“An Unusual and Peculiar Relationship”: Lesbianism and the American Cold War National Security State

I n 1954 s e c u r I t y o f f I c I a l s f o r the US Civil Service Commission questioned Ruth Windham, a former employee of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), who had recently resigned due to an undisclosed illness. According to Paul Hussey, the FHA deputy personnel security officer, Windham’s mother had visited his office to explain that her daughter’s departure had been due to Ruth’s “homosexual activity,” which had resulted in the dissolution of her marriage. When questioned by investigators, Windham described in detail her conflicts with her husband and her numerous sexual relationships with women during the preceding ten years. She also claimed that she had gained employment in the FHA after she had met Peggy Davis, a member of the FHA Personnel Division, who, according to Windham, was also a lesbian. Windham explained that Davis had hired other women with similar sexual inclinations to work for the FHA, including Doris Wilson, with whom Windham was having a sexual relationship. Worried that the FHA was awash with lesbians, Hussey ordered an investigation into the lengthy list of employees who Windham claimed were homosexual. He was following the directives issued in 1953 by President Dwight Eisenhower under Executive Order 10,450. Continuing the practice of banning individuals with questionable political beliefs and associations from employment with the federal government, Eisenhower expanded the grounds for dismissal to include security risks and other indications that the person did not possess the proper character to work for the government. The list of character traits deemed inappropriate included criminal or immoral behavior, mental illness, drug or alcohol addiction, and sexual perversion.