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

这个博士论文项目，由美国国家科学基金会的科学，技术社会计划的支持，研究了在第二次世界大战后的秘密军事行动“项目回形针”下，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有助于将第一颗美国卫星送入美国陆军的轨道，并帮助第一批美国人登上月球。这项研究的重点是如何这些工程师和他们的家庭融入社区的亨茨维尔，亚拉巴马，从1950年开始。 这项研究探讨了这些人以前为纳粹政权所做的工作是如何被他们自己、他们的家庭成员和他们在亨茨维尔的邻居解释的，以便顺利地融入当地社会，并毫无疑问地庆祝这些德国人是美国英雄。通过对比不同的地方观点与国家和国际的观点，随着时间的推移，这项研究表明，如何改变国家和地方的焦点形状的陈述和评价的德国火箭工程师。这项研究的主要重点是1950年至1970年这段时间，即，从德国人到达亨茨维尔到1969年登月该项目使用文化人类学，社会学，历史学和传播研究的方法的跨学科组合，以展示不同的来源如何告知多重历史叙事的构建。这项研究的核心是从德国家庭成员和亨茨维尔社区的白色、犹太人和非洲裔美国人成员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，以说明如何第二次世界大战的记忆，大屠杀，吉姆克劳，犹太人在冷战南方的经验，男性和女性的观点是反映在叙述项目回形针的意义，亚拉巴马。该项目旨在通过将科学与移民联系起来并分析其对社区的影响，为科学和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.