ABILENE, Kan. – Local author Marilyn Holt will discuss her latest book on November 6 at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. The program begins at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium.
Today we take it for granted that political leaders and presidential administrations will address issues related to children and teenagers. But in the not-so-distant past, politicians had little to say and federal programs less to do with children. Holt’s book, Cold War Kids: Politics and Childhood in Postwar America, 1945-1960, shows how the Cold War changed all that. Against the backdrop of the postwar baby boom and the rise of a distinct teen culture, Cold War Kids unfolds the little-known story of how politics and federal policy expanded their influence in shaping children’s lives and experiences.
Copies of the book are available for purchase in the Presidential Gift Shop and a book signing will follow the program.
Holt is an independent historian who consults on Kansas history. She is the former director of publications at the Kansas Historical Society and has served as a research consultant for the PBS American Experience series. Some of her previous books include The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America and Mamie Doud Eisenhower: The General’s First Lady.
