Esther Brunauer

Esther Caukin Brunauer (July 7, 1901 – June 26, 1959) was a longtime employee of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and then a U.S. government civil servant, who with her husband was targeted by Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign against U.S. State Department officials whose loyalty to the U.S. he questioned.

Esther Delia Caukin was born on July 7, 1901, near Jackson, California, to parents born in California. Her father, an electrician, had left-wing political views. Her mother worked as a clerk, supported women's suffrage, and campaigned for Woodrow Wilson in 1914. The family moved frequently during Esther's childhood. She graduated from Girls' High School in San Francisco in 1920 and then attended Mills College, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1924. She earned a doctorate from Stanford University in 1927, financing her education in part with a fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). She moved to Washington, D.C., to work on the AAUW staff and headed its international affairs program until 1944.

Esther Caukin married Stephen Brunauer (1903-1986) on July 8, 1931. He was an immigrant to the U.S. from Hungary, trained as a chemist, who had belonged to the Young Workers' League, a Communist front, until 1927. In the 1930s he worked as a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During World War II he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and led its high explosives research group. He gained the rank of commander before changing his status to that of a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy in 1944. The Atomic Energy Commission denied him a security clearance because of his earlier membership in the Young Workers' League, but he continued to work as a scientist for the U.S. Navy.

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