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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 March 2016
This article explores the gendered potential and limitations of eastern bloc immigration to the United States under Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles. When Dulles endorsed the romantic marriage of Czechoslovakian Olympic gold medalist Olga Fikotova to fellow Olympic winner – and American – Harold Connolly in 1957, he engineered a cultural-diplomacy coup that complimented the president's New Look brinkmanship abroad. Feminine, heteronormative, Protestant, and a world champion, Fikotova initially seemed an ideal Cold War immigrant. When she and her new husband arrived on American shores amid media fanfare, though, she exercised her newfound freedom of speech to criticize American social problems and advocate women's equality.
1 Olga Connolly, The Rings of Destiny (New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1968), 294.
2 “The World: Progress Report,” New York Times, 24 March 1957, 188.
3 On US cultural diplomacy see Frank Costigliola, Awkward Dominion: American Political, Economic, and Cultural Relations with Europe (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984); Frank Ninkovich, The Diplomacy of Ideas: US Foreign Policy and Cultural Relations (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981); Charles S. Maier, Among Empires: American Ascendency and Its Predecessors (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006); Richard Pells, Not Like Us: How Europeans Have Loved, Hated, and Transformed American Culture since World War II (New York: Basic Books, 1997); and Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America's Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005). On Cold War race-related issues, anticolonialism, and modernization theory see Thomas Borstelmann, The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001); Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000); David Ekbladh, The Great American Mission: Modernization and the Construction of an American World Order (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010); Molly Geidel, Peace Corps Fantasies: How Development Shaped the Global Sixties (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015); Nils Gilman, Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003); Greg Grandin, Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006); Michael E. Latham, The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and US Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011); Brenda Gayle Plummer, Rising Wind: Black Americans and US Foreign Affairs, 1935–1960 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996); Stephen Rabe, The Most Dangerous Area in the World: JFK Confronts Communist Revolution in Latin America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999); Penny Von Eschen, Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937–1957 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997); Von Eschen, Satchmo Blows up the World: Jazz Musicians Play the Cold War (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004); Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005); George White, Holding the Line: Race, Racism, and American Foreign Policy toward Africa, 1953–1961 (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005).
4 Margot Canaday, The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009); Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988); Somerville, Siobhan B., “Notes toward a Queer History of Naturalization,” American Quarterly, 57, 3 (Sept. 2005), 659–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Somerville, “Queer Loving,” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 11, 3 (2005), 335–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 On the McCarran-Walter Act (the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, PL 82–414, 66 Stat 163) see Reimers, David M., “Post-World War II Immigration to the United States: America's Latest Newcomers,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 454, America as a Multicultural Society (March 1981), 1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6 Donna R. Gabaccia, Foreign Relations: American Immigration in Global Perspective (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012), 162–63.
7 For example, gender played a critical role in excluding Mexican men's agricultural labor; the tightest federal stranglehold came in the INS bracero procedure Operation Wetback. On post-1945 US–Mexican immigration see Hernandez, Kelly Lytle, “The Crimes and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-border Examination of Operation Wetback, 1943 to 1954,” Western Historical Quarterly, 37, 4 (Winter 2006), 421–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hernandez, “Mexican Immigration to the United States,” OAH Magazine of History, 23, 4, North American Migrations (Oct. 2009), 25–29; Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004), 127–66.
8 Emily S. Rosenberg, “The American Look: The Nation in the Shape of a Woman,” in Emily S. Rosenberg and Shannon Fitzpatrick, eds., Body and Nation: The Global Realm of US Body Politics in the Twentieth Century (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014), 189–208.
9 Anne M. Blaschke, “Racing to Win: Women Track and Field Athletes in American Political Culture,” PhD diss., Boston University, 2012; Susan Cahn, Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women's Sport (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), 55–82; Liberti, Rita, “‘We Were Ladies, We Just Played like Boys’: African American Womanhood and Competitive Basketball at Bennett College, 1928–1942,” Journal of Sport History, 26, 23 (1999), 567–84Google Scholar; Liberti, “Women's Sport History and Black Feminist Theory,” Womanist Theory and Research, 3, 2–4, 1 (special double issue) (2001–2), 45–50Google Scholar; Susan Ware, Game, Set Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women's Sports (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2011), 75–146.
10 On Didrikson see Susan E. Cayleff, Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996), 19; Cahn, 115–16, 215–17. On Walsh see William J. Baker, Jesse Owens: An American Life (New York: The Free Press/Macmillan, Inc., 1986), 169; and Sharon Kinney Hanson, The Life of Helen Stephens: The Fulton Flash (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004); and “What Do You Think? Is This a Man or Woman?” Look, Feb. 1937, 37–40. On “inversion” and American interwar definitions of sexuality see Canaday.
11 William R. Keylor, “Waging the War of Words: The Promotion of American Interests and Ideals Abroad during the Cold War,” in Cathal J. Nolan, ed., Power and Responsibility in World Affairs: Reformation and Transformation (Westport, CT and London: Praeger, 2004), 84–85.
12 Lawrence D. Soley, Radio Warfare: OSS and CIA Subversive Propaganda (New York: Praeger, 1989); and Parry-Giles, Shawn J., “The Eisenhower Administration's Conceptualization of the USIA: The Development of Overt and Covert Propaganda Strategies,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 24, 2 (Spring 1994), 263–76Google Scholar.
13 Keylor, 89; Richard T. Arndt, The First Resort of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005); Jarol Manheim, Strategic Public Diplomacy and American Foreign Policy: The Evolution of Influence (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994); and Peter Coleman, The Liberal Conspiracy: The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Struggle for the Mind of Postwar Europe (New York: Free Press, 1989).
14 General Wainwright, “Speeches Made at Luncheon and Banquet Sessions Friday Luncheon Session December 6, 1946,” Minutes of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting, Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, 6–8 Dec. 1946, p. 148, Amateur Athletic Union Archives (hereinafter AAU).
15 Keylor, 89.
16 Parry-Giles, 268.
17 John Rendel, “Sports Carnival on Here Tonight: Weight Lifting, Track, Ice Skating Carded at Garden for Olympic Benefit,” New York Times, 20 Oct. 1955, 46.
18 On Pan-Am Games media coverage see “US First as Meet in Mexico Closes,” New York Times, 27 March 1955, S1. On Eisenhower's sport legislation see “Sports Bill Approved: Measure Signed by President Helps Service Athletes,” New York Times, 18 March 1955, 35.
19 Canaday, 175.
20 “Olympic Tax Bill Signed,” New York Times, 13 Aug. 1955, 8.
21 Avery Brundage to David Lord Burghley, 30 Oct. 1954, Avery Brundage Papers, CIO PT-Brund-corr-7596SD2, Correspondence, juillet–décembre 1954, Olympic Studies Centre Archive, Lausanne, Switzerland.
22 Costigliola, Frank, “Unceasing Pressure for Penetration: Gender, Pathology, and Emotion in George Kennan's Formation of the Cold War,” Journal of American History, 83, 4 (March 1997), 1329–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
23 Welles Hangen, “Closeup of the ‘Soviet Woman’: For the First Time, a Woman Has Been Elevated to Russian Communism's High Command,” New York Times, 11 March 1956, 228.
24 Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 161; Barbara Ehrenreich, The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1983); May, Homeward Bound.
25 Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (New York: Knopf, 2003); Howard, Clayton, “Building a ‘Family Friendly’ Metropolis: Sexuality, the State, and Postwar Housing Policy,” Journal of Urban History, 39, 5 (Sept. 2013), 933–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Meg Jacobs, Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America (Princeton, NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005).
26 May, 74–81.
27 Connolly, The Rings of Destiny, 67. While the official transition occurred in February 1948, Fikotova remembered a shift to Communist rule in 1949. On the Communist takeover see Bradley Abrams, The Struggle for the Soul of the Nation: Czech Culture and the Rise of Communism (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004); Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 (London and New York: Allen Lane, 2012); and Mary Heimann, Czechoslovakia: The State That Failed (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009).
28 Melissa Feinberg, Elusive Equality: Gender, Citizenship, and the Limits of Democracy (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006), 198.
29 Connolly, 99.
30 Robert Lipsyte, “At Last, Harold Connolly Raises Both Arms,” New York Times, 13 Dec. 1991, B21.
31 On the athletes' courtship see Connolly.
32 Ibid., 156, 224.
33 On Guatemala see Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War (New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2013), 70–71. On Czechoslovakian involvement in Suez see David A. Nichols, Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis – Suez and the Brink of War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 26–27.
34 “Discus Star Urges Zapotocky to Let Her Wed US Athlete,” New York Times, 7 March 1957, 31.
35 Connolly, 246, 247.
36 “Hope for Hal? Dulles' Stand May Aid Suit of Connolly,” Daily Boston Globe, 6 March 1957, 7.
37 Ibid., 246.
38 Connolly, 245.
39 Ibid., 247.
40 “MUST WAIT: Athletes' Wedding Plans Get Setback,” Los Angeles Times, 7 March 1957, C5.
41 Connolly, 250. Fikotova endured several more heated interviews with the Marriages to Foreigners Department, fielding such questions as: “The real issue is do you really expect us to approve of your running out on us?”
42 Ibid.
43 “'Tis Love, 'Tis Love, Etc.,” New York Times, 22 March 1957, 22; Connolly, 294.
44 “Olympians' Wedding Set Today in Prague,” New York Times, 27 March 1957, 5.
45 Harold Connolly to John Foster Dulles, 17 April 1957, Alphabetical Correspondence by Year, Series 2, General Correspondence of the John Foster Dulles Papers, Box 230, 1955–1957, John Foster Dulles Papers, 1860–1988 (mostly 1945–1960), Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library (hereinafter JFD).
46 Connolly, 286.
47 “All Prague Agog as Athletes Wed,” New York Times, 28 March 1957, 33.
48 “The World: ‘Progress Report,’” New York Times, 24 March 1957, 188; “The World: Moscow Talks Tough …,” New York Times, 31 March 1957, 185.
49 George Weller, “Connolly Stars as Envoy to Reds,” Daily Boston Globe, 25 March 1957, 1. For more on “Porgy and Bess” and other race-specific 1950s cultural diplomacy see Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights; Von Eschen, Satchmo Blows up the World.
50 Harold Connolly to John Foster Dulles, 17 April 1957, Alphabetical Correspondence by Year, Series 2, General Correspondence of the John Foster Dulles Papers, Box 230, 1955–1957, JFD.
51 Connolly, 309. Also see “Dulles Sees Connollys: Says He Hopes Remarks Aided Them in Getting Married,” New York Times, 27 April 1957, 16.
52 “On Radio,” New York Times, 29 April 1957, 36.
53 “Moscow Story's Facts Confirmed: Olga Admits She Blasted US Officials,” Boston Globe, 8 Sept. 1957, 56.
54 “Discus Title Goes to Mrs. Connolly: She Captures US Honors after Voicing Criticism of A.A. U. Meet Conditions,” New York Times, 10 July 1960, S5; and “American Woman Sets Sprint Mark: Wilma Rudolph Races 200 Meters in 0:22.9 in Meet Marked by Dissension,” New York Times, 11 July 1960, 37.
55 Allison Danzig, “Connolly, Davis in Big Contingent: Hammer Thrower Will Join Team in Switzerland for Meet on Week-End,” New York Times, 17 Aug. 1960, 25.
56 Sarah Duguid, “Olga Fikotová, Czechoslovakia,” FT Magazine Online, 9 June 2012, available at www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a194b7a2-adfc-11e1-bb8e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1xSehPdIH.
57 “Olympics Changed Lives of Hal, Olga Connolly,” Boston Globe, 19 July 1964, 66.
58 Jeane Hoffman, “Earlene's Missile Shots Wowed Russ Fans,” Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 1958, A5.
59 “Mrs. Connolly Scores US Amateur Approach,” New York Times, 13 Dec. 1964, S6.
60 Ibid.
61 Arthur Siegel, “Siegel's Pineapple Crashes Iron Curtain,” Boston Globe, 13 Jan. 1963, A6.
62 “Olga Connolly May Be First 2-Country Olympic Winner,” Daily Boston Globe, 6 Feb. 1960, 24; and Arthur Siegel, “Light Footgear Helps Big Olympic Hammer and Shot Athletes: Boston Man Makes Dancing Shoes for Whales,” Boston Globe, 3 July 1960, 38.
63 Like jazz musicians whom the US government deployed, women tracksters operated according to their own priorities, complicating the domestic and international images of American femininity in the 1950s and 1960s. See Von Eschen, Satchmo Blows up the World, 24.
64 Nicholas Rodis, “The State Department's Athletes Give a New Look to Foreign Policy,” Amateur Athlete, Aug. 1964, 18–19, AAU.
