David Barnhill and Stephen Rueff- Spies and Space David Barnhill and Stephen Rueff are creators of the Spies and Space Exhibit, which will be shown at the Museum this summer. Their discussion will highlight the years after WWII from 1946 to 1991, when the United States and the Russian Soviet Union we dubbed “superpowers”. As […]
Elyse Graham - Book and Dagger - How Scholars and Librarians became the unlikely Spies of WWII Elyse Graham will discuss the untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of […]
David S. Foglesong - From Allies to Enemies: Truman, Stalin and the Start of the Cold War In April 1945, not long after Harry Truman succeeded Franklin Roosevelt as President, US, British, and Soviet troops met at the Elbe River and celebrated their impending victory over Nazi Germany. Two years later, just a month after […]
Ron Janowski – The Cold War: Decades of Division and Diplomacy The Cold War, a broadbrush, but comprehensive presentation covering the major events of the Cold War from 1947-1989. Highlighting the loan timespan and complex interplay between the United State and the Soviet Union spanning 4 decades. Lieutenant Colonel (US Army Retired) Ron Janowski is […]
Dr. Rowland Brucken - The Bretton Woods Conference The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to regulate what would be the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War […]
Edna W. Cummings - 6888th, Central Postal Directory Battalion The U.S. Army’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only all-minority, all-female Women’s Army Corps (WAC) unit to serve overseas during World War II. The primary mission of the “Six Triple Eight,” as the unit was popularly known, was to sort the two- to three-year […]
Robert O'Connor - Unsung Heroes Who Sang: Lifting the Curtain on the WWII Morale Corps In late 1944 the American military was advancing through Western Europe so fast that entertainment units could not keep up with them. Major Joshua Logan then an officer in Special Services noted that the advancing G.I.s were "never in one place long enough to […]
Dr. Edward Gordon - Fireball in the Night: The Fire-Bombing of Japan and the Atomic Bomb Controversy On April 18, 1942, Lieutenant-Colonel James H. Doolittle led a clandestine bombing raid of sixteen B-24 Mitchell bombers that flew from U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet to Tokyo, a distance of more than 650 miles. The damage inflicted was […]
Helen Fry - Women in Intelligence From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And, […]
Shannon McKenna Schmidt - The First Lady of World War II In August 1943, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt set out in secret for the Pacific on an arduous journey that was part goodwill tour, part fact-finding foray, and part informal diplomatic mission. She returned five weeks and 25,000 miles later, having trekked to Hawaii, New […]
Arthur Krulewitz, MD CM - The Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban missile crisis was a major confrontation in 1962 that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in Cuba. During a thirteen day period in October 1962 the world teetered on the verge […]
Dr. Fred Johnson, III - The Heroism of Ben Salomon The Medal of Honor is the Nations highest military award for valor and is presented by the president in Congress’ name. By law, only U.S. Service members who distinguish themselves “ through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the […]
