Lucille Cardin Crain papers

The daughter of French-speaking parents, Lucille Cardin Crain was born in 1901 on Pike's River, Quebec, Canada. In 1902, she moved to the United States where she became fluent in both English and French. Crain attended St. Joseph's Academy, a French convent school in Crookston, Minnesota. between 1919 and 1920, she was a school teacher in rural Minnesota. After resigning her teaching position for health reasons, she moved to Chicago where, in 1922, and for some years thereafter, she was employed by the American Library Association. In 1929, Crain moved to New York city, where she held secretarial positions for several firms including the J. Walter Thompson Company and I.T.T. In 1938, she married Kenneth C. Crain, who did editorial work for Advertising Age and had numerous business connections in New York.

Mrs. Crain co-authored with Anne Burrow Hamilton, "Packaged Thinking for Women," which was published in American Affairs (October 1948). In "Packaged Thinking for Women," Crain and Hamilton examined the means by which "leftist" and "collectivist" ideas and philosophies are disseminated among women's groups and organizations, in particular, the League of Women Voters. This article was well-regarded by many conservatives and libertarians, and was reprinted in pamphlet-form by the League of Men Voters in September 1971. During the 1940s and 1950s, Crain wrote many other articles and editorials and gave several speeches before various political and civic groups.

Between 1949 and 1953, Crain edited The Educational Reviewer, a quarterly publication which reviewed high school and college textbooks, analyzing their contents for a "leftist" or "collectivist" bias. The Committee on Education of the Conference of American Small business Organizations, headquartered in Chicago, sponsored The Educational Reviewer, and most of its operating expenses were funded by William F. Buckley, Sr. In 1951 and 1952, three articles appeared in McCall's which were "extremely" critical of Crain and The Educational Reviewer. Consequently, they sued Arthur D. Morse, the author of one of the "damaging" articles, and McCall Corporation for libel. The first trial, in June 1955, resulted in a mistrial after five court days. In the second trial, which began November 15, 1955 and ended November 23, 1955, the jury returned a verdict favorable to the defendants by a 10-2 vote. After the second trial, the counsel for Crain and The Educational Reviewer made a motion to set aside the verdict which was denied from the bench. A second motion to set aside the jury's verdict and for a new trial, because of alleged misconduct of a juror, also was denied. The Educational Reviewer appeared in October 1953 for the last time due to insufficient funds to meet operational expenses.

Lucille Cardin Crain, however, remained active in a number of political and civic organizations. She served on the Boards of Directors of the Conference of American Small Business Organizations, the congress of Freedom, Inc., and the American Progress Foundation. She served as executive secretary for "Operation Textbook," a Textbook Evaluation Project sponsored by America's Future, and for the Committee for the Protection of American Investors in Venezuela. She was also an active member of the Vigilant Women for the Bricker Amendment.

Lucille Cardin Crain died in early 1983.