Welcome Remarks for "The Girls Next Door: Bringing the Home Front to the Front Lines"
Welcome Remarks for "The Girls Next Door: Bringing the Home Front to the Front Lines"
McGowan Theater,听威尼斯人娱乐场 Building, Washington, DC
February 11, 2019
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Good afternoon. I鈥檓 David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and I鈥檓 pleased to welcome you to the William G. McGowan Theater at the 威尼斯人娱乐场. Whether you are in the room or participating through Facebook or YouTube, we鈥檙e glad you could join us.
Before we begin today鈥檚 talk about The Girls Next Door: Bringing the Home Front to the Front Lines, I鈥檇 like to let you know about two other programs coming up next week here in the McGowan Theater.
On Thursday, February 14, we鈥檙e hosting two programs. At noon, we鈥檒l present the documentary film Chisholm 鈥�72: Unbought and Unbossed. The film chronicles the 1972 Presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination for the Presidency. In honor of the 50th anniversary of her election to the House, we also have a featured document display of her 1969 oath of office. That display is upstairs in the East Rotunda Gallery.
And at 7 p.m. we鈥檒l look at 鈥淢usic in the Life of President Lincoln.鈥� In partnership with the Virginia Chamber Orchestra and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, we will explore President Lincoln鈥檚 musical tastes. Accompanied by video clips of the orchestra, a distinguished panel will discuss music in the Lincoln White House, the many performances Lincoln attended, and the role music played in his life during the Civil War.
Check our website, Archives.gov, or sign up at the table outside the theater to get email updates. You鈥檒l also find information about other 威尼斯人娱乐场 programs and activities.
Another way to get more involved with the 威尼斯人娱乐场 is to become a member of the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Foundation. The Foundation supports the work of the agency, especially its education and outreach programs. Visit its website鈥�补谤肠丑颈惫别蝉蹿辞耻苍诲补迟颈辞苍.辞谤驳鈥�to learn more about the Foundation and join online.
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Upon opening a new book, some people first scan the table of contents. Others may head for the index or plunge straight into chapter one, page one. I like to look first at the acknowledgments. And so often, there鈥檚 a wonderful payoff for that detour.
On so many occasions, the names of 威尼斯人娱乐场 staff appear on those pages. I am very proud of the work our staff do every day to help researchers navigate through the records, and this sort of public recognition shines a light on their dedication to the mission of our institution.
In the acknowledgments section of The Girls Next Door, Kara Vuic remarks that 鈥淔inding one鈥檚 way through military and civilian records of several wars at the 威尼斯人娱乐场 was a daunting task.鈥� But Tab Lewis, Wil Mahoney, Martin Gedra, and Eric Van Slander helped her find her way so she could uncover the information she needed. Even a retired archivist, Richard Boylan, gets a mention for continuing to help even after he left the 威尼斯人娱乐场.
Whether you鈥檙e a published author, a student, or a beginning genealogist鈥攐ur staff are there for you, to help you find your own way through the formidable volume of records in our care. And we are gratified each time a researcher publishes a work that couldn鈥檛 have been told without access to those records because that book, that article, that blog post means the stories once locked in folders and files are now out in the world, touching unknown numbers of readers.
Now let鈥檚 hear from Dr. Vuic about her new book and the stories of the women who volunteered to work in war zones from the First World War to the Vietnam War.
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Kara Dixon Vuic 听is the Lance Corporal Benjamin W. Schmidt Professor of War, Conflict, and Society in Twentieth-Century America at Texas Christian University, where she teaches courses on U.S. wars and American society, gender and war, and memory and war.
听Her first book, Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War, won the Lavinia L. Dock Book Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing, was named a Book of the Year in History and Public Policy by the American Journal of Nursing, and was a finalist for the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award.听
She also edited The Routledge Handbook on Gender, War, and the U.S. Military and is co-editor of the University of Nebraska Press鈥檚 book series 鈥淪tudies in War, Society, and the Military.鈥� She is currently co-editing a collection 鈥淢anaging Sex in the U.S. Military.鈥�
Vuic currently serves on the Advisory Board to Eastern National for the Vietnam Women鈥檚 Memorial.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kara Dixon Vuic. 听
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