Dresses, Diapers, Dinners, and Detritus: Material Culture and the Cold War

AHA Session 250
Saturday, January 7, 2017: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Room 502 (Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room Level)
Chair:
Stephen Randolph, U.S. Department of State
Papers:
Children of the Revolution: US Humanitarianism and Private Relief Agencies in the Vietnam War
Bethany Sharpe, University of Kentucky
Listening to Cold War Decay: Sound Matters of Atomic Radiation
Jessica Schwartz, University of California, Los Angeles
Cold War Consumer “Freedom”: Dorothy Shaver and American Fashion
Stephanie Amerian, Santa Monica College
Comment:
Stephen Randolph, U.S. Department of State

Session Abstract

While heavily studied from geopolitical and economic perspectives, the Cold War also was fought inside homes and families. During the Cold War material goods and culture became as important as nuclear weapons and military bases to advocates of U.S. Cold War policy. This panel seeks to explore relationships between the U.S. government and consumers at home and abroad through the material frameworks of food, fashion, and music, as well as through the commodification of children under international adoption programs, all part of the U.S. war against communism.
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