Over 75 historians, alumni, students, and others gathered on the Hanover campus February 17 and 18, 2006, for the Indiana Association of Historians annual meeting and this year's Cornelius and Anna Cook O'Brien Lecture. The theme of the conference was "Americans and the World: Foreign Relations, Immigration, and Cultural Exchange in Historical Perspective." Below you'll find descriptions and photos of some of the events.

Panel discussion of the movie, The Town, with Daniel P. Murphy (Hanover College), John Staicer (Historic Madison, Inc.), and Larry P. Thornton (Hanover College)
Prof. Murphy (HC '81) and Prof. Thornton, both of the Hanover history department, joined John Staicer of Historic Madison, Inc. to discuss an Office of War Information film using Madison, Indiana, as a typical American small town. Here are some observations by Hanover students in the audience:

     On Friday evening a short movie titled The Town was shown and it depicted the town of Madison, Indiana in 1943. The movie was produced by the Office of War Information and made as propanganda to be shown overseas. Madison was chosen as the only city out of 52 in the United States to film this movie. Madison was chosen because of the easy-going lifestyle of the people, as well as the many differences in the cultures of the townspeople. This movie that the Office of War Information made was supposed to be translated into 32 different languages; therefore, having the capability to be shown throughout the worn torn world and to show the oppressed people of the "evil" countries what type of life they had the right to live. The Town had four specific areas it needed to cover: speech, religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. To represent the freedom of American's in their speech and education the townspeople were shown in the town library and the children were shown learning at school. Religion was used in this movie to relate to several countries by showing the many different types of religious gathering places that Madison had. It also showed a man who went fishing rather than to church on sunday, which shows how hard the producers worked to try and not step on anyone's toes. Freedom from want was portrayed by showing farmers with bountiful harvests and a market in the center of town that was filled with people, which passed on the image that no one in a democracy would go without the things they want and need. The idea of freedom from fear was shown with the images of numerous children playing together and having a great time and also by the county courtroom having a trial. All of these things that The Town depicted were meant to put America as a country that everyone should want to be like. America was portrayed as a place where the benefits of democracy are reaped by everyone and that every other person in the world had that same right to live in freedom.
-- Daniel O'Leary

     This past weekend there was a history conference. Friday night they showed a movie titled, The Town. It was made in 1945 by the Office of War as propaganda for World War II. The town of Madison was chosen for this film as an example of the typical American town at the time. The depiction made of American towns in that time period seemed rather accurate. Most people farmed, women worked in the house, children helped out at home and went to school, and every Saturday there was a market in the town square where the farmers came together to sell their crops. A lot of the buildings shown in downtown Madison are still there today. The film was used to illustrate what the government wanted to portray to other countries about American towns.
     The making of this film was part of a two-pronged effort by the United States to give public understanding of the war. The first prong was a desire to show that there was an evil that still lurked out there. This was accomplished by depicting an American town and then allowing the people to compare it to the towns of other countries. The second prong was to illustrate the four freedoms of America: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. All four of these freedoms were depicted in the film in some manner.
     After the film there was a panel that discussed some of the background and general information about the film. The film was translated into 32 languages. It was only publicly shown in the United States when it was initially shown in Madison, IN for the townspeople to see. The reason it was translated into 32 different languages was to be shown to the citizens of other countries the reason for the fighting. It was primarily shown to countries that were fighting a new democratic order. The U.S. government wanted to show them what a democratic country would look like. One last fun fact that was mentioned is that the producers had to keep putting off the filming of the children swimming until September so that it would be warm enough.
     All in all, this conference was very educational and a good experience for everyone involved. Although I was only able to watch the first film, I learned a lot about the town of Madison, IN and a little about World War II that I did not know. One historical piece of information about Madison is that it was named after James Madison. Although I am not a history major, I have benefited from this conference, and my interest in history has increased.
-- Shannon Mitchell

     Walking into the theater seating of Classic Hall, I had no idea what to expect for this short 15 minute movie. Sadly, I did what one should always do for pretty much anything, be prepared. I simply walked in with my paper and pen and saw a friend and sat down, never once asking what this was going to be like. It wasn't until I a friend mentioned it was about a Madison propaganda film did I know what this was about. Now I am a History major and had studied propaganda before. Every time a country that was at war with or a rival to America was discussed, my class always went into detail about propaganda. But the thing that took me by surprised was that this was a propaganda film involving tiny little Madison, Indiana. What could it possibly have in common with propaganda?
     The movie, entitled "The Town", starts off by showing clips of the gorgeous landscape of the Madison area but does not actually say that this is Madison. Instead it asks the question of where we believe this is. The point of this is to argue that Hanover is the basic town that all know in America. The small town where all the locals know each other and that there is always something to do. A historical context should answer the question I'm sure all of you are wondering in what could possibly come about from this propaganda film promoting small town life. This film was made in 1943 during World War II to be sent over into Europe to show the newly liberated Europeans the ways of democracy. The hopes were to kill off any stereotype or misconception they may have towards America and to promote any floundering idea of democracy.
     So did "The Town" end up proving to be a success? Well that answer we may never know. The movie, although made by the U.S. government, has no records of being shown in Europe at all. Many possible outcomes could have happened. The film at the last second could have not been shown by some military officer for whatever reason. The film may have been shown but met with negative reactions, so any reviews of its success were never brought back to America. Whatever the reason for this, there is one success that the film was able to achieve. It was able to gather an entire community for a common goal. In any day and age I would think that this would be a feat to do, but this film did it and for that it was a success.
-- Cole Clouse

     Although I am not particularly sure what the production date on this movie is, I can tell you for sure that it is a quintessential representation of the Cleaver family neighborhood. The film starts off with a short jump around the town. Various locations are shot depicting the Saturday night concerts by the school band, the rousing life of the soda fountain, the communal gathering of a church, and the quiet banks of the Ohio. The film traces the daily happenings of everyone from the school children to the farm-hands. There are positively no ethnic minorities featured, and every frame is filled with one cliche stereotype after the other. This film is quite interesting as it depicts the most ideal imagery of what a Midwest rural town would be-Mayberry if you will.
     According to the executive director of the Historic Madison organization, the film was in fact a medium for propaganda. The US government looked at 52 towns throughout the United States and concluded that the town of Madison did the best job of depicting the most ideal and just society. Considering that there was a world war going on at the time, the government aimed at making propagandistic films to show a barbarian enemy someone would want to destroy along with another type of film designed to show us exactly what we were fighting for. These films were then sent over sea to boost moral. This film shot in 1943 was in fact designed to portray the ideal "Mayberry-esque" town.
     The film was produced as a means of changing the face of "war propaganda." After the negative and utterly tasteless propaganda of WWI, the government looked to make a film that could "adequately inform" the troops and public alike. This film was also a tool promised to be open to the media. It was the flagship of a new and renown campaign to not only rally a nation and its troops but to cover up the ghosts of WWI's faulty committee. It was indeed a success. One of the soldiers overseas was quoted as crying when he saw the movie. The film did exactly what it was supposed to do, and the town of Madison grew in popularity and was awarded multiple honors including recognition as a US national historic landmark.
-- Russ Villier

 

Presentations on "Re-Assessing Indiana Politics in the Mid-Twentieth Century" with Dean Kotlowski (Salisbury University), William Nixon (Indiana University, Bloomington), Fred Witzig (Indiana University, Bloomington), and Paul V. Murphy (Grand Valley State University)
Paul V. Murphy (HC '88) commented on papers presented by three specialists in Indiana history.

Presentations on "Race, Culture, and Politics in Civil War Indiana" with Mark Furnish (Purdue University), Christopher Mortenson (Texas A&M University), and John Schlotterbeck (DePauw University)
The Eleutherian College, a National Historic Landmark in Lancaster, Indiana, was the subject of Mark Furnish's paper. Hanover students and alumni are involved with the efforts to restore the Eleutherian College, which was designated as one of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2005."

Presentations on "Perception and Propaganda in the World War II Era" with Karen Dunak (Indiana University, Bloomington), Erwin Erhardt (Thomas More College), Larry Thornton (Hanover College), and James H. Madison (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Prof. Larry Thornton, of the Hanover history department, delivered a paper on "Oxford University Students in the 1930s and the Question of War."

Hanover alumni Paul Murphy ('88), Dan Murphy ('81), Sarah Frye ('03) listen to papers on "Perception and Propaganda in the World War II Era."

Presentations on "Education and Community Interaction," with Kendra Clauser (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis), Eric Hall (Purdue University), and Kay Williams (Hanover College)
Prof. Kay WIlliams, of the Hanover education department, commented on the papers presented by two specialists in education history. Here are some observations by a Hanover student in the audience:

     On February 17 and 18, the Indiana Association of Historians Annual Meeting was taking place on Hanover College's campus, and was gladly welcomed by all faculty and students. There were many options of different sessions on Friday evening and Saturday morning that people could attend; I decided to go to a session titled, "Education and Community Interaction." Kendra Clauser-Roemer from Indiana University-Purdue University presented her topic of "Haughville-Faith, Fraternity, and Family," in which she argued a basic idea that utilizing historic places can be useful in teaching and formatting a lesson plan (especially for fourth graders). She focused mainly on the are of Haughville, Indiana, where there had been a large number of Slavic immigrants and since had evolved, allowing for a rich history.
     Another presenter, Eric Hall from Purdue University argued his topic of "Co-Learners and Core: Education Reform at Saint Joseph's College (1966-1976)." Hall's basic argument dealt with the curriculum revision of the general education program at the Indiana college, which focused on implementing more interdisciplinary studies, humanity of each human being, and co-learning between the faculty and the students. Hall stated that it was an effort to "expand awareness to many dimensions of reality," and that the students needed to be exposed to more cosmopolitan experiences. In 1969, eighty-nine percent of the faculty agreed to the proposed revisions, however, many professors did not like teaching subjects outside of their disciplinary. Some referred to it as not being "academically respectable," or being "watered down." Yet, there were many positives in that the Saint Joseph students were not just learning their basic math and English courses; but instead, they were required to take courses such as "Modern World, Man and Universe I and II, and Christian Humanism," no matter what their chosen major. This allowed for students to pursue studies outside of their chosen focus, and to open their minds to common questions and issues of everyday life. Students were given the opportunity to question their lives; they were forced to see where they stood on certain issues and to defend their opinion. As co-learners, professors and students were taught to became more tolerant, altruistic, responsible, and complex through their growing knowledge and work together. The education overall was recognized as innovative and interdisciplinary.
     Hall's argument over Saint Joseph's College curriculum revision was interesting to me because Hanover College has been going through a very similar curriculum change over recent years. I am a sophomore at Hanover and my class was the first one to follow the Liberal Arts Degree Requirements, instead of the traditional General Degree Requirements. These new requirements, like St. Joseph's College, incorporated more interdisciplinary studies. My major is biology, however, I am required to take classes outside of my main area interest. For example, philosophy has opened my mind to undiscovered knowledge, while Theology has made me question my existence more in depth. I have also been exposed to different professors and have been able to meet students with a variety of interests, which have not only helped to shape me academically, but also socially. Thus, like Saint Joseph's College, Hanover is exploring a new curriculum, which has been a positive innovation for this college as well.
-- Ashley McKnight

Presentations on "American Encounters Abroad," with Betty S. Anderson (Boston University), Ralph D. Gray (Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis), and Anne Foster (Indiana State University)
Prof. Ralph D. Gray (HC '55) delivered a paper on "Hoosier Author as Diplomat - Meredith Nicholson in Latin America, 1933-1941: Hardships, Triumphs, and Mystery."

Cornelius and Anna Cook O'Brien Lecture by Walter LaFeber (Cornell University): "The Roller Coaster Course of 'American Empire,' 1750-2006"
Prof. Walter LaFeber (HC '55) delivered the keynote address.

     Walter LaFeber presented a speech titled, “The Roller Coaster Course of ‘American Empire,’ 1750-2006,” on Saturday, February 18, in the Hanover College Science Center Lobby. LeFeber discussed the imperial attitudes of many U.S. Presidents, including Dwight D. Eisenhower and Theodore Roosevelt, and how their opinions and actions differed dramatically from earlier Presidents, like Thomas Jefferson. He discussed the impact of these presidents’ theories on the American empire, especially with regard to the United States’ actions in Cuba and the Philippines. He also noted the use of the word “empire” and how it disappeared from use in American thought and literature over the course of history. LeFeber’s talk was informative and interesting and filled with fascinating tidbits of information about presidents and events in history.
--Erin Stanifer

Among the audience for Walter LaFeber (HC '55) are Hanover students Jessica Dowell and Kyle Eriss (at left table) and Betty Gray and Ralph Gray (HC '55), at the right table.

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