national history center

National History Center An initiative of the American Historical Association

Volume IV Issue 1 Spring 2009

Marilyn Young and David Fromkin at the Council on Foreign RelationsAs part of the ongoing lecture series with the National History Center and the Council on Foreign Relations, Marilyn B. Young gave a lecture on “The Legacy of the Vietnam War” to a full house at the Council’s New York headquarters on February 3, 2009.

Professor of History at New York University, Young discussed with Francis Fitzgerald, author of Fire in the Lake and contributing writer to The New Yorker, the lessons learned and not learned in Vietnam in connection to the current situation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Professor Young stated that because the second Bush administration never confronted the legacy of the quagmire of the Vietnam war, it also denied it was doing the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan. She pointed out that few people seem to question whether war is even the best model to pursue in stabilizing Afghanistan. Taking questions from the audience, Professor Young offered that she was more optimistic that the new Obama administration would use more diplomacy and better connect to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. (con’t, on page 2)

400 A Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 www.nationalhistorycenter.org

National History Center / 1

Professor Marilyn Young

We recognize and thank our newest Founders and Contributors who have supported the Center since the last newsletter in Fall

2008.

Sustaining Founders, December 2008–May 2009

Peter M. BaldwinRobert L. Harris, Jr.

Richard S. KirkendallLester K. Little

Gerald W. McFarland

Founders, December 2008–May 2009

Chun-Shu ChangJudith Coffin & Willy Forbath

Frederick RudolphRonald SpectorBarbara Tischler

Margaret Vining & Barton C. Hacker

Contributors, December 2008–May 2009

Michael D. BaileyStephen H. Case

Lizbeth Cohen & Herrick ChapmanPaul A. Cohen

Saul EngelbourgRoger J. FechnerHarvey J. Graff

Vivian R. GruderErick D. LangerBarbara Molony

Mark StolerJ. Mills ThorntonThomas Turley

Letitia W. Ufford Robert H. & Alice Ann Whealey

Charles E. WilliamsPhyllis B. Woodworth

http://www.nationalhistorycenter.org


Marilyn Young and David Fromkin at the Council on Foreign Relations (con’t from front page) David Fromkin, professor of international relations, history, and law at Boston University, and Sir Harold M. Evans, editor-at-large of THE WEEK Magazine, were the speakers at the fourth lecture with the Council on Foreign Relations on April 29, 2009. The conversation focused on “An Unsettling Settlement: The 1922 Middle East Peace Agreement Seen Today,” in conjunction with the re-release of Fromkin’s book, A Peace to End All Peace.

Fromkin discussed the consequences of the Middle East with the break-up of the Ottoman Empire and the nation-building at the end of World War I. The British had a great interests in stabilizing the area as a way to secure their own empire in 1917. However, Fromkin noted, after the end of the Great War, two emerging forces would change the way countries organized themselves and looked to imperial nations: Woodrow Wilson’s idealism and Vladimir Lenin’s Marxism.

Taking questions from the audience, Fromkin also discussed the myth of Lawrence of Arabia, the U.S. oil interest in the area, and the possibility of unscrambling the current borders in the Middle East.

Both lectures were recorded by the Council on Foreign Relations. Visit the Center’s web site for links to the transcript of Marilyn Young’s lecture and a video of the conversation with David Fromkin. www.nationalhistorycenter.org

Center’s Founding Director Receives Teaching Award from University’s Students

The National History Center’s Founding Director, Professor Wm. Roger Louis, Kerr Chair of British History and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, is the 2009 recipient of the Professor of the Year Award. The Senate of College Councils, the student governance organization that represents the 50,000 students at the University of Texas in academic affairs, grants the awards to faculty members nominated by UT students who have demonstrated outstanding teaching ability and a continuing dedication to students.

In the nomination letter, Pranav Merchant from the Liberal Arts Council praised Professor Louis because of his ability to engage his students “in the course material by using his wealth of knowledge to find topics that are important and that students will find interesting.”

“Ultimately,” Merchant continued, “Professor Louis cares about students and cares about his field of study, and he excels in teaching and has contributed immensely to British Studies. Because of all of this, he creates a unique academic and social experience that enriches everyone who comes into contact with him.”

In addition to recognizing excellence in teaching, the Senate of College Councils sought to select a professor committed to having a significant impact in the educational experience and possibly even affecting the lives of his or her students. The award was the first of its kind, and it represented an effort by the student Senate to encourage the creation of an official award nominated directly from University of Texas students to recognize faculty.



Print ISSN: 1935-5556Online ISSN:1935-8547

Article contributions by Maddalena Marinari © National History Center

Edited and produced by Miriam E. Hauss

Sir Harold M. Evans holding Professor David Fromkin’s book A Peace to End All Peace

Professor Wm. Roger Louis is the 2009 University of Texas at Austin Professor of the Year



Fifteen Scholars Named for the Fourth Decolonization SeminarThe National History Center congratulates the 15 scholars who have been selected, from among more than 80 outstanding applicants, to participate in the fourth international seminar on decolonization, to be held July 5 through July 31, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The seminar, supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is cosponsored by the American Historical Association and the Library of Congress, and will be held in the Jefferson Building of the library. Wm. Roger Louis, chairman of the National History Center’s board of trustees, Kerr Professor of English History and Culture and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, will direct the seminar. Other seminar leaders include Dane Kennedy (George Washington Univ.), Philippa Levine (Univ. of Southern California), Jason Parker (Texas A & M Univ.), and Pillarisetti Sudhir (AHA).

In the list below, the name of the participant is followed by degree details, current institutional affiliation, if any, and the topic selected by the participant for research and discussion during the seminar:

Yoav Di-Capua, PhD, 2004, Princeton University; assistant professor, University of Texas at Austin: “Arab Thought on the Eve of Dystopia: 1945–1967.”

James Esdaile, PhD candidate, Harvard University (anticipated 2009): “The End of Empire in the Aden Colony: The Role of Social and Commercial Networks in British Decolonization.”

Ellen Feingold, DPhil candidate, Merton College, Oxford University (anticipated 2010): “Colonial Judges in a Fading Empire: The Decolonization of Tanganyika’s High Court.”

Ryan Irwin, PhD candidate, Ohio State University (anticipated 2010). “Relationship between Decolonization and the Cold War between 1958 and 1971, Framed within Global Apartheid (South Africa)”

Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo, PhD, 2008, King’s College, London; fellow, Department of History & Civilization of the European University Institute. “From Africa to Europe: Portugal and the End of European Colonial Empires, 1945–1975”

S. R. Joey Long, PhD, 2006, Wolfson College, Cambridge; assistant professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. “Imperiling Decolonization?: SEATO, Anglo-American Relations, and Singapore”

Julie MacArthur, PhD candidate, Cambridge University (anticipated June 2009): “Mapping Independent Nations: Regional Approaches to Decolonization in East Africa.”

Lien Hang Nguyen, PhD, 2008, Yale University; assistant professor, University of Kentucky: “Between the Storms: An International History of the Vietnam War 1968–1973.”

Paul Ocobock, PhD candidate, Princeton University (anticipated 2009): “Late 1950s and Early Post-colonial Period in Kenya.”

Katayoun Shafiee, PhD candidate, New York University (anticipated May 2009): “British-Controlled Oil Industry in Iran and the Anglo-American-Engineered Coup of 1953.”

Taylor Sherman, PhD, 2006, Downing College, Cambridge University; postdoctoral research fellow, Faculty of History, Royal Holloway University of London: “The Integration of the Princely State of Hyderabad into India, 1944–1953.”

Benjamin Silverstein, PhD candidate, La Trobe University, Australia (anticipated 2010): “Indirect Rule and Informal Empire: Decolonizing Settler Colonialism?”

Rajagopal Vakulabharanam, PhD, 2004, University of Wisconsin-Madison; lecturer, Department of History, University of Hyderabad, India: “Decolonization and the Indian Left: Communism in Andhra Pradesh, 1947–1955.”

Natalya Vince, PhD, 2008, Queen Mary College, University of London; lecturer, French Studies, School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK: “Constructing Post-Colonial Womanhood in Algeria and Tunisia: Comparisons, Contrasts, and Mutual Representations in the Early Years of Independence.”

Felicia Yap, PhD, 2008, University of Cambridge; lecturer, Cambridge University and Nihon University, Tokyo: “Captives of Empire: Colonial Society under Japanese Internment, 1941–1945.”



In Memoriam We salute the memory of those Supporters, Founders and Contributors we have lost recently. We will miss these esteemed historians and send their families our condolences.

John Hope Franklin



Congratulations to the NEH American Immigration Revisited 25 Participants

Twenty-five participants have been selected from a national pool of over seventy-five applicants to attend the NEH Summer Institute “American Immigration Revisited.” The twenty-five participants chosen represent a wide variety of scholarship, college teaching experience, and backgrounds. The institute, organized by the National History Center, is one of 19 summer study opportunities supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency that each summer underwrites seminars and institutes at colleges and universities so that teachers can work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines. The program is also co-sponsored by the American Historical Association, the history department at American University, the Community College Humanities Association, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, and the National Portrait Gallery. The institute has also been designated a “We the People” project by the Endowment.

The 2009 participants are:

Jamal A. Adam, Minneapolis Community and Technical College

Jaime R. Aguila, Arizona State University

Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp, Sonoma State University

Katherine Benton-Cohen, Georgetown University

Peter Catapano, New York City College of Technology

Fiona Deans Halloran, Eastern Kentucky University

Mary E. Dillard, Sarah Lawrence College

Marilyn R. Fischer, University of Dayton

Natalie J. Friedman, Vassar College

James V. Gatewood, Antioch University Los Angeles

Torrie R. Hester, Roanoke College

Ely M. Janis, Gonzaga University

Alison M. Kibler, Franklin and Marshall College

Patrick J. McGarrity, Southwestern Illinois College

Stephen P. O’Hara, Xavier University, Cincinnati

Michael Ornelas, San Diego Mesa College

Lisa L. Ossian, Des Moines Area Community College

Lori A. Pierce, DePaul University

Steve J. Potts, Hibbing Community College

Gary W. Shanafelt, McMurry University

Tiffany A. Trimmer, Bowling Green State University

Martin Valadez, Columbia Basin College

FlorenceMae Waldron, Franklin and Marshall College

Cadence A. Wynter, Columbia College Chicago

Solveig P. Zempel, St. Olaf College

Directed by Maureen Murphy Nutting, Professor of History at North Seattle Community College, and Alan M. Kraut, Professor

of History at American University, the month-long program will bring together two- and four-year college professors and immigration experts for four weeks at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The participants and the institute leaders will also take a three-day research trip to New York City to explore the immigrant experience at Ellis Island, Liberty Island, and the Downtown Tenement Museum.

The participants will investigate four basic areas during the summer institute: American immigration as part of a global phenomenon; migrations between cultures; changes in immigration law, policy, and practice; and approaches and resources for teaching immigration history. Those who complete the institute will take what they learn back to their communities, enrich their U.S. history courses and other courses that deal with immigration, and improve teaching and learning.

More details about the guest faculty are available on the Center’s website: nationalhistorycenter.org/americanimmigration



Professor Maureen Murphy Nutting

Professor Alan M. Kraut



National History Center Founders and Contributors

Sustaining FoundersAmerican Historical AssociationDouglas M. & Margo C. ArnoldBernard BailynPeter M. BaldwinJames M. Banner, Jr.Jerry H. BentleyAlbert J. Beveridge, IIIRoger H. BrownGiles Constable A. Hunter & Marguerite L. Dupree Marshall C. Eakin Elizabeth L. EisensteinRobert L. Harris, Jr.Stanley N. Katz Richard S. KirkendallLester K. LittleWm. Roger Louis William H. & Elizabeth McNeillJ. Alden Nichols Maureen Murphy NuttingJoseph C. MillerBradford Perkins Donald A. Ritchie R. Vladimir Steffel James J. Sheehan Fritz Stern Gerhard L. Weinberg Bertram Wyatt-Brown

FoundersJoyce O. ApplebyWalter L. ArnsteinNeal W. Baker Roby C. BarrettRoss W. Beales, Jr.Thomas Bender Paul A. Bernabeo & David Cohen Allison BlakelyAndrew BlaneShelley & Mark BookspanDaniel J. Boorstin✝ Charles C. BoothStephen S. Bowen Vern L. Bullough✝ Richard T. BurkeMorris & Gwendolyn Cafritz FoundationWilliam H. Cartwright, Jr.✝ Joan R. Challinor Chun-Shu ChangThomas D. Clark✝ John H. Coatsworth Judith Coffin & Willy ForbathGary B. Cohen Juan R. I. ColeJoel Colton Mary Powlesland Commager Patrick T. Conley Paula Wylie Connolly David T. Courtwright James B. & Laura Crooks

R. Bruce & Patricia K. Craig Hamilton Cravens Philip D. Curtin Allen F. Davis W. N. Davis, Jr. William H. Davis Carl N. Degler Marion F. Deshmukh Joseph J. Ellis Saul EngelbourgFelipe Fernández-ArmestoTheodore W. Friend Lee & Juliette Folger FoundationJohn A. Garraty ✝ Alice GeorgeProsser Gifford John GillisCharles C. Gillispie Edward GossleinHenry F. & Edith K. GraffWilliam S.✝ & Janet Groff GreeverHanns✝ & Bonnie GrossChristopher J. D. Haig James N. Hantula Victoria A. Harden Nadine Ishitani✝ & Donald Teruo HataJ.Roderick Heller, IIISheldon HackneyRichard G. HewlettEvelyn Brooks HigginbothamJohn Higham✝ Peter Charles Hoffer & N. E. H. Hull Daniel W. HoweAkira Iriye Arnita A. Jones Lawrence S. Kaplan Emile Karafiol & Virginia Robinson Nikki R. Keddie Dane K. KennedyLinda K. Kerber Milton M.✝ & Margaret Klein Richard H. & Lynne Kohn Peter J. Kovler FoundationDaniel W. KwongDavid E. Kyvig & Christine B. WorobecVirginia W. Leonard Richard W. Leopold ✝Russell M. Magnaghi Charles S. & Pauline Maier Patrick ManningChristof Mauch & Wendy LowerErnest R. May✝ Bruce MazlishLawrence J. McCrank Gerald W. McFarlandJohn P. McKay James M. McPherson Samuel T. McSeveney Barbara D. & Thomas R. Metcalf

Sheldon✝ & Mary Meyer Karl F. & Anne C. MorrisonW. Scott & Phyllis Stock

Morton John M. MurrinMary Beth Norton Robert Orrill Justus F. & Barbara J. Paul Elisabeth & Lewis PerryWilliam D. Phillips, Jr. & Carla Rahn PhillipsOliver B. PollakDiane RavitchJames A. Rawley✝ Robert V. ReminiRoy A. Rosenzweig✝ Frederick RudolphDorothy Ross Lois Green Schwoerer Joan W. ScottCarole Shammas Robert B. SlocumWilson & Kathryn Reed Smith Raymond W. Smock Winton U. Solberg Ronald SpectorJonathan D. Spence & Annping Chin Roderick Stackelberg Peter D. L. Stansky Peter N. StearnsSamuel A. Syme, Jr.Philip M. Teigen Arnold ThackrayEdward C. Thaden George B. Tindall✝ Barbara TischlerAlan Tully Reed UedaRichard H. Ullman Douglas A. & Harriet UnfugBetty M. Unterberger Sandra F. VanBurkleo Clarence L. Ver Steeg✝Margaret Vining & Barton C. HackerMaris A. Vinovskis John O. VollEugen✝ & Jacqueline Weber William A. Weber & Linda L. Clark J. Patrick White✝W. Ralph Whitley IIEkkehard-Teja Wilke Samuel R. Williamson, Jr. Henry & Beatrice Winkler Jamil ZainaldinPaul C. Zmola Anonymous Anonymous, in honor of Jonathan D. Spence

ContributorsNancy Fix Anderson Michael D. BaileyLois W. Banner

Daniel A. Baugh James G. Basker Benjamin L. Benford Martin BergerDavid W. BlightJo Tice BloomPatricia U. Bonomi Charles M. Brand Douglas M. BratteboIra V. Brown Carl M. Brownell Ralph BuultjensStephen H. CaseFred A. Cazel, Jr. William C. Cheek Lizabeth Cohen & Herrick Eaton Chapman Paul A. CohenNancy W. CollinsRichard W. Couper✝ Edith B. Couturier Theodore Rawson Crane Joseph T. Criscenti Robert & Geri DallekRobert C. Darnton John P. Diggins Leonard Dinnerstein A. Graham Down Richard & Mary Dunn Elizabeth J. Durrell Richard Ekman Emory G. EvansRoger J. Fechner Norman S. Fiering Leon Fink Galen R. Fisher Ralph T. Fisher, Jr. Eric Foner Timothy Gilfoyle Howard F. Gillette, Jr. Harvey K. GraffVivian R. GruderCarol Gluck Otis L., Jr.. & Delores GrahamVictor R. Greene James GrossmanJacquelyn D. Hall & Robert Korstad Don Higginbotham ✝ Ronald J. Hoffman Irving B. Holley, Jr. Helen L. & Daniel Horowitz John W. Jeffries David S. Johnson David M. Kennedy Paul M. Kennedy Alice Kessler-Harris Daniel J. Kevles Warren KimballJeffrey C. Kinkley James C. KlotterSally Gregory Kohlstedt Paul A. C. Koistinen Donald & Jean LammErick D. LangerJohn H. Laslett

Catherine G. Lauritsen Richard LowittRoy T. Matthews Elaine Tyler May Mary Emily Miller Barbara MolonyRegina A. Morantz-Sanchez Carolyn Bond Morrison Anna K. Nelson Charles E. Neu David Paul NordHarriet Noreen Paul O’KeefeOtis A. Pease Daniel & Evelyn Peterson Frank & Barbara PetersonJohn F. Piper, Jr. Henry P. Porter, Jr. Gaines Post, Jr.Theodore K. Rabb Donald J. RaleighJim RalphRoscoe E. Reeve Richard W. Reichard John P. Reid Susanne F. Roberts John F. Roche Lowell J. SatreAnn I. Schneider G. Ann SchultisR. Baird Shuman Harvard SitkoffCecil O. Smith, Jr.Lorraine Smith Pamela H. Smith Daniel C. SnellReba N. SofferGabrielle M. Spiegel Jeffrey K. Stine Mark StolerRichard StottSusan StrasserMargaret Thomas J. Mills ThorntonMelvin Tucker Thomas TurleyJames C. TurnerLetitia W. UffordNancy C. UngerMilton Vanger Solomon & Barbara WankElizabeth B. Warbasse Bernard M. Wasserstein, Jr. Robert H. & Alice Ann Whealey Willam M. Wiecek Charles E. WilliamsStanley B. WintersPhyllis B. Woodworth James Harvey Young✝ Madeleine ZelinAnonymous ✝ Deceased





Become a Donor to the National History Center

The National History Center welcomes pledges and contributions of any size. Those who pledge and contribute $3,000 or more are recognized as Founders of the National History Center. All contributions are tax-deductible and pledges can be made in installments.

Please accept my/our pledge or contribution of $_______.

Please contact me/us to accept my/our contribution. My/our contact information is below.

I/we will make payments on my/our $_______ pledge in _____ installments. All payments will be made by December 31, 2011. The first installment of $______ is included with this form.

Please write your name(s) as you wish it/them to appear on all National History Center documents.

Thank you for your contribution to the National History Center.

Name(s):

Address:

City: State: Zip: E-mail:

Check enclosed, made payable to the National History Center.

Visa MastercardCredit card number:

Expiration date:

Signature (required for credit cards):

This is a tax-deductible contribution or pledge. Please retain a copy of this form for your records. The National History Center’s federal tax identification number is 75-3045522. In compliance with the Internal Revenue Service’s new guidelines for charitable contributions, we note that no goods or services have been or will be furnished to you.

Please send this form and your contributions to the National History Center, 400 A Street, SE, Washington, DC, 20003.

Volume IV Issue 1 Spring 2009

National History Center400 A Street, SEWashington, DC 20003

an Initiative of the American Historical Association

national history center

Documents