Sarah Palin’s Surprising SoCal Roots

How the Women of Los Angeles and Their Bookstores Helped Build the Postwar Conservative Movement

Today’s conservative Republicans are often depicted as mostly men from the middle of the country. But women were among the earliest conservative activists on the suburban political landscape of Los Angeles after World War II. Their fervor would make the Republicans who gathered in Tampa for the national convention seem tame by comparison. But some of the places where they met–non-profit, volunteer-run bookstores–bear a surprising resemblance to the coffeehouses that gave birth to the new left.

Conservatism took root among the white, educated women who landed in the San Gabriel and …