Guns, Treads & Steel: The Evolution of American Armor from World War II to the Present
From its nascent days to the 21st century, the tank has proved an integral part of United States Army and Marine Corps combat effectiveness.
Topic Category: Weapons and Warfare
Vietnam and South Carolina
This presentation examines the origins of the Vietnam War and how the US became so involved. It will highlight some of the South Carolinians who served in the conflict and the eight medals of honor recipients from South Carolina. The presentation will use some of the oral histories collected from veterans since 2016. In addition … Read more
WWI Aviation and the Carolinians who Flew
This presentation gives an overview of aviation in the state before the war, how the nation slowly developed its air service for the war, and the key pilots who gained distinction, including Elliott White Springs, John O. Donaldson and Ervin Shaw.
The Great War in the South Carolina Home Front
This presentation will review South Carolina’s economic and social conditions on the eve of the United States entering the war in 1917 and then review the economic and social changes that the war brought the state, from three new military training bases, political opposition by its former governor in going to war, and changes to … Read more
The American Revolution in South Carolina
This presentation will review the origins of South Carolina’s break with England, its key leaders on both the Patriot and Loyalist sides, and how the events transpired to the fall of Charleston in May 1780. This topic can be refocused on single campaign and battles in the state, such as the Battle of Camden and … Read more
The Pacific Island Campaigns from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima
Starting with the extent of Japan’s invasion of the South Pacific in 1941-42, this presentation will review the Allied strategies of the island campaigns and focus on two or three of the key islands that were taken. (This presentation can be refocused to look at just a single island campaign, if the audience requests, such … Read more
Normandy, D-Day June 6, 1944
In this presentation, Fritz Hamer examines the background to the invasion, the training of the troops to carry it out, and the sacrifices that were made for the landing to succeed. Part of the presentation will look at the equipment and vehicles used in the invasion, the combined forces (Army, Naval and Air forces) coordinated … Read more
World War II and the South Carolina Home Front
This presentation reviews the conditions of South Carolina prior to Pearl Harbor and how the war brought change to society. Topics that will be discussed include rationing, population increase, housing problems, volunteers, and enemy prisoners of war. It will conclude by considering how the war changed society for the future, politically, racially, and economically.
Stories of Sacrifice from the Displaced People of the Savannah River Plant
On November 28, 1950, the federal government chose South Carolina No. 5, a 310-square mile area of rural farmland south of Augusta, GA and west of Aiken, SC, to build a nuclear facility, the Savannah River Plant. The plant’s mission was to manufacture the materials, plutonium and tritium, for the hydrogen bomb to go up … Read more
The Women of the (Other) Civil War
The War of the Three Kingdoms – often referred to as the English “Civil War” – produced numerous well known characters such as Oliver Cromwell and Rupert of Bohemia. But many women, on both sides of the war, were instrumental in supporting the causes and sometimes even changing the game. Both royal ladies and ordinary … Read more
The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from the Past (1830 – 1960)
Through the stories of enslaved ancestors and notable relatives, The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from The Past (1830-1960), chronicles the rich history of a prominent African American family from Salley, South Carolina features stories of individuals who were enslaved, a woman served as an enslaved cook during the Civil War, and agricultural life.
Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison
Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison was born enslaved on November 20, 1849, in Aiken County, South Carolina. This presentation tells the contextualized story of her life, featuring local history of the antebellum period and Civil War in South Carolina during Martha’s enslavement; a historical account of Martha’s life during the Reconstruction Era; the circumstances that involved … Read more
South Carolina African American Confederate Pensioners
This presentation explores the reasons why South Carolina used African American labor during the war; the diverse roles of African American labor during the war; SC approval of Confederate pensions for African Americans; notable features of the pension application; and notable South Carolina African American Confederate Pensioners.
Lavinia C. Thompson – The Personal Story of Slavery and Civil War in South Carolina
Lavinia was born enslaved on June 3rd, 1844, in Aiken County, and this presentation tells her personal story of slavery and survival during the Civil War. Lavinia would follow her master into battle in the Civil War, serving the Confederate army as a cook. Six decades later, she would be among about 100 black South … Read more
Differences between Vietnam War and Ukraine Conflict
More than sixty years have transpired between US involvement in the Vietnam War and our current engagement in the Ukraine. There are similarities in the circumstances that have led us to oppose Russian aggression in the heart of Europe, but there are also some significant differences. Olin Sansbury examines those similarities and differences and identifies … Read more
American Politics in Fiction
Since even before America became an independent country, novelists have used their storytelling skills to help us understand our system of governance and our relationships with one another—sometimes with humor, sometimes with irony. Political novels have advocated causes or ideas, have recorded successes and issued warnings. They have revealed our flaws and trumpeted our strengths. … Read more
Covert Actions in US Foreign Policy
Covert Action is “an activity or activities of the US government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the US government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly.” Such actions have been taken frequently in modern American history and not always successfully. Olin Sansbury examines some … Read more
The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice
Counter to the national narrative which championed the patriotic manhood of soldiering from the Civil War through the 1920s, Dr. Pinheiro, Jr.’s research reveals that African American veterans and their families’ military experience were much more fraught. Economic and social instability introduced by military service resonated for years and even generations after soldiers left the … Read more
The Iraq War
I served in the US Army guarding convoys on the sometimes bomb-strewn and often chaotic streets of Iraq. On December 2, 2006, the armored vehicle I was driving struck an Improvised Explosive Device, or IED. The blast severely wounded me and one other soldier in the vehicle while luckily only lightly injuring a third. The … Read more
Genocide
In simple terms, genocide is the mass killing of a specific group because of who they are or because of who the killers believe they are. In its terrible lived realities and its legal definition, genocide is so much more. As a Holocaust historian, Dr. Gibbs speaks about the origins of the term genocide in … Read more
World War II in Europe
Despite increasing distance in time and the passing of last witnesses and veterans, World War II still defines how Americans see themselves, how they view their own military, and how they think of their role in the world. The war in Europe, though only part of this worldwide inferno, is at the core of those … Read more
Nazism
What did the National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP, or Nazi Party actually believe? What was the role of Adolf Hitler in shaping those views, and how did he and others at the top shape and use those ideas to lead Germany to total war and genocide? As white nationalist and white supremacist groups continue … Read more
Jewish Resistance
For all too long, focus on Holocaust history excluded real explorations of Jewish resistance to Nazi tyranny and mass murder. The misunderstood reality is that Jews resisted Nazi actions at every turn. From early legal challenges and protests when it seemed there was still a state to listen, to later escape, evasion, and armed uprisings, … Read more
The Holocaust
Nazi Germany murdered 6 million Jews and a total of 11 million people, counting all of its chosen so-called racial enemies, from 1933 to 1945. The German state did this with its own armed forces, the help of collaborators, and the silence of bystanders. How did the Nazi Party lead a nation to this devastation? … Read more
Undaunted Valor: The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery in the Civil War
The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery is one of the longest-serving military units in the history of the United States. Its service includes the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II. This presentation will focus on its Civil War exploits in over a dozen … Read more
Eyewitnesses to General Sherman’s campaign and the burning of Columbia
General Sherman went to great lengths during the burning of Columbia, South Carolina to protect a friend whose family he had visited frequently while he was a bachelor stationed at Fort Moultrie between 1842 and 1846. The book and letters that Sherman sent to his friend along with an eyewitness account of his visits, finally … Read more
Lincoln, Sherman and Davis and the Lost Confederate Gold
Sherman’s brilliant campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas ended in political turmoil with public insinuations from President Andrew Johnson’s administration that Confederate President Jefferson Davis had bought his freedom from Sherman with gold from the Confederate treasury. Sherman was accused by high government officials of being “a common traitor and a public enemy” while subordinates … Read more
Military Diaries: Personal Accounts of WWI and the Cold War
Veteran reporter, author and USC Professor Emerita Pat McNeely presents recently edited military diaries and family histories of her husband and her father-in-law who served in the Cold War and World War I respectively. McNeely has added family pictures and additional information to both diaries to make them lasting histories. Hear about how she pulled … Read more
Sherman’s Flame and Blame Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas
General William T. Sherman created a new form of physical, economic, and psychological “total warfare” against civilians and private property in Georgia and the Carolinas that he readily admitted would be violent and cruel. In addition to physical and economic assaults, he designed a massive psychological strategy of disinformation, deception, and blame designed to cripple … Read more
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & Africans in the Civil War
A brief history of the approximately 180,000 African Americans that served in the Union Army and Navy during the Civil War, with a focus on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the regiment that was portrayed in the award-winning movie, Glory. This presentation is given in a Civil War uniform and includes a first-person characterization.
