviet Union, Europe, and East Asia, overwhelmed by the sights of collapsed capitalist empires reborn as communist utopias. Returning to the heart of capitalist imperialism, the United States weighed heavily on her. Millard understood American prosperity and opulence as rewards reaped from an exploitative capitalist system at the expense of unofficial American colonies.<sup data-fn=\"2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e\" id=\"2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e-link\">20<\/a><\/sup> Millard recognized the American propaganda machine in the early fifties as hopelessly dedicated to the demonization of all communists and the infantilization of all non-American civilians as hungry masses desperate for American intervention and protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analyzing communist ideology and its critiques of capitalism helps to properly understand Millard\u2019s criticism of the United States\u2019 foreign policy as well as her anti-colonialism. The \u201cProgram of the Communist International, Together With Its Constitution\u201d offers insights into the official Communist Party\u2019s opinions regarding imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism. The first chapter of the pamphlet describes the characteristic features of a capitalist society which they claim \u201carose on the basis of commodity production\u201d and are \u201cthe monopoly of the most important and vital means of production by the capitalist class and big landlords; the exploitation of the wage labor of the proletariat&#8230;the production of commodities for profit.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00\" id=\"f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00-link\">21<\/a><\/sup> Essentially, a small elite class holds a monopoly on the vital resources of production so that the working class must sell their labor to the elite who produce goods for profit. This system leads to an exploitative relationship between the elites and working class, the bourgeoisie and proletariat: economic domination and politics driven by capitalism.<sup data-fn=\"2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0\" id=\"2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0-link\">22<\/a><\/sup> The chapter also claims that \u201cin its quest for profits the bourgeoisie was compelled to develop the productive forces on an ever-increasing scale and to strengthen and expand domination of capitalist relations of production.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602\" id=\"dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602-link\">23<\/a><\/sup> The CP understood capitalism as ever-expanding and inherently exploitative. The surging scale of capitalism developed to a global level, producing imperialism. The second part of the first chapter details this transition. It describes how capitalism evolved smoothly while unclaimed land, people, and resources existed and how the colonies of capitalist countries experienced the most brutal effects of extracting labor. Therefore, colonies shoulder the burden of production while becoming further removed from the profits of commodities.<sup data-fn=\"906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5\" id=\"906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5-link\">24<\/a><\/sup> The pamphlet also claims that \u201cfree competition rapidly gave way to monopoly, the previously \u201cavailable\u201d colonial lands had already been divided up, and the struggle for a redistribution of colonial and spheres of influence inevitably\u201d lead to armed struggles.<sup data-fn=\"c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759\" id=\"c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759-link\">25<\/a><\/sup> These armed struggles lead to finance capitalism, otherwise known as imperialism, which lead to \u201ca new form of gigantic combinations of enterprises linked up into one system by the banks.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4\" id=\"228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4-link\">26<\/a><\/sup> The oppressive nature of capitalism, which on a small scale represents the abuse of landowners over their tenants, reinforces itself on a larger scale: the population of entire nations under colonial rule as the tenant answering to a foreign country that controls the land, enterprise, and finance.<sup data-fn=\"c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5\" id=\"c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5-link\">27<\/a><\/sup> However, the ever-increasing nature of capitalism results in the intensified abuse of the working class. The final section of the first chapter details how \u201cimperialism is creating a type of decaying and parasitically degenerate rentier-states as well as a whole state of parasites who live by clipping coupons.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48\" id=\"dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48-link\">28<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;In the formation of concentration of the means of production and the extensive abuse of the proletariat, communists believed that these combined factors created the perfect conditions for an uprising of the working class and the success of communism.<sup data-fn=\"c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944\" id=\"c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944-link\">29<\/a><\/sup> This understanding of the interconnectedness of capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, and communism presents itself in Millard\u2019s writings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard\u2019s anti-colonial sentiments moved to the forefront of her political writing and activism after her two years abroad between 1949 and 1950. She attended conferences throughout the Soviet Union and China hosted by the Women\u2019s International Democratic Federation. In late November 1949, Millard travelled by train from Moscow to Peking to attend the Conference of the Women of Asia. Her railway companions consisted of representatives from France, England, Holland, India, the USSR, Cuba, Algeria, Israel, and Czechoslovakia. Millard noted in an article for the <em>Daily Worker<\/em> the impressive backgrounds and works these representatives committed themselves to: Jeanette Vermeersch dedicated her life to leading the French crusade against the war in Vietnam. Rie, a Dutch Auschwitz survivor, led Dutch women against the shipment of arms to Indonesia.<sup data-fn=\"1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97\" id=\"1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97-link\">30<\/a><\/sup> The women at WIDF conferences devoted themselves after World War II to resisting their countries\u2019 involvement in colonial enterprises through their involvement in the Communist Party. Millard\u2019s time spent with the WIDF pushed her to further her understanding of the interconnected nature of capitalism and colonialism. Analyzing the articles Millard wrote about the WIDF conferences in the Soviet Union and China between 1949 and 1950 from a solely feminist lens detracts from Millard\u2019s broader understanding of communism as a necessary tool to dismantle a capitalistic and imperialistic world order. For instance, in Millard\u2019s article \u201cAsia\u2019s Women Meet Where Manchu Emperors Ruled\u201d she wrote:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">&nbsp;The Viet-Nam delegate related how troops of children cluster around the doors of restaurants in Saigon, hoping to be allowed to lick the customer&#8217;s empty plates. As in most colonial countries, the misery is so profound that mothers sell their children to factories, to plantations, to houses of prostitution, in order to not see them starve before their eyes.<sup data-fn=\"009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819\" id=\"009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819-link\">31<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interpreting Millard\u2019s intense depiction of women and children suffering under colonial rule solely in the context of her as a feminist leads us to believe that her anti-colonial beliefs relied on the suffering of women and children. Rather, Millard\u2019s understanding of colonialism developed from her commitment to dismantling capitalism. To Millard, capitalism required colonial oppression and extraction, which, in turn, produced the mass suffering of the working class, especially its most vulnerable members: women and children. Conveying Millard\u2019s personal commitment to communism as a result of her dedication to protecting women and children distracts from Millard\u2019s commitment to communism and anti-colonialism. Assuming that the foundation of women activists\u2019 ideology rests solely on their gender blatantly belittles women&#8217;s contributions to social progress outside the realm of feminism.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon returning to the United States, given the House of Un-American Activities&#8217; disintegration of the Congress of American Women, Millard found herself in need of new employment. She landed a position as editor and writer for a progressive Latin American news magazine, <em>Latin America Today<\/em>. Millard again wrote to Gita sharing her news. Casually, she noted that the magazine&#8217;s purpose \u201cis to fulfill at least in a small way our responsibility toward our Latin-American friends.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca\" id=\"e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca-link\">32<\/a><\/sup> She quipped that her \u201cchief qualifications for the job seem to be that I know nothing about South America and do not read Spanish.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773\" id=\"aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773-link\">33<\/a><\/sup><sup> <\/sup>Millard found herself in unfamiliar territory. However, once Millard became embroiled in the politics and history of Latin America she wrote to Gita explaining that, \u201cI can pay attention to women now only in my spare time. I\u2019ve learned a whole lot about our neighbors to the south and I\u2019m amazed at how ignorant I was about a very important part of the world, also how ignorant everybody here is on that subject.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe\" id=\"25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe-link\">34<\/a><\/sup> Millard\u2019s feminist ideology accompanied her sense of responsibility toward Latin America. Given the women she met during her WIDF tour and their commitment to resisting their countries\u2019 colonial agendas, Millard\u2019s choice to explore the United States\u2019 most vast and precious area of extraction becomes clearer when her commitment to anti-colonialism is weighed equally with her commitment to feminism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 9, 1953 Betty Millard wrote a letter to her mother from Guatemala, \u201cWe love this place. We\u2019ve talked to a number of people about the land reform, which is an all important topic here\u2026Thousands of peasants have already got land of their own for the first time in their lives. Now, instead of paying 50% to 70% of their crops to the landlord, as those who rented land formerly did, they pay only 3% to 5% off their crops a year to the government over 35 years as payment for the land.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff\" id=\"581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff-link\">35<\/a><\/sup> The removal of landlords\u2019 land into the hands of the people, regulated by the government instead of private individuals, demonstrates the potential breakdown of capitalistic exploitation in Guatemala. Land reform became one of Millard\u2019s most reported topics published in <em>Latin America Today<\/em>. Her personal correspondence with her mother reflects her excitement and commitment to empowering the working class to advocate for themselves and dismantle colonial systems of oppression. Communism on a domestic scale requires the working class to rise up against exploitative bourgeoisie who utilize the working class&#8217;s labor in order to hoard wealth.<sup data-fn=\"d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a\" id=\"d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a-link\">36<\/a><\/sup> This model of class exploitation reinforces itself on an international scale as well. Millard understood the United States as the bourgeoisie extracting labor from Latin America, not only cementing inequality but also contributing to its exponential growth.<sup data-fn=\"28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a\" id=\"28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a-link\">37<\/a><\/sup> Colonialism describes the practice of extracting resources from one country for the benefit of another, often involving political control. Although in the 1950s, when Millard wrote and edited <em>Latin America Today<\/em>, the United States technically had no colonies,&nbsp;she recognized the colonial exploitation the United States exercised within Latin America.<sup data-fn=\"f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098\" id=\"f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098-link\">38<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard understood American support for dictators in Latin America as a political tool to keep corrupt capitalist governments in power so that the United States could continue to exploit their resources.<sup data-fn=\"eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39\" id=\"eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39-link\">39<\/a><\/sup> Millard wrote in one of her unpublished articles that the two main reasons Latin Americans hated the United States were the semi-colonial relations and the support of dictators.<sup data-fn=\"5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177\" id=\"5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177-link\">40<\/a><\/sup> She noted that \u201cour support of these dictators is little known by most Americans but is well known and hotly resented by several million Latin Americans. The support is given in the name of anti-communism but, the words of Dr. Eduardo Santos, former president of Columbia,&nbsp;\u2018The flag of anti-communism in Latin America has been transformed into a pirate\u2019s banner\u2026\u2019\u201d<sup data-fn=\"0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384\" id=\"0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384-link\">41<\/a><\/sup> Millard\u2019s dedication to reporting on Latin America stemmed both from her personal attachment to dismantling colonial exploitation and her dedication to informing Americans of the contradictions and misinformation of the U.S. government.<sup data-fn=\"174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac\" id=\"174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac-link\">42<\/a><\/sup> The United States justified their intervention into Latin America as a protective measure against communism.<sup data-fn=\"436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61\" id=\"436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61-link\">43<\/a><\/sup> Millard understood this as a scapegoat tactic so the U.S. could maintain political control.<sup data-fn=\"9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a\" id=\"9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a-link\">44<\/a><\/sup> Given Millard\u2019s attunement to the interwoven political forces at play in Latin America, her prolonged dedication to writing and reporting on Latin America aligns with her personal allegiance to dismantling capitalism and colonialism.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analyzing Millard\u2019s writings in accompaniment with the broader communist ideology helps us to better understand her commitment to reporting on Latin America and dismantling American imperialism. Tracing her time in the WIDF, the people she met, and the articles she wrote creates clear throughlines between her feminist ideology and anti-colonialism. Investigating Millard\u2019s writings on anti-imperialism allows us to have a broader understanding of her belief system and communist ideology than a singularly feminist lens allows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Part 3: Millard the Red Feminist<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Fran and I loved Russian movies\u2026 I remember one called \u2018Tanya\u2019 in which a beautiful but poor young peasant woman is at first scorned by the men peasants when she tries to improve the lot of the collective\u2019s pigs and then later she becomes president of the whole collective farm and is sent to Moscow as an example of the new socialist woman. I cried all the way through that film several times: what it meant to me was that you could be a woman and be strong at the same time.<sup data-fn=\"25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57\" id=\"25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57-link\">45<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">\u2014 Betty Millard, Date Unknown<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Betty Millard\u2019s feminist writings do not sufficiently explain her joining the Communist Party or her commitment to reporting on Latin America, Millard did experience a profound sense of hope and validation because of the Soviet Union&#8217;s depiction of women. Her most famous piece of literature, \u201cWomen Against Myth,\u201d illustrated the Soviet Union as virtually free from gender discrimination. Given middle-class American women\u2019s visible ousting from the workforce in the postwar period and digression back to their prewar status, Millard\u2019s idealization of the strong, working Soviet woman with state-sponsored childcare and equal distribution of household labor proves understandable. However, Millard\u2019s experience within the Communist Party exposed itself as more similar to the beginning of \u2018Tanya\u2019 than the end.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to understand why the CP-USA considered Millard\u2019s feminism revolutionary, first we must analyze how the CP approached the \u201cwoman question\u201d before Millard. The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. functioned as the political blueprint for all communist parties around the world, including CP-USA. The U.S.S.R. Constitution states in article 122 that, \u201cWomen in the U.S.S.R are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social and political life.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f\" id=\"2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f-link\">46<\/a><\/sup> The Soviet Union\u2019s constitution offered women more rights than most Western countries, demonstrating the attractiveness of communism to progressive women. In the Introduction, written by N. Krupskaya, to the 1921 pamphlet \u201cWomen and Society\u201d by Vladimir Lenin (one of the communist party\u2019s foundational political theorists), Krupskaya explains that, \u201cFrom the very outset our Party has devoted a great deal of attention to the emancipation of women, exposing the economic and political roots of women\u2019s inequality.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd\" id=\"57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd-link\">47<\/a><\/sup> This quote represents how the standard communist understanding of women\u2019s inequality revolved around economic and political conditions. Lenin noted that Western countries had not abolished obsolete laws that place women in an inferior position to men because \u201cwhere capitalism exists, where the private ownership of the land, the private ownership of factories and works is preserved, where the power of capital is preserved, men will pertain their privileges.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31\" id=\"8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31-link\">48<\/a><\/sup> Lenin claims that sexism is inherently tied to capitalism, and while capitalism exists, women cannot experience true equality. Despite Lenin\u2019s calls for gender equality and diagnosis that capitalism produces gender inequality, throughout his pamphlet, he still refers to women\u2019s <em>inherent<\/em> \u201cweaker position\u201d as the reason why they experience excessive exploitation under capitalism.<sup data-fn=\"7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6\" id=\"7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6-link\">49<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his pamphlet, Lenin continued to describe one of the leading causes of women\u2019s oppression as housework. He writes, \u201cAs long as women engage in housework their position is still a restricted one. In order to achieve complete emancipation of women and to make them really equal with men, we must have social economy, and the participation of women in general productive labor.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be\" id=\"e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be-link\">50<\/a><\/sup> Lenin described housework as petty, stultifying, and unproductive.<sup data-fn=\"bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e\" id=\"bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e-link\">51<\/a><\/sup> Although Lenin advocated for full gender equality and diagnosed the root cause of sex discrimination as capitalism, his pamphlet demonstrates his own underlying misogyny. His references to women\u2019s weaker position, accompanied with his description of housework as petty signifies a warning sign . Lenin\u2019s pamphlet on women and society functioned as the roadmap for how communists should address the \u201cwoman question,\u201d but the contradictions within the pamphlet itself raised questions for women within the party who saw room for improvement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at Lenin\u2019s pamphlet offers us insight into the underlying misogyny within the communist party, but looking at criticism from the women in CP-USA during the 1940s and 50s demonstrates how this misogyny affected the practices of the party claiming dedication to women&#8217;s equality. Kate Weigand\u2019s book <em>Red Feminism<\/em> works to explain the party\u2019s contradictions regarding CP-USA misogyny and how communist feminists addressed these issues. Mary Inman, a longtime Marxist and CP-USA member from 1936\u20131945, for example, claimed that communist demonization of housework stemmed from misogyny rather than the oppressive nature of housework.<sup data-fn=\"ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93\" id=\"ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93-link\">52<\/a><\/sup> She advocated for Communist leaders to see housework as productive labor like factory work, but party members who worried that this interpretation would reinforce the notion that a woman belonged in the home rejected her analysis.<sup data-fn=\"27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887\" id=\"27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887-link\">53<\/a><\/sup> Inman\u2019s case demonstrates the CP-USA\u2019s reluctance to adopt changes to their feminist ideology and address the potential sexism within their approach to the \u201cwoman question.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Communist Party functioned as one of the most influential left-wing political organizations during the 1940s and 50s, and yet their members still perpetuated sexist stereotypes. Millard wanted to grapple with this blatant contradiction of advocating for equality while ignoring the male chauvinism within the organization. Millard\u2019s \u201cWomen Against Myth\u201d works to understand this contradiction and address sexism inside the party. Millard refuted one of the most common explanations of women\u2019s oppression, \u201cIs it true or is it a myth that \u2018women like to be dominated?\u2019\u201d<sup data-fn=\"c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1\" id=\"c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1-link\">54<\/a><\/sup> Millard understood women\u2019s oppression as a result of both capitalism and patriarchy, however, unlike colonialism and racism, capitalism alone does not produce sexism.<sup data-fn=\"2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c\" id=\"2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c-link\">55<\/a><\/sup> She argued that the ways society conditions girls resulted in the degradation of their self worth and subconsciously embedded in women an inherent feeling of inferiority to men.<sup data-fn=\"d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448\" id=\"d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448-link\">56<\/a><\/sup> Betty Millard believed that communism alone did not inherently produce gender equality, rather that individuals needed to address their own male chauvinistic attitudes in order to understand the ways in which they subconsciously oppress women. Millard\u2019s argument did not stop at diagnosing women\u2019s oppression as a product of social conditioning. She claimed that women\u2019s oppression transcended class oppression, the basis of communist ideology, because all women experienced oppression regardless of class. She wrote in \u201cWomen Against Myth\u201d that \u201ceconomics, religion, customs, taboos impose conflicting roles and wishes on women, who are unable to function fully in society as both mothers and citizens not because of their special biological natures but because every society until the advent of socialism has made it economically and socially impossible for them to do so.\u201d<sup data-fn=\"012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb\" id=\"012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb-link\">57<\/a><\/sup> This, she argued, affected all women regardless of class. Millard\u2019s pamphlet received widespread attention, forcing the CP-USA to change their portrayal of women in magazines and literature in order to combat the social conditioning Millard diagnosed.<sup data-fn=\"f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de\" id=\"f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de-link\">58<\/a><\/sup> Similarly, her pamphlet equipped individual communist women with the tools necessary to address the sex discrimination they experienced from men within the party.<sup data-fn=\"caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e\" id=\"caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e-link\">59<\/a><\/sup> Millard\u2019s radical pamphlet solidified her as a well-respected communist feminist dedicated to addressing gender inequality within the Communist Party.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard\u2019s radical feminist position challenged Lenin\u2019s, and therefore the Communist Party\u2019s, interpretation of the woman question. She reached beyond the ideological principles set before her by the party and enacted real change for individuals and broader party ideology. Millard\u2019s feminism sets her apart from other communists and explains why historians often choose this facet of her identity to analyze. However, Millard\u2019s advocacy, literature, and ideology expanded beyond her commitment to gender equality. Analyzing her personal works of writing and her articles pertaining to international events demonstrates her deep-felt commitment to anti-colonialism and anti-fascism. Her works as a feminist intersected with these other commitments, demonstrating her more nuanced belief system. Although Millard\u2019s work \u201cWomen Against Myth\u201d presents itself as one of the most influential pieces of feminist literature from the early 20th century, published internationally, her commitment to communism went beyond feminism. Historians\u2019 conceptions of Betty Millard demonstrate the ways in which the historical academy limits women as political actors. In giving equal weight to Millard\u2019s dedication to anti-fascism and anti-colonialism, as to her feminism, I offer a more holistic understanding of Millard as a communist and individual who works to combat the implicit sexism within the historical academy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Bibliography<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Betty Millard papers, Sophia Smith Collection, SSC-MS-00673, Smith College Special&nbsp;Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.&nbsp;https:\/\/findingaids.smith.edu\/repositories\/2\/archival_objects\/157931. Accessed May 12, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lenin, Vladimir. Program of the Communist International, Together With Its Constitution.<br>3rd Edition. Workers Library Publishers, 1936.<br>https:\/\/babel.hathitrust.org\/cgi\/pt?id=osu.32435017158270&amp;seq=8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lenin, Vladimir. Women and Society. Little Lenin Library, Vol. 23. International Publishers, 1938.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millard, Elizabeth. Women Against Myth. International Publishers, 1948.<br>https:\/\/www.davidanthembookseller.com\/pages\/books\/11602\/betty-millard\/woman-against-myth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weigand, Kate. Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women&#8217;s Liberation. Johns-Hopkins University Press, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Communist International.\u201d Advocate of Peace through Justice 86, no. 12 (1924): 659\u201363. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20660772.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soviet Union. Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: As Amended and Supplemented by the First, Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1938.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-footnotes\"><li id=\"e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3\">\u00a0Betty Millard Short Story \u201cLove All,\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 1\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba\">\u00a0Ibid. <a href=\"#1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 2\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb\">\u00a0Kate Weigand, <em>Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women&#8217;s Liberation<\/em> (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 14.\u00a0 <a href=\"#427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 3\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86\">\u00a0Ibid., 4.\u00a0 <a href=\"#74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 4\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601\">\u00a0Betty Millard Short Story \u201cLove All,\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 5\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976\">\u00a0Betty Millard Papers, short story \u201cThe Repatriate,\u201d Box 29, Folder 11, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 6\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476\">\u00a0\u201cThe Communist International,\u201d <em>Advocate of Peace through Justice<\/em> 86, no. 12 (1924): 659, http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20660772.\u00a0 <a href=\"#6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 7\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5\">\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 8\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61\">\u00a0Vladimir Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International, Together With Its Constitution<\/em>, 3rd Edition (Workers Library Publishers, 1936), https:\/\/babel.hathitrust.org\/cgi\/pt?id=osu.32435017158270&amp;seq=8, 24. <a href=\"#e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 9\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5\">\u00a0Ibid.\u00a0 <a href=\"#c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 10\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8\">\u00a0Ibid., 24\u20135.\u00a0 <a href=\"#ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 11\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d\">\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 12\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349\">\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 13\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7\">\u00a0Betty Millard pamphlet \u201cWomen on Guard,\u201d February 1952, Box 29, folder 10, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 14\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028\">\u00a0Ibid. <a href=\"#84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 15\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89\">\u00a0Betty Millard article saved in personal travel journal \u201cOperation Killer,\u201d November 1951, Box 3, Folder 2, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 16\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455\">\u00a0Ibid.\u00a0 <a href=\"#ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 17\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97\">\u00a0Betty Millard Papers short story \u201cThe Repatriate,\u201d Box 29, Folder 11, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 18\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627\">\u00a0Betty Millard Papers to Gita Banertea, April 17 1952, Box 17, Folder 4, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 19\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e\">\u00a0Betty Millard draft article, 18 March 1955, Sophia Smith Collection, Box 18, Folder 3, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 20\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00\">\u00a0Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International<\/em>, 11.\u00a0 <a href=\"#f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 21\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0\">Ibid. <a href=\"#2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 22\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602\">Ibid.\u00a0 <a href=\"#dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 23\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5\">Ibid., 13.\u00a0 <a href=\"#906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 24\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759\">Ibid.\u00a0 <a href=\"#c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 25\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4\">Ibid., 14. <a href=\"#228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 26\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5\">Ibid., 16. <a href=\"#c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 27\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48\">Ibid., 19. <a href=\"#dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 28\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944\">Ibid. <a href=\"#c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 29\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97\">\u00a0Betty Millard article saved in personal travel journal, \u201cAsia\u2019s Women Meet Where Manch Emperor\u2019s Ruled,\u201d 18 April, 1950, Box 3, Folder 2, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"#1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 30\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819\">Ibid. <a href=\"#009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 31\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca\">\u00a0Betty Millard to Gita Banertea, 17 April 1952, Box 17, Folder 4, Sophia Smith Collection, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Smith College Special Collections.\u00a0 <a href=\"#e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 32\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773\">Ibid. <a href=\"#aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 33\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe\">Ibid. <a href=\"#25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 34\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff\">Betty Millard to Elizabeth Bell Boynton, 9 March 1953, Box 17, Folder 14, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 35\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a\">Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International<\/em>, 16. <a href=\"#d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 36\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a\">Betty Millard draft article, 18 March 1955, Sophia Smith Collection, Box 18, Folder 3, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 37\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098\">Ibid. <a href=\"#f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 38\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39\">Ibid. <a href=\"#eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 39\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177\">Ibid. <a href=\"#5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 40\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384\">Ibid. <a href=\"#0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 41\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac\">Ibid. <a href=\"#174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 42\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61\">Ibid. <a href=\"#436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 43\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a\">Ibid. <a href=\"#9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 44\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57\">Betty Millard Short Story \u201cLove All,\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections. <a href=\"#25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 45\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f\">\u00a0Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1936), art. 122. <a href=\"#2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 46\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd\">Vladimir Lenin, <em>Women and Society<\/em>, intro. N. Krupskaya (International Publishers, 1938), 5. <a href=\"#57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 47\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31\">Ibid., 15. <a href=\"#8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 48\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6\">Ibid., 16. <a href=\"#7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 49\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be\">Ibid., 14. <a href=\"#e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 50\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e\">Ibid. <a href=\"#bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 51\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93\">Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\/em>, 28. <a href=\"#ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 52\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887\">Ibid., 29.\u00a0 <a href=\"#27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 53\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1\">\u00a0Elizabeth Millard, <em>Women Against Myth<\/em> (International Publishers, 1948), 6, https:\/\/www.davidanthembookseller.com\/pages\/books\/11602\/betty-millard\/woman-against-myth.\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"#c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 54\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c\">Ibid., 7.\u00a0 <a href=\"#2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 55\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448\">Ibid. <a href=\"#d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 56\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb\">Ibid., 12. <a href=\"#012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 57\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de\">Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\/em>, 86. <a href=\"#f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 58\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e\">Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\/em>, 84. <a href=\"#caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 59\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nRed Roots: Betty Millard\u2019s Stake in Communism Beyond the Confines of the Model Feminist Adela Hoffman, Smith College Adela Hoffman graduated from Smith College in January of 2026. She grew up in the small town of Red Hook, New York,&hellip;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/red-roots\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Red Roots&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7459,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"id\":\"e1b2d3bd-0cd7-4f46-9de6-92a2c30cd9b3\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Short Story \\u201cLove All,\\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"1ab1e0bd-9692-4dc6-8ccc-7027f4e5fbba\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"427af257-1282-4d86-a791-cffce69980fb\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Kate Weigand, <em>Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women's Liberation<\\\/em> (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 14.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"74289c82-1512-4f0a-83c7-bc0e84a9ce86\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid., 4.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"7f7adece-04df-493e-a92c-daf5b59f3601\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Short Story \\u201cLove All,\\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"d2752d58-e727-4816-a5d1-9d343be57976\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Papers, short story \\u201cThe Repatriate,\\u201d Box 29, Folder 11, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"6538e7dd-6286-465e-9346-f5f9dd979476\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0\\u201cThe Communist International,\\u201d <em>Advocate of Peace through Justice<\\\/em> 86, no. 12 (1924): 659, http:\\\/\\\/www.jstor.org\\\/stable\\\/20660772.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"903ce2ba-a658-4795-a554-41100fbba2b5\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"e0a0d5c6-9091-47f1-871d-166fa2d80f61\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Vladimir Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International, Together With Its Constitution<\\\/em>, 3rd Edition (Workers Library Publishers, 1936), https:\\\/\\\/babel.hathitrust.org\\\/cgi\\\/pt?id=osu.32435017158270&amp;seq=8, 24.\"},{\"id\":\"c610d3c0-5df9-46e1-a8c4-c6bd94cab1e5\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"ed0848ec-cbdc-4e7c-808f-dff67fbf67e8\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid., 24\\u20135.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"87c4c2d6-38f7-4a24-9ce6-278a05d9974d\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"2d4bba78-44b8-44af-bc59-ec27f554c349\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Time Line, Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"ed5cb6d1-f0c1-463e-82f1-7d359588a4f7\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard pamphlet \\u201cWomen on Guard,\\u201d February 1952, Box 29, folder 10, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"84afbcd2-b3c4-468c-83f5-b49e3423d028\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"5d07fb7a-aaaa-40e2-bc8b-6337d72f0b89\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard article saved in personal travel journal \\u201cOperation Killer,\\u201d November 1951, Box 3, Folder 2, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"ea687670-37e9-48dc-9a3a-46f966fe6455\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Ibid.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"4f3b9148-fbef-429c-b977-2d4714726b97\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Papers short story \\u201cThe Repatriate,\\u201d Box 29, Folder 11, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"4112b6e7-45d1-41fe-8186-cf67019db627\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard Papers to Gita Banertea, April 17 1952, Box 17, Folder 4, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"2d8bb7ed-adc4-4a89-ac39-98e01c288c5e\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard draft article, 18 March 1955, Sophia Smith Collection, Box 18, Folder 3, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"f1aebbd7-dad5-4b03-9007-cc6dada92b00\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International<\\\/em>, 11.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"2e374282-9594-4837-8fb6-1938b3f3edb0\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"dd296e54-4e84-49ae-8ba6-b2b3554cf602\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"906e2d6f-9216-4fcc-8d35-a918c7ae45f5\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 13.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"c40bd64c-6aa0-4387-aec5-523f27fa5759\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"228154d0-4102-41f2-b254-5f7d8fd40de4\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 14.\"},{\"id\":\"c9d5c985-39ba-480d-b58a-cc211a0d5bb5\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 16.\"},{\"id\":\"dccfb0fd-7cd0-48d3-8583-e78ae3739f48\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 19.\"},{\"id\":\"c8dbb9f2-6d28-4a4e-8be2-b3e3c99dd944\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"1bdd60da-1107-47ae-8ef4-13a465cd1b97\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard article saved in personal travel journal, \\u201cAsia\\u2019s Women Meet Where Manch Emperor\\u2019s Ruled,\\u201d 18 April, 1950, Box 3, Folder 2, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"009c1b22-34ad-4762-be77-55f30dfb3819\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"e7e1dbe5-3ab3-411b-85b4-f887fc93d0ca\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Betty Millard to Gita Banertea, 17 April 1952, Box 17, Folder 4, Sophia Smith Collection, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Smith College Special Collections.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"aea6df51-e039-42a4-b79c-3d8f0354c773\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"25d3bee4-fdf0-4034-bc0a-5eb283fd20fe\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"581f25aa-b036-4d61-9eb0-4c19736bbeff\",\"content\":\"Betty Millard to Elizabeth Bell Boynton, 9 March 1953, Box 17, Folder 14, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"d8e4af49-79d9-4a36-963a-08aaa1d4c24a\",\"content\":\"Lenin, <em>Program of the Communist International<\\\/em>, 16.\"},{\"id\":\"28972549-70f9-424a-b37d-b9e3e8eda54a\",\"content\":\"Betty Millard draft article, 18 March 1955, Sophia Smith Collection, Box 18, Folder 3, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"f07eb775-a80b-4df1-88f7-add1f18cc098\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"eb199c9e-feca-488d-b805-6f66ffce1b39\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"5baa5ed5-4f81-437b-b53f-b16589038177\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"0fb6b25d-bee1-4155-b618-2d3ccba25384\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"174a2403-ff3b-430b-a406-d23900dc41ac\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"436aa956-3e08-462f-b711-2cef79bf0f61\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"9c7c6472-e349-41bb-8e9e-633ea221d70a\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"25812e72-5f8f-431c-807d-239c0f8f8b57\",\"content\":\"Betty Millard Short Story \\u201cLove All,\\u201d Box 1, Folder 12, Betty Millard Papers 1911\\u20132010, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections.\"},{\"id\":\"2f7b469c-fa68-40ec-a7a6-a1d12f79ea8f\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1936), art. 122.\"},{\"id\":\"57f106af-d542-4fff-b965-beb904897cfd\",\"content\":\"Vladimir Lenin, <em>Women and Society<\\\/em>, intro. N. Krupskaya (International Publishers, 1938), 5.\"},{\"id\":\"8ce9b8ed-7fde-4d4b-8494-7ad53f17fe31\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 15.\"},{\"id\":\"7febe576-ff4c-4407-b97a-915491176cf6\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 16.\"},{\"id\":\"e38b2b2b-2337-4464-9f68-dbea1866f5be\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 14.\"},{\"id\":\"bf3524ab-36ae-4423-9379-f633fdd4bf9e\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"ec72a99c-79a9-4c55-b8ee-8041e78bcb93\",\"content\":\"Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\\\/em>, 28.\"},{\"id\":\"27261af1-b54c-4a5d-9c7e-f735be643887\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 29.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"c9d3e29b-34ec-4c5e-b602-69c554c4caf1\",\"content\":\"\\u00a0Elizabeth Millard, <em>Women Against Myth<\\\/em> (International Publishers, 1948), 6, https:\\\/\\\/www.davidanthembookseller.com\\\/pages\\\/books\\\/11602\\\/betty-millard\\\/woman-against-myth.\\u00a0\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"2ed13d1b-53b2-41dc-b127-7238c45ce30c\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 7.\\u00a0\"},{\"id\":\"d2575ee5-05a3-49b6-a770-77ecea442448\",\"content\":\"Ibid.\"},{\"id\":\"012fbf26-1163-4247-b93f-6375e173dfeb\",\"content\":\"Ibid., 12.\"},{\"id\":\"f8cae141-13b2-4132-96bb-287cf27670de\",\"content\":\"Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\\\/em>, 86.\"},{\"id\":\"caa52f0f-3b02-45ab-904d-a764fa18dd4e\",\"content\":\"Weigand, <em>Red Feminism<\\\/em>, 84.\"}]"},"class_list":["post-137","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions\/187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithhistoricalreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}