Release Date: July 25, 2018
Paperback ISBN: 9781578690077
LCCN:  2018934830

Synopsis

What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the “Red Scare” swept the country? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Rick Winston explores some forgotten history as we see how a small, rural “rock-ribbed Republican” state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time. Far from the klieg lights of Washington D.C., Hollywood, and New York City, the Green Mountain State challenged the national narrative with its own fascinating stories.

Here are nine of the most gripping dramas played out in Vermont during "scoundrel time," including a high-profile academic firing, controversies involving left-leaning summer residents, courageous newspaper editors who spoke out against McCarthy’s tactics, and a conservative senator who helped take down Joseph McCarthy.  Now, as our country again experiences a political atmosphere charged with intolerance, condemnation, and widespread falsehoods, Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era 1946-1960 could not be more timely.

PRAISE 

“In a quiet, civil, and scholarly manner, you remind your readers that it is better to stand in the House of the Lord than sit in the Halls of the Mighty.  I'd like to think your close and long-standing ties to film history encouraged you to be so brave, honest, and outspoken. I know not what others will say of your invaluable, timely contribution to our historical memory, but this liberal outlander is grateful for being reminded of many brave individuals Vermont nourished, as well as how rewarding it is to recall such priceless gems as Margaret Chase Smith's Declaration of Conscience. I hope that your pointed comparisons with the past and the present may remind generations yet unborn that not only must democracy and its virtues never be taken for granted, but also of the obligation each of us has to protect and to encourage those dissidents who stand up against the tide to rail against social injustice and tyrants.”

—Frank Manchel, University of Vermont Professor Emeritus of English and Film Studies

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"The author’s prose is not only clear and elegant but also impressively objective in tone; he relates the stories in great detail and then permits the reader to largely draw his or her own conclusions. The stories themselves are powerful examples of how anxiety can lead to the curtailment of intellectual freedom—a predicament that the author detects in the American political atmosphere of today."

—Kirkus Reviews read the entire review here

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“Gracefully written, full of wonderful, well-chosen details, Red Scare in the Green Mountains paints a vivid picture of a state torn between rock-ribbed conservatism and deep respect for civil liberties—a state that produced its own Red-baiting demagogue but also resisted loyalty oaths and book censorship, and nurtured a young Bernie Sanders in his early activist days. Focusing on the witch hunt era in one state, with just enough national background to put the stories in context, Winston depicts the politics of demagoguery and resistance—a topic that couldn't be more timely for all Americans today.”

—Marjorie Heins, author of Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge

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"Well-written and thoroughly researched, Rick Winston's Red Scare in the Green Mountains shines a penetrating light on and compellingly recreates the little-known story of how valiant Vermonters rallied to withstand the pressures and distortions of the McCarthy Era. Strikingly relevant for our own era." 

—Tony Hiss, author of The View from Alger's Window

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"Rick Winston's book sheds new light on a dark chapter in American history. We are introduced to leaders who deserve their place in history, such as Congressman William Meyer and professor Andrew Nuquist. His book paints a well-researched picture of Vermont in the McCarthy era." 

—Madeleine Kunin, former Vermont governor, author of The New Feminist Agenda

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“A fascinating and highly readable history that shines a light on how Vermont wrestled with one of the most important American political episodes of the 20th century . . . reveals the remarkable intersections of Vermont and national politics as each influenced the other in the spiraling rise and precipitous fall of McCarthyism . . . shatters the illusion of a bucolic state immune to the Red Scare and offers important lessons for our times.” 

—Prof. Woden Teachout, author of Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriots

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“Rick Winston has written a highly informative book that expanded my knowledge of Vermont during the 1950s, and during the McCarthy years. It is well-written and immediately drew me in. I recommend the book to all those interested in the Vermont experience, McCarthyism, or our efforts to protect our rights in challenging times.”

—Gregory Sanford, former Vermont State Archivist

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"Red Scare in the Green Mountains is an important story about how hate and fear preached by national figures impact people living in small towns across America. To understand how a demagogue can lie, scapegoat, and bully his way to power, it is enlightening to revisit how residents and leaders of the small state of Vermont both collaborated with and fiercely resisted the anti-communist witch hunts of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. This book is essential reading for those who want to ensure that we learn from the past, so that we don't repeat it.”

—David Goodman, author and host, The Vermont Conversation

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"Red Scare in the Green Mountains is a fascinating exploration of the way McCarthyism and related right-wing fear-mongering played out in a state that is commonly thought of as uncommonly liberal. The reality, as Winston shows convincingly, is that intolerance, xenophobia, and fear of ‘un-American’ ideas are ugly stains on the history of all America—even the state that produced Bernie Sanders.”

—Mark Potok, expert on the radical right and former Senior Fellow of the Southern Poverty Law Center

IN THE NEWS

Slate.com Podcast, September 21, 2023: One Year: 1955, SEASON 5: EPISODE 4, Siberia USA

Jacobin Magazine, January 13, 2023: When McCarthyism Came to a Small Town in Vermont

Brattleboro Reformer, August 18, 2021: Our Opinion: Red-scare lessons from Vermont’s past

Vermont Public Radio, July 27, 2018: Interview: 'Red Scare In The Green Mountains': Author Chronicles McCarthyism In Vermont

VTDigger, July 22, 2018: ‘Red Scare in the Green Mountains’ explores Vermont’s McCarthyite past

Meet Rick

Rick Winston grew up in Yonkers, New York, the son of New York City school teachers who were affected by the McCarthy Era. He went to Columbia College and University of California, Berkeley, and then moved to Vermont in 1970. Shortly afterward he founded the Lightning Ridge Film Society, which became the Savoy Theater in 1981. Winston was one of the founders of Montpelier’s Green Mountain Film Festival, and was its Programming Director until 2012.

In 1988, Winston, along with Vermont History Society director Michael Sherman and history educator Richard Hathaway, organized the conference, “Vermont in the McCarthy Era,” which had a film component: “Point of Order,” “The Front,” and “Hollywood on Trial.” It was this conference that planted the seeds for this book.

Winston and his wife, Andrea Serota, sold the Savoy Theater in 2009, and Winston now teaches film at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont (Montpelier), and the Montpelier Senior Activity Center, while speaking on film subjects for the Vermont Humanities Council. He also constructs the twice-monthly “double crostic” puzzles for the Times Argus/Rutland Herald. Visit his website to learn more: rickwinston.org or visit his book website here: redscareinthegreenmountains.com.