The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War

In her analysis of Kathleen Harriman, Sarah Churchill's and Anna Roosevelt’s roles at Yalta, Katz explores women’s lives in 1940s American and British society. As the daughters of upper-class families, all three women enjoyed comfortable lifestyles and excellent educations compared to most women at the time. However, even these three women were not free to pursue any career they wanted, as there were still social and legal barriers to professional advancement for women. Katz explains that World War ll created new social and professional conditions which allowed many women, including Sarah and Kathleen, to gain new employment that they would otherwise have been restricted from because of their gender.

Like over a quarter of a million other women, Sarah Churchill served in the Royal Air Force, which had recently established a new section to accommodate women. While working as an Aerial Intelligence Officer was a far cry from her previous career as an actress, Churchill excelled at her position, sometimes even besting her father with her knowledge. Katz writes, “Sarah and her fellow intelligence analysts worked around the clock scrutinizing pilots’ aerial photographs of German and Italian shipyards, railways, troop movements, and factories,” all of which was “vital information that informed Allied naval invasions, ground assaults, and bombing strategies” (65). The war thus provided Sarah with opportunities to get involved in traditionally male-dominated fields, reflecting the gradual changes in gender dynamics at the time.

Kathleen Harriman’s father Averell was unusual in encouraging her to work and be independent. Kathleen was eager to accompany her father to both London and Moscow, as she hoped to explore her abilities beyond the typical domestic duties expected of women at the time. As Katz explains, “She had moved to London at the beginning of the war to work as a journalist—not, as she insisted multiple times, to be her father’s housekeeper” (11). Kathleen’s reporting allowed her to connect with other women who were contributing to the war effort, such as those “who worked in factories, served as transport pilots, or nursed soldiers just behind the front lines” (12). Later, when she was invited to attend the Yalta Conference, Kathleen functioned as a “protocol officer” (12) for the American delegation, further cementing her role in her father’s work.

Similarly, Anna Roosevelt also defied the limitations of the era’s typical gender roles by becoming a close aide to her father, arranging his social life and work meetings and closely monitoring his health. While her connection with her father gave Anna Roosevelt a chance to participate in her father’s life and government work, she, too, did not have a title or salary—a reflection of some of the gendered limitations that still persisted even in the best of circumstances.

Katz thus demonstrates how, like most women in the 1940s, even these three women faced limitations in their professional options, but that they nevertheless embraced the opportunities for political and professional involvements whenever they arose. The Yalta Conference embodies the way in which such women worked energetically behind the scenes, even if they did not receive full credit for doing so at the time.