Princeton's Canaday forges new understanding of history of sexuality

In the span of a 50-minute history class this spring, Princeton University professor Margot Canaday wove the complex tale of the Lavender Scare, in which the American government led a vigorous campaign to purge homosexuals from its ranks, resulting in more firings than the anti-communist Red Scare of the same post-World War II period.

The range of materials Canaday cited — testimony from congressional hearings, executive orders, State Department and Navy memos, court cases, statistics, a quote from an anthropology paper, and anecdotes, both personal and from primary sources — showcased her style of teaching. It also revealed the way Canaday builds a case for arguments in her research — with precision, insight and massive amounts of supporting documentation.

Canaday, an assistant professor of history who will be promoted to associate professor July 1, is a political and legal historian who studies gender and sexuality in modern America. The Lavender Scare lecture was part of her undergraduate course "Gender and Sexuality in Modern America." She also regularly teaches a graduate seminar on the history of sexuality in America, and has taught courses on the American state, gender and work, and approaches to American history....