Authors

Dina Fainberg²; Victoria Avanskaya¹;  ¹ Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation;  ² City, University of London, UK

Discussion

This paper analyses hundreds of letters that American women wrote to Nikita Khrushchev and Nina Khrushcheva during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Drawing on their traditional gender roles as mothers and wives, letter-writers were emboldened to confront political leaders about matters of war and peace, advocate for cross-border dialogue, and stress Americans’ and Soviets’ shared humanity. Through the prism of letters, we explores the impact of the Cuban crisis on American society and women’s understanding of the Cold War.