Kurt Piehler

World War II Institute partners with Florida Historic Capitol Museum for exhibit on Florida’s role in war

Published: December 7, 2021 | 1:20 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities

The exhibit includes artifacts such as a brochure loaned by the Tampa Bay History Center about MacDill Field, which was built near Tampa in 1939 and was critical in defending the Gulf of Mexico against Nazi U-boat attacks on merchant ships. To the right is an M1 helmet loaned from Camp Blanding Museum. The U.S. Army designed the manganese steel M1 helmet and started production in April 1941. Over 22 million of these helmets were produced during World War II. (Photo courtesy of Florida Historic Capitol Museum)

When the United States entered World War II in 1941, Florida was a mostly rural and agricultural state, a relatively unpopulated place compared to the rest of the country. By the time the war ended, federal spending for military bases and an influx of service members had begun a transformation that continues to this day. […]

FSU expert available to comment for 80th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor

Published: December 3, 2021 | 2:55 pm | Posted in: Expert Pitches

Florida State University Associate Professor of History Kurt Piehler, director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience

The attack on Pearl Harbor 80 years ago spurred U.S. involvement in World War II, sending the country into a conflict that would change American society in profound ways. Among the many changes was making the country more tolerant of religious pluralism, said Florida State University Associate Professor of History Kurt Piehler, director of the […]

FSU expert reflects on US-UK relationship and 80th anniversary of Atlantic Charter

Published: August 10, 2021 | 1:00 pm | Posted in: Expert Pitches

In 1941, the United States and the United Kingdom were already preparing for the aftermath of World War II. In August of that year, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in Canada for a series of discussions. Those talks became the basis of the Atlantic Charter, a statement from the […]

FSU historian discusses D-Day celebrations on 75th anniversary

Published: May 30, 2019 | 11:34 am | Posted in: Expert Pitches

June 6 marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the famous 1944 World War II military operation wherein more than 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy and made first headway in the liberation of German-occupied France. Across the globe, celebrations, memorials and remembrances are planned for the anniversary of the invasion, which is widely […]

FSU WWII Institute preserves memories of the war through new exhibit, performance

Published: March 11, 2019 | 11:24 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, University News

Ernest “Boots” Thomas, a former resident of North Florida, ties the first flag to a pipe that would be used as flag pole for the first American flag raised in Iwo Jima. Marines from 3rd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment raised a fifty-four by twenty-eight inch flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Because this flag proved too small to clearly see from the ground 546 feet below, a second flag measuring eight by four feet replaced the first one that is now famously depicted in Joe Rosenthal’s photograph.

Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience is set to present its newest exhibit, “Love, Dolly: Letters Home in World War II,” at the Chipola Center for the Arts in Marianna. The exhibit will feature six collections of letters and historical artifacts on loan from the institute. Highlights include letters […]

FSU researcher: Pearl Harbor anniversary a day for reflection, remembrance

Published: December 4, 2017 | 12:55 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, Expert Pitches

Kurt Piehler, director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at FSU.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, a fleet of more than 300 Japanese Imperial aircraft launched a devastating attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As the nation prepares to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Florida State University Associate Professor of History and Director of […]

Faculty and Staff Briefs: September 2017

Published: September 20, 2017 | 10:43 am | Posted in: Faculty/Staff Briefs

HONORS AND AWARDS Woody G. Kim (Hospitality Management) received the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement award at the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education’s annual summer conference held in Baltimore, Md., in July. Lydia Hanks, Ph.D. (Hospitality) will return to Penn State, her alma mater, on Oct. 11 to receive the […]

Guadalcanal anniversary: FSU expert available to discuss significance of historic battle

Published: August 2, 2017 | 3:32 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, Expert Pitches

Aug. 7, 2017, will mark 75 years since the beginning of the battle of Guadalcanal, the first significant Allied offensive against the Empire of Japan and a major strategic turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Florida State University Associate Professor of History and Director of the Institute on World War II […]

D-Day anniversary: FSU expert available to discuss legacy of the Allied invasion of Normandy

Published: May 25, 2017 | 2:32 pm | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, Expert Pitches

As we approach the 73rd anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day, historians in Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience continue to work diligently collecting, preserving and archiving artifacts and documents that tell the stories of the thousands of lives that were forever changed on […]

75 years later, Pearl Harbor still teaching lessons of war

Published: November 30, 2016 | 11:08 am | Posted in: Arts & Humanities, Expert Pitches

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy leveled a crushing attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As the nation prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack that precipitated the United States’ entry into World War II, Pearl Harbor still endures as a monument to the […]

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