Symposium, A Legacy Remembered, Among Many Local Events Marking WWII 60th Anniversary

KEENE, N.H. 10/15/01 - The Second World War: A Legacy Remembered, a three-day symposium, is being organized by Keene State Colleges history department to mark the 60th anniversary of the United States entry into the Second World War. Symposium sessions will be held in the Mabel Brown Room of the Student Center, Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 8-10.

“The Second World War was probably the single-most significant event of the 20th century,” says David Price, associate professor of history at KSC. “The problems we face, the political institutions we are currently using, and the methods and manners in which we address political, social, and economic issues in this new century all relate to the aftermath of the Second World War.”

“To understand what choices we may make in the future,” he says, “we must understand the choices we made in the recent past.”

Price and colleagues in the KSC history department, Gregory Knouff and Paul Vincent, organized the symposium. According to Price, the symposium will bring together prominent scholars and veterans to help foster a more comprehensive understanding of the historical realities and consequences of World War II.

Speakers will include internationally recognized scholars Paul Fussell from the University of Pennsylvania, Richard Overy from the University of London, Akira Iriye, Harvard University, Elizabeth Norman, New York University, and Gerhard Weinberg, University of North Carolina. All sessions except the Friday banquet and Saturday luncheon are free and open to the public. On Saturday, Nov. 10, the Symposium will focus on the Monadnock experience, with local World War II civilian contributors discussing their memories and experiences of the War at 9-10:30 a.m. in the Mabel Brown Room and local veterans recalling their experiences at 2:30-5:30 that afternoon.

For more information, visit www.keene.edu/events/ww2.