Doctoral Dissertation Research: Immigration, Science, and the Cold War: Rehabilitating Nazi Germany's Rocket Engineers in Huntsville, Alabama

这一博士论文项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术与社会项目支持，考察了二战后秘密军事行动“回形针计划”将德国火箭专家带到美国的文化和社会影响。这些德国火箭科学家被认为为美国军队和第一批登上月球的美国人将第一颗美国卫星送入轨道起到了重要作用。这项研究的重点是这些工程师和他们的家人如何从1950年开始融入阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的社区。这项研究探索了这些人之前为纳粹政权所做的工作是如何被他们自己、他们的家人以及他们在亨茨维尔的邻居解释的，以允许他们顺利地融入当地，并似乎毫无疑问地将这些德国人庆祝为美国英雄。通过将不同的地方视角与国家和国际视角随着时间的推移进行对比，这项研究展示了国家和地方焦点的变化如何影响对德国火箭工程师的陈述和评价。本研究的重点是从1950年到1970年，即从德国人到达亨茨维尔到1969年登月这段时间。该项目使用了文化人类学、社会学、历史学和传播学的跨学科组合方法，展示了不同的来源如何影响多重历史叙事的构建。这项研究的核心是从德国家庭成员以及亨茨维尔社区的白人、犹太人和非裔美国人那里收集的口述历史。口述历史与档案材料、报纸文章和回忆录相结合，说明关于第二次世界大战、大屠杀、吉姆·克罗、冷战南方犹太人的经历以及男性和女性视角的记忆如何反映在关于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔回形针项目意义的叙述中。该项目试图通过将科学和移民联系起来并分析它们对社区的影响，为科学技术史提供一种新的方法。

This doctoral dissertation project, supported by the Science, Technology & Society program at NSF, examines the cultural and social impact of bringing the German rocket experts to the United States under the post-Second World War secret military operation "Project Paperclip." These German rocket scientists are considered instrumental in putting the first American satellite into orbit for the U.S. Army and the first Americans on the moon. This research focuses on how these engineers and their families integrated into the community of Huntsville, Alabama, beginning in 1950. This study explores how the men's previous work for the Nazi regime was interpreted by themselves, their family members, and their neighbors in Huntsville, to allow for smooth local integration and seemingly unquestioned celebration of these Germans as American heroes. By contrasting diverse local perspectives with national and international perspectives over time, this study shows how changing national and local foci shaped representations and evaluations of the German rocket engineers. The primary focus for this study is the time period from 1950 to 1970, i.e., from the Germans' arrival in Huntsville until the moon landing in 1969. The project uses an interdisciplinary combination of methods from cultural anthropology, sociology, history, and communication studies to show how divergent sources inform the construction of multiple historical narratives. Central to the study are oral histories collected from members of the German families and from white, Jewish, and African American members of the Huntsville community. The oral histories are combined with archival material, newspaper articles, and memoirs to illustrate how memories of World War II, the Holocaust, Jim Crow, the experiences of Jews in the Cold War South, and male and female perspectives are reflected in narratives about the meaning of Project Paperclip for Huntsville, Alabama. This project seeks to provide a new approach to the history of science and technology by linking science and immigration and analyzing their impact on communities.