online: www.rihumanities.org email: info@rihumanities.org phone: 401-273-2250
See the effects of World War II through the eyes of a Rhode Island woman who kept a wonderfully evocative and detailed diary. Helen Clarke Grimes, descendant of an old Rhode Island family, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but during the Great Depression, was too poor to show her face at meetings. Her husband was out of work for several years in the 1930s. Grimes found solace in her journal, however, where she recorded events large and small. Things improved financially with the outbreak of war: there was plenty of overtime and she went to work in an office. Starting with an account of hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor, she records blackouts and flirtations, the rationing of gas and sugar, trips to New York and restaurants, as well as war news. This slide (or PowerPoint) presentation includes extracts from the diaries, together with a commentary on the historical context.
Jane Lancaster is an award-winning teacher, researcher, and writer. She received a PhD from Brown University, writing a dissertation on the life of engineer Lillian Moller Gilbreth (the mother of twelve celebrated in Cheaper by the Dozen). Her work on Rhode Island women has been published in periodicals ranging from the Providence Journal to the Journal of American History.
Availability: is sometimes away during the summer months Needs: slide projector and screen; lighted lectern/water
Needs: slide projector and screen; lighted lectern/water