Want Matt to give you a tour of the Freedom Trail or Boston? He'd love to accommodate! Tours are available most weekends and can be arranged on weekdays for special occasions.
Email Matt at BostonHistoryBlog@gmail.com to book!
Tours start at $125. Costumed or plain-clothes available.
Past Courses
On the Home Front: American Society during World War II: This course will consider the major changes in American life from 1941-1945, including the war bond campaign, changing roles of women and minorities in America, the changing economy, and government policies and agencies. Complimented with an array of visual aids, this course will present the World War II period as something of a “late adolescence” in American identity as it establishes itself both at home and abroad as the major global power of the 20th century.
On the Home Front: American Society during World War II: This course will consider the major changes in American life from 1941-1945, including the war bond campaign, changing roles of women and minorities in America, the changing economy, and government policies and agencies. Complimented with an array of visual aids, this course will present the World War II period as something of a “late adolescence” in American identity as it establishes itself both at home and abroad as the major global power of the 20th century.
5 Thursday, May 1 - June 5, 2014 (no class 5/15); 10:00 am - 11:30 am, UMass Boston (classroom TBA).
This course is offered through The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Past Talks
March 8, 2014
Past Talks
March 8, 2014
Free Advertising: Popular Magazines and World War II Bond Drives: Even before America's entry into World War II, the US Treasury reorganized the nation's savings bond program in an effort to raise money for defense and to give citizens a stake in their country. While the Treasury Department, Office of War Information, and other government agencies worked together to develop marketing strategies for the bond program, private advertisers and editorial boards of magazines began promoting the bond program for free but on their own terms. This presentation will consider the ways in which war bond sales were encouraged in popular American magazines, particularly in regard to ads' messaging as they relate to concurrent government campaigns throughout the war.
Presented at History Camp, Saturday, 9 am - 7 pm.
IBM Client Center
1 Charles Park/1 Rogers Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
March 29, 2014
Doing the Same Thing and Getting a Different Result: The New Republic and the Build-up Toward World War II: The New Republic has long been a major voice of the left in the United States. After advocating loudly for intervention in World War I and finding nothing but disappointment in its aftermath, TNR seemed convinced that international intervention would only hinder their interests in the coming years. Regardless, in the years leading up to World War II, TNR became increasingly interventionist long before other magazines took the turn, and openly advocated for war in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor. This study explores TNR's role in the years leading up to American intervention in World War II, particularly focusing on the magazine's attitude toward nations based on their political persuasions and its compromises relating to democratic versus imperialist interests at home and abroad.
Presented at the University of Massachusetts-Boston Graduate History Conference, 10:45 am - 12 noon.
Part of Session 2, Panel 6 - "World War What?: The Obligatory World War II Panel."
Quinn Administration Building, Chancellor's Conference Room
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125-3393
This paper will explore the near uniform message of both public and private advocates of Liberty Bond sales during World War I, which I refer to as “decentralized unification.” I will argue that without direct oversight by the government, pro-war advocates were drawn toward the same messages, which were often Jingoist and coercive. To illustrate this, I will assess government-issued propaganda, pro-bond writing in popular periodicals, quasi-vigilante actions to encourage bond sales, and the work of the Boy Scouts to support the war effort.
April 26, 2014
"Work! Save!! Win!!!": Decentralized Unification and the Sale of Liberty Bonds: World War I presented the United States with its first opportunity to utilize modern advertising in a major war effort. With the approval of Woodrow Wilson, Treasury Secretary William McAdoo and Committee of Public Information (CPI) chairman George Creel utilized advertising to encourage Liberty Bond sales through posters, print ads, pamphlets, and talks by “four-minute men.” In doing so, these men marketed the idea of obligation and Americanism that was immediately mimicked by private organizations, popular magazines, and even children.This paper will explore the near uniform message of both public and private advocates of Liberty Bond sales during World War I, which I refer to as “decentralized unification.” I will argue that without direct oversight by the government, pro-war advocates were drawn toward the same messages, which were often Jingoist and coercive. To illustrate this, I will assess government-issued propaganda, pro-bond writing in popular periodicals, quasi-vigilante actions to encourage bond sales, and the work of the Boy Scouts to support the war effort.
Presented at the New England Historical Association Conference, 8:30 am.
Part of Session 10: The Subtle Art of Wartime Propaganda: Government Messages to the American Home Front During World War I.
263 Alden Street
Springfield, MA 01109-3797
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