The Memory Keeper's Granddaughter: Family History & Material Culture in WWII Durham, North Carolina (2010)

Undergraduates: Kelli Landing, none none none

Faculty Advisor: Marcie Ferris
Department: American Studies

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My thesis centers around the study of World War II Durham, North Carolina. My work relied on folklore, social history, cultural history, family history, ethnography, and material culture. I gathered a social and cultural history of Durham at this time through both the memories of those who served in the war as well as those who were on the home front. I also used the material culture these soldiers and their families left behind in order to trace their steps from Durham to their fight on land, at sea, and in the air. These material culture resources included letters, diaries, scrapbooks, and photograph albums, as well as medals and casket flags. Sometimes memory fails us, but the documents we leave behind can resurrect our experiences for future generations to explore._x000D_
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This work is essential to the understanding of World War II Durham. Many of those who experienced that era are no longer with us. It is important to gather these stories while the "memory keepers" still exist. I conducted a case study using the memories and material culture of my own family's World War II experience. The project resulted in illuminating the narrative of Durham men who fought in the war, themes of mutuality between families and soldiers, expressions of masculinity, gendered responses to the war, the coping mechanisms soldiers employed, and agents for morale-building.