In an oral history interview, Dorothy Dodd Eppstein talks about her service in the Women Air Force Service Pilots group (WASP) from 1943 to 1944. Epstein discusses her education, the events which led her to enlist in the U.S. Army, her training on several types of aircraft, the resistance to women pilots among ground crews, social life on bases, and the poor quality of aircraft. She says that after the war, she and her husband built a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that she was active in the anti-Vietnam War and women's movements and enjoyed a twenty year carer with the Veterans Administration. Eppstein is interviewed by Kathryn Cavanaugh.
The Blood Brothers Machine Company is featured on this installment of "Western Michigan at work" hosted by Dr. Willis Dunbar. Dunbar describes the company's transformation from a bicycle manufacturer to an automobile manufacturer, and its transition to making automobile parts after automobile manufacturing proved to be too costly. Dewey Kemp, assistant purchasing manager, and C.E. Wood, sales manager, discuss their products and manufacturing process, as well as the company's contribution to the war effort during World War II.
Dr. Steven Alan Carr delivers a lecture entitled, "Hollywood, the Holocaust, and the Crisis Over Propaganda," as part of the fifth annual Esther and George Kessler Lecture on Jewish Film and Media. Using rare multimedia excerpts of films, speeches, industry memos and copies of original Hollywood publicity, Carr demonstrates how the concept of propaganda became a lightning rod for debates over the so-called Jewish control of the media, especially in Hollywood. He also says that this fear of Jewish control often lead to the depiction of World War II as essentially a Jewish war in which America had no business intervening. Carr is introduced by Dr. Kenneth Waltzer, Director of the Michigan State University Jewish Studies Program. Carr answers questions from the audience. Part of the Michigan State University Libraries' Colloquia Series. Held at the MSU Main Library.
Allen Electric Company is featured in this installment of "Western Michigan at work" hosted by Dr. Willis Dunbar. Dunbar describes the genesis of the company, when Gerald H. Allen had the idea to create a cheaper test machine for car generators aimed specifically at Ford. B.E. Bertholet, the sales promotion manager at Allen Electric, discusses the company's new automatic battery charger and explains the role that the Allen Electric education program played in the war effort.
Roosevelt explains the purpose of the conference, describing devastation of Russia, plans for a peace organization in San Francisco to start April 25, 1945, touching on the free elections for the conquered countries; objectives for Poland; France's role in the future; delays caused by "primadonnas" meeting with King Farouk, King Ibn Saud and Emperor Haile Selassie; the current Japanese situation; hopes for United Nations organization.
Former U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS) radio technician Eleanor Jean Bechtel discusses her enlistment, the social environment in wartime America, her basic training in West Palm Beach, FL, and receiving electronics and radio instruction at the Ben Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia. She also talks about the base in Florida where she trained, seeing John Wayne and Robert Montgomery there filming a movie, and moving to post-war Japan to work as a civilian secretary.
President Harry Truman delivers a radio address to the American people on the Potsdam conference, his observations of the devastation in Europe, and dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Wanda Sherwood Kearns discusses her service as an air traffic controller in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) of the U.S. Naval Reserves during World War II. Kearns talks about her basic training in Atlanta, Georgia, learning Morse code and how to "fly blind" in a flight simulator and shares military aviation anecdotes. She says that control tower operators were considered elite and were allowed privileges such as time off between shifts, weekend passes, and free flights to any military base. She also recalls that a woman's voice was thought to be more clearly intelligible over the radio than a man's and that women controllers were allowed to wear slacks to ensure decorum when they climbed ladders. Kearns is interviewed by Kathryn Cavanaugh.
Annis Dimmitt describes her service in the Women's Army Corps. Dimmitt says that she enlisted at age 21 in 1943, inspired by her brother's service at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Dimmitt also talks about her work at a 24-hour teletype station, being ordered to ride out a hurricane at her post because teletype operation was deemed a critical duty, meeting her future husband on base, getting married after the war, and working for VA hospitals in Buffalo, NY, Austin, TX, Fort Wayne and Marion, IN, and Bath, NY before retiring in 1982.
Dr. Izabela Kalinowska, professor of European Languages at SUNY-Stony Brook, delivers a talk entitled, "The Vicissitudes of Remembrance: From Early Polish Cinema's Depiction of World War II to Roman Polanski's The Pianist." Kalinowska puts Polanski's film "The Pianist," within the context of Polish-made films about World War II and also compares it to Polanski's other films. She describes the death and devastation the war caused in Poland, the resurrection of a Polish film industry under Soviet control, and how the war is recalled and portrayed. Kalinowska uses excerpts of "The Pianist" and other films to demonstrate her point. She answers questions from the audience. Kalinowska is introduced by Michigan State University Professor Keely Stauter-Halsted, acting director of the MSU Jewish Studies Program. Kalinowska speaks at the annual Esther and George Kessler Lecture on Jewish Film and Media. Part of the MSU Libraries' Colloquia Series. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program. Held at the MSU Main Library.
Alice Joyce Hamblin Haber recalls her service in the U.S. Marine Corps, beginning in 1943 as part of the first cadre of women recruits. Haber talks about basic training at Camp Lejeune, and her problems with military life including dealing with an adversarial commanding officer, an entire platoon sick from dysentery, racial discrimination, and being denied promotion. Haber is interviewed by Kathryn Cavanaugh.
President Harry S. Truman addresses Congress for the first time as President after President Franklin D. Roosevelts death on April 12. Richard Harkness analyzes the speech, which promises unconditional surrender, permanent world peace, and a continuity of the progressive liberalism of President Roosevelt.