President Obama participates in an event at the Great Synagogue in Stockholm honoring Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat and honorary U.S. citizen who worked courageously to save Jewish lives while serving as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest during World War II. Obama says Wallenberg serves as an example to us all not simply to bear witness, but to act.
Barbara Jean Brown recalls her service in the United States Naval Women's Reserve (WAVES) program during World War Two. Brown describes enlisting in Lansing, Michigan in September 1943, attending boot camp in Bronx, New York City, receiving training in dictation and shorthand in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and being stationed in Washington, D.C. where she stayed in a barracks across from Arlington Cemetery. She also talks about drilling on the National Mall next to the Washington Monument, seeing President Roosevelt's limo, the Capital under blackout restrictions, the return of street lights after V-J Day, and President Roosevelt's funeral procession. Brown is interviewed by Sarah McLennan.
David Murley reminisces about his former professor C. Patrick "Lash" Larrowe, Michigan State University professor of economics. Murley talks about working as Larrowe's teaching assistant, their political differences, Larrowe's eccentricities, and Larrowe's involvement in controversies surrounding the Vietnam war, government surveillance, race relations, and MSU's ROTC program. Murley also talks about Larrowe's war experiences on Okinawa during WWII, his personal life, his association with Students for a Democratic Society, and Larrowe's lawsuit against MSU for forcing him into retirement. Murley is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
In this installment of "Cross examination," Dr. Willis Dunbar hosts a discussion of displaced persons with a panel featuring John Reid of the Family Service Center, Rev. Yannis Laupmanitz, attorney Lloyd Faling, and attorney Frank Schmiege. The panel talks about the reasons for the large number of displaced persons in the post war era, the demographic make up of the displaced persons camps, the Displaced Person Act of 1948, proposed amendments to the Act and the effect it has has had on Michigan and the Kalamazoo area.
Jack Stieber, former director of Michigan State University's School of Labor and Industrial Relations, reminisces about his childhood and youth, early employment, how he became interested in labor issues, and the history of the MSU labor school. He discusses his military service in World War Two, his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota and Harvard, coming to MSU, and later becoming director of the new School of Labor and Industrial Relations. Stieber also comments on the operations and structure of the labor school, its funding, the pros and cons of hiring faculty without doctorates, faculty personalities, and his own areas of research. Ends abruptly. Stieber is interviewed by MSU professor of labor and industrial relations, John Revitte.
The same day France and England declare war on Germany, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation with a fireside chat emphasizing the neutrality of the United States. He asks the press to discern between fact and rumor before reporting it as news and asks citizens to critically examine everything that is reported.
In a "Dunbar commentary," Dr. Willis Dunbar discusses the skepticism and pessimism which he has seen follow in the wake of World War II. Dunbar argues that many of the problems which seem current and pressing have existed for decades, but that a rise in literacy and education have increased public awareness of them. Dunbar says that the solution for going forward is, through regulation and control, to place the common good before personal gain.
President Roosevelt speaks about an ultimatum given by the Japanese demanding that the U.S. pull out of Wake Island, Midway Island and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The conversation is a segment from recordings made secretly in the Oval Office by FDR.
Marian Cyberski talks about her service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corp during World War Two and says that she was inspired to enlist after seeing the movie "The shores of Tripoli." Cyberski talks about being stationed at field hospitals in Rockhampton, Indooroopilly, and Brisbane, Australia, treating mostly malaria and battle fatigue patients, and originally shipping out to Australia on the luxury liner SS Lurline. She also talks about her daily life in Australia, vacationing in Sydney, leaving Australia on a ship which contained many Australian war brides and crying babies, arriving home in September 1945, and getting married in November to a man whom she had met as a patient.
Genevieve Luckey discusses serving in the U.S. Marines during World War II. Luckey talks about what motivated her to join, basic training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, her job as a clerk, her living quarters, life on base, her wages, and the dress code. She also talks about meeting her husband, leaving the Marine Corps, V-E Day and V-J Day, and the role of women in the military. Luckey is interviewed by Kathryn Cavanaugh.
President Obama pays tribute to U.S. and Allied forces on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of the European continent at Normandy during World War II. Obama recounts the events of D-Day telling stories of heroism and tenacity displayed by the troops. He reflects on the leaders, the challenges faced by the Allies, life on the home front, and the fight for liberty and democracy. Obama mentions several of the D-Day veterans in attendance as well as current active duty soldiers commemorating D-Day. Held at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France.
Wickert talks about his childhood in Chicago, obtaining a Psychology degree from UCLA in 1933 and a graduate degree form the University of Chicago. He shares work experiences and comments on the Hawthorne experiments at Western Electric. Wickert served as a replacement-training officer during World War II and joined the Psychology Department at MSU in 1947. He joined the Management School in 1960 developing organizational psychology programs around the world in cooperation with the State Department, Peace Corp and MSU international outreach efforts.
Robert Brenner, former regional director for the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW) Region 7 in west Michigan, talks about his family and early life in Battle Creek, MI, playing professional baseball, enlisting in the Army Air Corps in August 1942 and serving in the Southwest Pacific. He also talks about his union organizing efforts, working his way up in leadership positions, and serving as a labor representative on several state boards and commissions including, the State Board of Canvassers and the Occupational Health and Safety Commission. Ends abruptly. Brenner is interviewed by Labor and Industrial Relations professor John Revitte.
Carolyn Stieber, professor emerita of political science and ombudsman emerita at Michigan State University, talks about her life, education and career in political science and becoming the first ombudsman at a major university. Stieber recalls finishing her degree at the University of Chicago, finding a a job with the Navy during World War Two, and marrying her husband Jack Stieber after the war. She also discusses following her husband to MSU in 1957 when he became a professor in MSU's new School of Labor and Industrial Relations and later being asked to teach a political science class which led to her own thirty-seven year career at the university. Stieber recalls the highs and lows of her career including, facing sexism in her department, teaching future Michigan Governor John Engler as an undergraduate and becoming ombudsman. Stieber is interviewed by retired MSU Professor Pauline Adams for the Michigan State University Faculty Emeriti Association Oral History Project.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation before the first lottery numbers are drawn for the military draft from the "fish bowl." Roosevelt says that those selected will join the proud history and an honorable tradition of the United States Army, which he says exists solely for the defense of our freedom. Roosevelt assert that Americans always have and always will answer the call until war is "banished from the earth." Following Roosevelt's comments, U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. draw the first two numbers and Roosevelt reads the numbers aloud.
Rachel Babcock recalls her service as a radio operator with the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) during World War Two. Babcock talks about the transition to basic training from teaching in a country school in Ingham County, Michigan, serving on a blimp base in Georgia, the culture shock of color-segregated facilities in the south, hitchhiking to the beach on weekends, and how civilians would frequently pay for meals for service members. She also talks about her post-military life, enrolling at Michigan State University, teaching in Lansing, MI, and the role of women in the American military.