History Commons^™

Robert E. Burel

African American Funeral Programs, Willow Hill Heritage & Renaissance Center, Bulloch County, Georgia

No abstract provided.

Life Is Beautiful, Or Not: The Myth Of The Good Italian, Shira Klein

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"Life is Beautiful illustrates a popular misconception about Italy's role in the Holocaust. The film features the good Italian and the warped view that Italy treated Jews kindly in the late 1930s and during World War II. Historians have proven this claim to be grossly exaggerated, arguing that Italians persecuted Jews vigorously. Yet popular representations of the past-films, novels, museum exhibits, and websites-continue to give credence to the notion that Italians were overwhelmingly good to Jews. Although France and Germany cultivated similar self-acquitting myths in the decades immediately after the war, they eventually moved on to accept the more …

Recovering Thirty-Five Years Of A Factory Worker's Life, Kristie Zachar

Student Projects from the Archives

The Westinghouse Electric Corporation's plant in Sharon, Pennsylvania operated from the 1920s till the 1980s and saw a number of significant events during that period. This article uses a belt buckle that was given to one company employee as a 35-year service award, and it explores the historical significance of the object by focusing on the major events its owner was involved in during those 35 years. It looks closer into the life of one Westinghouse employee while also exploring significant events that influenced the company itself as well as the small town of Sharon, Pennsylvania.

The Good War?: Reinterpreting The Second World War In Contemporary Musical Theatre, Leana Sottile

SURF Posters and Papers

For years, American musicals have contributed to the mythologization of the Second World War and upheld ‘Greatest Generation’ nostalgia in mainstream war memory. For example, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific is effectively silent on the brutality and dehumanization of the Pacific Theater and exoticizes the experience of service members. In the past five years, the New York theatre scene has seen three shows that portray the Second World War more accurately and less romantically: Allegiance, Bandstand, and Alice by Heart. While none of these shows ran for longer than a few months in New York, in that short …

Pride Of Missouri: The Adventures Of Missouri Farm Boys In 1940s World Conflict, Haley K. Heil

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In collaboration with the Museum of Missouri Military History, an exhibition for the 203^rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) housed in the National Guard Headquarters exhibit case will be on display March 2020 through April 2020 in Jefferson City, Missouri. The exhibit will show the Missouri men deployed for military service, newspaper articles the men wrote, and objects the men brought back from the time of service. The paper is a historical narrative essay about the mobilization of the 203^rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) during World War II, and from the research, a physical exhibit and an online exhibit …

A Red River City During War: Shreveport, Louisiana's Experiences During World War Ii, Katelyn N. Woodel

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This project provides research that details Shreveport, Louisiana’s experience during World War II. A physical exhibit at the Spring Street Museum and a digital exhibit display Shreveport’s World War II history, based on research conducted for this thesis. Based on a combination of archival collections, and Shreveport Times articles, the project tracks Shreveport communities and the contributions to war efforts from the broader community and local industry. Shreveport’s involvement in World War II began with the Louisiana Maneuvers in 1941. Support for the war continued with heavy metals manufacturing such as the production of shells at the J.B. Beaird Company …

Index To Thelma Mcpike Klauss Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Thelma (McPike) Klauss, Linfield College class of 1949.

Index To Donald Rea Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Donald Rea, Linfield College class of 1949.

Index To Gertrude Hall Jette Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Gertrude (Hall) Jette, Linfield College class of 1984.

From Mourning To Monuments: How American Society Memorialized The Dead After 1945, Eugenia M. Wolovich

Theses and Dissertations

The following four memorials — the World War II Memorial in The Fens in Boston, the Brooklyn War Memorial in Cadman Plaza Park, the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial in the 30th Street Station, and the East Coast War Memorial in Battery Park — suggest that mid-twentieth century commemorative architecture possessed defining characteristics that differentiated them from monuments of the previous era and from each other. These unique qualities make it difficult to define this architectural period in a unified way because multiple forms of memorials arose in the wake of World War II.

Index To Margery Jordan Pease Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Margery (Jordan) Pease, Linfield College class of 1947.

Index To Virginia Haynes Yungen Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Virginia (Haynes) Yungen, Linfield College class of 1947.

Index To Dorothy Buckingham Adkins Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Dorothy (Buckingham) Adkins, Linfield College class of 1947.

Index To Mitsue Endow Salador Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Mitsue (Endow) Salador, Linfield College class of 1945.

Index To Peggy Parent Lutz Interview, Kara Skokan

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Margaret "Peggy" (Parent) Lutz, Linfield College class of 1943.

Index To Hulda Beckley Fitzsimons Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Hulda (Beckley) Fitzsimons, Linfield College class of 1944.

Index To Roberta Schmalz Campbell Interview, Ruby Guyot

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Roberta (Schmalz) Campbell, Linfield College class of 1949.

Index To Tom Kilpatrick Interview, Melvin Van Hurck

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Tom Kilpatrick, Linfield College class of 1948.

Index To Jack Shannahan Interview, Elisia Harder

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Erwin "Jack" Shannahan, Linfield College class of 1945.

Selling Childhood: How The Middle Class Used Children In The Anti-Tuberculosis Movement (1930s-1940s), Hannah Fisher

Senior Theses

During the anti-tuberculosis movement of the 1930s and 1940s, children were chosen as focal points, with their roles shaped by society’s changing view of childhood, the emergence of the middle class, and the socioeconomic and political climate. Children were used by middle-class reformers as conduits through which to disseminate information and enact controls on the working class. Health education in schools had two main goals: (1) for educated children to become educated adults, and (2) for educated children to transform the behaviors of adults around them. Although researchers have studied middle-class interventions into children’s health, few have analyzed the role …

Ms-238: Prisoner Of War Letters From World Wars I And Ii, Kelly A. Murphy

All Finding Aids

This collection consists of various correspondence between POWs and their families, including 86 letters, 174 postcards, and about eight package slips during both world wars. Most of this correspondence was authored by the prisoners and sent to their families from camps in Europe, although it contains some correspondence from camps in Asia and Africa. The collection also contains correspondence from prisoners in concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, and from interned civilians in France and Germany. Because these letters were the main way to contact family members, most of the POW correspondence contain thoughts of homesickness and loneliness along with updates …

Index To Bruce Stewart Interview, Elisia Harder

Linfield University Public History Project: World War II as Experience and Memory

This index provides a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during an oral history interview with Bruce Stewart, Linfield College class of 1949.

The Winter War: Its Causes And Effects, Ethan D. Beck

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

The Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940, also known as the Winter War, forms a curious portion of World War II history that bears further study. Occurring during the “Phony War”—the period of calm following Hitler’s invasion of Poland—the Winter War offers a glimpse into the attitudes of the major powers as the growing necessity of the coming war becomes increasingly clear during 1939 and 1940. Specifically, the Winter War provides insight into Soviet imperialism and its concerns over German aggression, and forms a crucial portion of the German decision to invade Russia in the summer of 1941. Without consideration of the …

Manipulated Museum History And Silenced Memories Of Aggression: Historical Revisionism And Japanese Government Censorship Of Peace Museums, Benjamin P. Birdwhistell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Japanese government has a vested interest in either avoiding discussion of its war-torn past or arguing for a revisionist take. The need to play up Japanese victimization over Japanese aggression during World War II has led to many museums having their exhibits censored or revised to fit this narrative goal. During the 1990’s, Japan’s national discourse was more open to discussions of war crimes and the damage caused by their aggression. This in turn led to the creation of many “peace museums” that are intended to discuss and confront this history as frankly as possible. At the beginning of …

Arnold Whitridge: Scholar And Veteran Of Two Armies And Two Wars, Keith J. Muchowski

Publications and Research

This is an invited blog post written for Roads to the Great War, a site dedicated to the study of the First World War edited by historian Mike Hanlon. The article discusses the life and career of Arnold Whitridge, a soldier, scholar and grandson of British poet Matthew Arnold.

This is the url:

http://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2017/01/arnold-whitridge-scholar-and-veteran-of.html

British Appeasement 1936-1939: The Debate Between Parliament And The Public, Kylie D. Johnson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

While it is now clear that appeasement of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler did not prevent another war, there is a historical debate on whether British appeasement policies were shameful, a set of well-intentioned blunders, an attempt at keeping peace internationally, or a strategy to keep domestic resources focused on Britain. Within the debate between historians, lies a debate between the British public and Parliament, and even within Parliament itself. An important factor in the British decision to implement appeasement policy in the 1930s often underemphasized in the literature is the governmental prioritizing of domestic issues and national security over …

Club 67 Was A Popular Place In Arkadelphia During Wwii, Wendy Bradley Richter

Articles

December 7 marked the 75th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States' entrance into World War II. Several years ago, the Clark County Historical Association published "We Were There: Clark Countians in World War II," to "honor those who served, both on the home front and in uniform." Indeed the book commemorates the efforts and sacrifices of local citizens, highlighting the fact that during the war men and women from Clark County participated in all types of activities in places all around the world. Many veterans contributed to the book's preparation, and numerous people were interviewed. …

Canadian Servicewomen And The Second World War, Kimberly Gomez, Kayla Troy, Lina Vargas Jaramillo, Fozia Yasmeen

Canadian Military History Research Posters

Public history poster on Canada’s military past about the Canadian servicewomen in World War II by students Kimberly Gomez, Kayla Troy, Lina Vargas Jaramillo, and Fozia Yasmeen

On The Fields Of Glory: A Student’S Reflections On Gettysburg, The Western Front, And Normandy, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

I’m very fortunate to have had no shortage of opportunities to get out into the field and put my classroom learning into practice. I am especially lucky to have twice had the opportunity to travel to Europe. Two years ago, I went with my first-year seminar to explore the Western Front of World War I in France and Belgium. This year, I travelled with The Eisenhower Institute to tour the towns and beaches of Normandy where the Allies launched their invasion of Hitler’s Europe during World War II. Having experienced these notable sites of military history, and having taken a …

Voices From D-Day, June 6, 1944, Musselman Library

Other Exhibits & Events

Seventy years on from D-Day, we still marvel at the stoic heroism of the men who contributed to the success of what remains the greatest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. The Normandy campaign would, in one way or another, prove a pivotal moment in the ongoing world war. A disaster in the campaign to liberate France would set back Allied hopes for crushing Nazism in Western Europe. It would also fray the alliance with the Soviet Union that was essential to defeating Hitler’s forces. By contrast, success would mark not just the end of the beginning of the …