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Esther Brunauer
Esther Caukin Brunauer (July 7, 1901 – June 26, 1959) was an American diplomat who was a longtime employee of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and then a U.S. government civil servant, who with her husband was targeted by Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign against U.S. State Department officials whose loyalty to the U.S. he questioned.
Esther Delia Caukin was born on July 7, 1901, near Jackson, California, to parents born in California. Her father, an electrician, had left-wing political views. Her mother worked as a clerk, supported women's suffrage, and campaigned for Woodrow Wilson in 1914. The family moved frequently during Esther's childhood. She graduated from Girls' High School in San Francisco in 1920 and then attended Mills College, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1924. She earned a doctorate from Stanford University in 1927, financing her education in part with a fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She moved to Washington, D.C., to work on the AAUW staff and headed its international affairs program until 1944.
Esther Caukin married Stephen Brunauer (1903–1986) on July 8, 1931. He was an immigrant to the U.S. from Hungary, trained as a chemist, who had belonged to the Young Workers' League, a Communist front, until 1927. In the 1930s he worked as a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During World War II he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and led its high explosives research group. He gained the rank of commander before changing his status to that of a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy in 1944. The Atomic Energy Commission denied him a security clearance because of his earlier membership in the Young Workers' League, but he continued to work as a scientist for the U.S. Navy.
The Brunauers had a son who lived only a few months in 1934 and two daughters who were born in 1938 and 1942.
The Brunauers spent time in Germany on fellowships in 1933, during the Nazi seizure of power. Returning to the U.S., Esther Brunauer became an advocate for collective security in opposition to the pacifism of many women's rights advocates of the period. She headed a National Defense Study Commission that published a study of national defense in 1937 that the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations assessed in 1950 as "largely responsible for converting various pacifist organizations in this country and thus making possible an immediate program of rearmament". On behalf of the AAUW, she became a key figure in such organizational alliances as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and the Women's Action Committee for Victory and Lasting Peace. She campaigned on behalf of the AAUW for the relaxation of the U.S. Neutrality Acts. In 1941 she authored an attack on isolationism and appeasement, "Relationship of Foreign Policy to National Defense", that said:
Isolationism exists and flourishes most widely where there is the least knowledge of the world we live in–and in some cases it is deepened by a refusal to heed what information does seep in.
It seems to involve a curiously twisted national egotism. In essence, the isolationist's view can contemplate only one potential aggressor in the world, and that is America. Therefore, if one is enlightened and believes in social progress, one opposes anything that will permit America to play a part in world affairs, because of the fear that this country will seek to dominate others and by its actions will provoke others into war.
In some cases, isolationism is an attempt to escape from responsibility, but it is more often a fear of power as such without regard to whether that power is to be used for good or for evil.
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Esther Brunauer
Esther Caukin Brunauer (July 7, 1901 – June 26, 1959) was an American diplomat who was a longtime employee of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and then a U.S. government civil servant, who with her husband was targeted by Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign against U.S. State Department officials whose loyalty to the U.S. he questioned.
Esther Delia Caukin was born on July 7, 1901, near Jackson, California, to parents born in California. Her father, an electrician, had left-wing political views. Her mother worked as a clerk, supported women's suffrage, and campaigned for Woodrow Wilson in 1914. The family moved frequently during Esther's childhood. She graduated from Girls' High School in San Francisco in 1920 and then attended Mills College, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1924. She earned a doctorate from Stanford University in 1927, financing her education in part with a fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She moved to Washington, D.C., to work on the AAUW staff and headed its international affairs program until 1944.
Esther Caukin married Stephen Brunauer (1903–1986) on July 8, 1931. He was an immigrant to the U.S. from Hungary, trained as a chemist, who had belonged to the Young Workers' League, a Communist front, until 1927. In the 1930s he worked as a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During World War II he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and led its high explosives research group. He gained the rank of commander before changing his status to that of a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy in 1944. The Atomic Energy Commission denied him a security clearance because of his earlier membership in the Young Workers' League, but he continued to work as a scientist for the U.S. Navy.
The Brunauers had a son who lived only a few months in 1934 and two daughters who were born in 1938 and 1942.
The Brunauers spent time in Germany on fellowships in 1933, during the Nazi seizure of power. Returning to the U.S., Esther Brunauer became an advocate for collective security in opposition to the pacifism of many women's rights advocates of the period. She headed a National Defense Study Commission that published a study of national defense in 1937 that the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations assessed in 1950 as "largely responsible for converting various pacifist organizations in this country and thus making possible an immediate program of rearmament". On behalf of the AAUW, she became a key figure in such organizational alliances as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and the Women's Action Committee for Victory and Lasting Peace. She campaigned on behalf of the AAUW for the relaxation of the U.S. Neutrality Acts. In 1941 she authored an attack on isolationism and appeasement, "Relationship of Foreign Policy to National Defense", that said:
Isolationism exists and flourishes most widely where there is the least knowledge of the world we live in–and in some cases it is deepened by a refusal to heed what information does seep in.
It seems to involve a curiously twisted national egotism. In essence, the isolationist's view can contemplate only one potential aggressor in the world, and that is America. Therefore, if one is enlightened and believes in social progress, one opposes anything that will permit America to play a part in world affairs, because of the fear that this country will seek to dominate others and by its actions will provoke others into war.
In some cases, isolationism is an attempt to escape from responsibility, but it is more often a fear of power as such without regard to whether that power is to be used for good or for evil.