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Title: Joan Kennedy Taylor papers
Date (inclusive): 1955-2004
Collection Number: 2007C7
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
28 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize boxes
(11.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The collection documents the professional career of Joan Kennedy Taylor and includes her writings, and activities within the
field of libertarian feminism. The collection contains numerous issues of newsletters, bulletins and magazines. It also includes
various articles, monographs, and literary reviews done by Kennedy Taylor as well as the writings of other individuals on
topics such as Ayn Rand, libertariansim, objectivism, pornography, and psychology. Additionally housed within the collection
are audio tapes, transcripts of radio broadcasts, conference materials, research materials, and courses taught by Joan Kennedy
Taylor including her various speaking engagements.
Creator:
Taylor, Joan Kennedy
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2007.
[Identification of item], Joan Kennedy Taylor papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Joan Kennedy Taylor was born in Manhattan on December 21st, 1926 to Joseph Deems Taylor and Mary Kennedy. Her father was a
well-known composer and radio personality and her mother was an actress and a poet. After her parents divorced, Joan attended
a number of schools in various parts of the world. She received her higher education at Barnard College where she met her
husband, Donald Cook, who was a psychology student at neighboring Columbia University. The couple was engaged in 1947 and
married a year after. In January of 1950 they welcomed their only son, Michael Cook. The marriage did not last and in 1953,
Cook and Kennedy Taylor were divorced.
Shortly after the marriage ended she started working at Alfred A. Knopf in the publicity department and became closely entangled
with the literary world. It was there that Kennedy Taylor was first introduced to Ayn Rand through the advance copy of Atlas
Shrugged. Her fascination with the novel led her to write a fan letter to Rand sparking a life-long friendship.
In 1958 Joan Kennedy Taylor enrolled as one of the first students of the Nathaniel Branden Institute where she took a course
on 'Basic Principles of Objectivism.' It is there that her friendship with David Dawson, a writer, turned into a romance.
The two married later that year and remained married for over twenty years until Dawson's death in 1979. By the mid 1960's,
amidst the 1964 presidential campaign, Kennedy Taylor became more interested in politics. It was also around this time that
she helped found the Young Republicans Club in New York and served as the editor of the group's newsletter. She was also responsible
for transforming the newsletter into a libertarian magazine, Persuasion. Additionally, she worked alongside Roy A. Child,
Jr., as an associate editor of
The Libertarian Review. In the 1980s, Kennedy Taylor continued her writing career as the publication director at the Manhattan Institute where she
was responsible for bringing to light the work of Charles Murray, a notable political scientist. While working at the institute
she served as an editor of the
Freeman magazine.
Kennedy Taylor's list of accomplishments is extensive especially when it comes to her involvement in libertarian feminism
and writing for notable publications such as:
The Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Reason, Inquiry, Success, American Enterprise, Stanford Law & Policy Review, and
the Journal of Information Ethics
. She wrote numerous monographs and articles and was a commentator for a nationally syndicated radio show,
Byline. In 1992 Joan Kennedy Taylor wrote her first book entitled,
Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered, and followed it with her 1999 publication,
What to Do When you Don't Want to Call the Cops: A Non-Adversarial Approach to Sexual Harassment. Joan Kennedy Taylor died on October 29th, 2005.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents the professional career of Joan Kennedy Taylor and includes her writings, and activities within the
field of libertarian feminism. The collection contains numerous issues of newsletters, bulletins and magazines. It also includes
various articles, monographs, and literary reviews done by Kennedy Taylor as well as the writings of other individuals on
topics such as Ayn Rand, libertariansim, objectivism, pornography, and psychology. Additionally housed within the collection
are audio tapes, transcripts of radio broadcasts, conference materials, research materials, and courses taught by Joan Kennedy
Taylor including her various speaking engagements.
Roy A. Childs papers
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
Journalists
Libertarianism -- United States
Feminism -- United States