Upcoming events for 2014-2015:
April 23, 2015: "Our Boys in French Blue: Missouri Flyboys in the Lafayette Escadrille" at 6:00 pm in Twomey Auditorium. Dr. Jessica Cannon will present research on two local Missouri men who joined the war effort in 1914 by enlisting with French units. Like many early American volunteers, their service began in the ambulance corps and the Foreign Legion, but quickly took them towards the exciting new weapon of war: the airplane. The talk will discuss the broader context and propaganda significance of aviation developments in World War I by exploring the experiences and post-war lives of these two men.
Previous Events:
February 17, 2014: "Origins of the Great War," a panel discussion with historians Dr. Micah Alpaugh, Dr. Carol Heming, and Dr. Eric Tenbus. The panelists offered comments and background history on the origins of the war from the French, German, and British perspectives.
March 12, 2014: "The Hun is at the Gate: The Power of World War I Propaganda" presented by Dr. Celia Kingsbury, a lecture that discussed the imagery and meanings of propaganda from the Allied nations as well as the widespread use of those images in all aspects of life--from Liberty Loan drives to recruitment, the Red Cross, and Liberty Gardening. Her presentation was based on research from her second book For Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Homefront (2010).
September 9, 2014: "World War I and the Mexican Revolution" presented by Dr. Dan Crews, a lecture that covered the background political and military struggles in Mexico between 1910 and 1920, Pancho Villa and Mexican-American relations throughout the war, and that discussed the latest scholarship on the Zimmerman Telegram.
October 8, 2014: "Memory on Parade: Remembering World War I Through American Fiction, Film, and Song" presented by Dr. Steve Trout from the University of South Alabama, who has published several edited volumes and books, including his recent book On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919-1941 (2010) . This event was sponsored by the Department of English and Philosophy and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
October 22, 2014: "The Great War and the Roots of the Modern Middle East" presented by Dr. Eric Tenbus. Dr. Tenbus's lecture examined the Arab Revolt against the Turks and the relationship between T.E. Lawrence and the Arab brothers Fasial and Abdullah ibn Husayn, the conflicting British promises from the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration, and how all of these factors influenced the map of the Middle East that was drawn in the aftermath of World War I...a map that only increased regional tensions and ultimately contributed to much of the regional strife throughout the Twentieth Century.
November 6, 2014: Dr. Abbie Grubb of San Jacinto College (Houston, Texas), presented "Poppies on Parade: The Preservation and Commemoration of WWI Sites on the Centennial of the Great War." Dr. Grubb's talk focused on public history issues, including ongoing efforts to preserve WWI battlefields and the related problems of ordnance removal, balancing preservation with demographic and economic growth, and the power of place (and preserving sacred spaces) in the modern world.
December 2, 2014: Four undergraduate history students--Jordan Lockwood, Michael Gawlick, Marty Kankey, and Chad Dangler--presented their research from the fall semester on various World War I topics. Details about each student and their topic can be found here: http://gwhls.blogspot.com/2014/11/december-2-student-research-panel.html.
March 4, 2015: Senior Interior Design student Christopher M. Cooper presented a talk titled "How the First World War Changed the Art World" focusing on Dada artwork as a form of protest against the excesses and destruction of World War I.
March 24, 2015: Sarah Craig, Program Assistant in the Office of Sponsored Programs and a graduate student in the History program, presented research from her Master's Thesis "The Hun in the Heartland: Anti-German Sentiment in Missouri During World War I" detailing how the German-heritage towns of Cole Camp, Concordia, and Hermann in Missouri reacted to international and national events during World War I.
April 8, 2015: Dr. Delia Gillis presented "'Close Ranks,' but 'We Return Fighting': African Americans and World War I" examining the debate on African American participation in the war and their experiences abroad as well as on the home front. The lecture will include discussions of soldiers like Henry Johnson, Wayne Minor, Homer Roberts, and Homer "Jap" Eblon, who were key in developing the 18th and Vine jazz district in Kansas City and in leading the early Civil Rights struggle in the region.
