Mothers, Daughters, and the Politics of History: Religion and The Rhetoric of Freedom in Conservative Women’s Lobbying for Educational Control

From the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) to Moms for Liberty, conservative women’s groups have been powerful architects of historical memory. Belied by particular theological beliefs around race and gender, these groups have waged wars for control over how U.S. history is taught in public schools. The UDC’s Lost Cause narrative framed the Confederacy as ordained by God, just as Moms for Liberty invokes Christian values to challenge discussions of race, gender, and social justice in schools. Both groups leverage rhetoric of “freedom” to exclude perspectives that challenge their ideological commitments. Through lobbying, textbook influence, and public rituals, they have embedded their vision of history into American education. By examining their strategies, this paper reveals how religiously motivated conservative women have wielded extraordinary influence in shaping public education—demonstrating that battles over history are, at their core, battles over the future.