Unsung Story of WWI's Pacifists and Alien Enemies Topic of Sept. 14 Talk
USU History Department Head Tammy Proctor takes part the symposium "Treatment of Enemy Aliens, Conscientious Objectors and Civilian Populations During World War I." She will speak at Ft. Douglas on the University of Utah campus Sept. 16.
A World War I researcher speaks at Utah State University as part of a symposium featuring scholars discussing the little-known story of the treatment of enemy aliens and conscientious objectors.
The event marks the century anniversary of the then-unimaginable Great War, said Tammy Proctor, head of USU’s Department of History.
The symposium, “Treatment of Enemy Aliens, Conscientious Objectors and Civilian Populations During World War I,” begins Wednesday, Sept. 14, with a presentation by Stefan Manz of Aston University in Birmingham, U.K. He speaks at noon in room 154 of the Merrill-Cazier Library.
The symposium events then move to Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, where USU historian Proctor will speak on “Questions of Loyalty and Citizenship: Civilians in World War I.” Her presentation begins at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, in the Fort Douglas Post Theater on the University of Utah campus.
Fort Douglas was the site of a temporary internment camp for Americans born in northern Europe, said Proctor.
“Some enemy alien civilians, mostly of German and Austrian birth, found themselves behind barbed wire in 1917 at Fort Douglas in a temporary internment camp,” said Proctor.
Manz’s presentation will discuss these World War I camps, which existed around the world. The detention camps, Proctor added, “proved to be important precursors to the civilian internment camps of the Second World War.”
John Sillito and Branden Little, both professors of history at Weber State University, will also speak at the Sept. 16 event at Fort Douglas. Sillito will discuss a Utah case study of a conscientious objector and the resulting public opinion. Little’s talk will explore Germany’s forced-labor camps.
The event is sponsored by USU Department of History, WSU Department of History and Fort Douglas Military Museum. The museum features a collection of WWI uniforms and equipment.
All events are free and open to the public.
More information can be found at the USU History Department website.
Related link:
USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Contact: Tammy Proctor, head, USU History Department, (435) 797-8452, janelle.hyatt@usu.edu
Writer: Janelle Hyatt, (435) 797-0289, janelle.hyatt@usu.edu
The symposium opens on the USU campus before moving to Salt Lake City. Stefan Manz of Aston University in Birmingham, U.K., speaks Sept. 14 at noon in room 154 of the Merrill-Cazier Library.
SHARE
TRANSLATE
Comments and questions regarding this article may be directed to the contact person listed on this page.
