The Primary Source January 2014

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The Newsletter for the Department of History at the University of Idaho A Semester Newsletter News about Students Read a message from our Chair, find out about two students who have received honors, and see the latest student activities in pictures.

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Issue No. 1 – Fall 2013 Undergraduate Spotlight Many of our undergraduates have amazing stories. Read about what four of our undergraduates have been up to during their time at UI. Page 2

Featured Alumnus Dan Butler has recently set up a scholarship for students in need. Find out about his contribution and his time at UI as a PhD candidate working under Dr. William Greever.

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Program News Fall 2013 marks the largest group of incoming graduate students in recent years. Let’s find out a little bit about them.

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PHI ALPHA THETA FUNDRAISER A GREAT SUCCESS Phi Alpha Theta members and dedicated faculty helped make our spring 2013 fundraiser a success, raising over nine hundred dollars.

Last spring, an active and deeply dedicated membership answered the call and helped organize the most successful fundraiser in recent memory.

Facing a budget account of thirteen dollars, the Phi Alpha Theta Fundraising Committee got to work and organized a spaghetti feed, which took place at St. Augustine’s community room on April 5, 2013.

While the Fundraising Committee, led by Melissa Courtnage and Daniel Fogt, carried out much of the planning, a significant part of the success was also due to the volunteer efforts of all the Phi Alpha

Latest Research The department welcomes Dr. Somaditya Banerjee.

We sat down with Dr. Banerjee to find out how his graduate work in physics led him to a PhD in the history of science.

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Final Thoughts Special thanks to all of our wonderful friends and donors.

And have you heard of this Nazi conspiracy?

Check out Conspiracy Corner with Dr. Rick Spence.

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But what’s spaghetti without the sauce? Dr. Sean Quinlan dedicated a full day to the effort, serving up his grandmother’s secret marinara recipe that garnered much praise from the guests.

Several local businesses donated food and supplies, and where we fell short, members again made modest donations to make sure there was food to serve. Others made home-baked pastries, which brought in additional money at the fundraising auction.

Luke Roberts and Dr. Sean Quinlan stop for an impromptu picture while hard at work during a successful spaghetti feed.

Theta membership. Members canvased the campus and community of Moscow, posting flyers, making announcements in classes, and selling tickets ahead of the event. Of course, members were also on hand to set up, clean up, serve and prep food, bus tables, and wash dishes. History faculty put the word out to their classes as well, and many showed up to eat and take part in the event. With everyone’s fullest effort, the fundraiser was a success, putting nearly one thousand dollars into our budget account for the 2013-14 academic years.

Nick Courtnage, talented musician, Pullman High School band teacher, and husband of our very own Melissa Courtnage, supplied casual music for the guests. When Nick needed a break, a few members of the UI Jazz Band filled in to make sure the music didn’t stop.

This year, we hope to repeat our success as we continue to keep Phi Alpha Theta an active group at the University of Idaho. So if you are around Moscow on April 5, 2014 and smell something good coming out of St. Augustine’s, stop in and get a home-cooked meal while supporting our wonderful history students at the University of Idaho.

— Kristian Strub President, Phi Alpha Theta

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A WORD FROM THE CHAIR Dear readers, It is with greatest pleasure that I hold here in my hands the first issue of The Primary Source, the new newsletter for the Department of History. We will be publishing it bi-yearly, at the close of each semester. It's been a long time in coming!

Collectively the Department has long hoped to set up some way of communicating news of our students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and program curriculum—and make sure that we're all staying touch. We have a fabulous program—full of great students and great teachers—and we want to keep you abreast of everything that happens semester to semester.

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Two History Graduate Students Receive University Honors Daniel Fogt and Melissa Courtnage recently received the Alumni Award for Excellence from the University of Idaho. This award is presented each year to fifteen graduate and law students who have excelled in academic achievement and worked toward career and professional development. In addition, these students must have a proven record of leadership around campus and within their community. In other words, Daniel and Melissa have proven themselves to be “leaders in the classroom, laboratory, campus and community.”

Daniel and Melissa were anonymously nominated by members of the UI academic community.

Following their nomination, they had to apply and demonstrate their qualifications to a selection committee made up of faculty, alumni, and administrators of the University of Idaho.

Daniel has been an active member of Phi Alpha Theta and has held the position of both Secretary and Treasurer within the organization. Last year, he played a significant role in planning the Phi

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Alpha Theta fundraiser. In addition, Daniel was one of five history students who presented a paper at last year’s regional Phi Alpha Theta conference. He was also last year’s Senate representative of the History Department for the Graduate & Professional Student Association.

Melissa is the current CoVice President of Phi Alpha Theta, and she also helped lead the planning of last year’s fundraiser dinner and presented a paper at last year’s regional Phi Alpha Theta conference. In addition to volunteering at her son Henry’s daycare (the University of Idaho Children’s Center), she is also active in Jazz Choir I and Jazz Choir II at UI. Finally, she is last year’s recipient of the History Department’s Carlos Schwantes Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

We congratulate Daniel and Melissa on their outstanding work at UI and on their most recent honors!

We could not have launched this inaugural issue without the leadership and help of a very talented group of students: Kaylie Border, Shannon Kelly, Justin Smith, and Kristian Strub. Their hard work, enthusiasm, and love of history inspire us all, and we're deeply grateful for their time and dedication.

They are a testament to the wonderful students who fill our undergraduate and graduate programs. We're terribly proud of them!

Please know that we'd love to hear from our readers. Should you have any news or announcements that you'd like to see reported in The Primary Source, all you need to do is drop us a line at history@uidaho.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our fall 2013 Phi Alpha Theta initiation dinner held at Mikey’s Gyros in Downtown Moscow on December 3.

Most sincerely yours, Sean M. Quinlan, Department Chair

New Phi Alpha Theta initiates pictured with initiates from last spring. (Left to right: Matt McCune, Ben Bridges, Luke Roberts, Shannon Kelly, Steve Lomax).

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Kaylie Borden

Michael Weaver

Many students make a point to get involved around campus and in the community, but Kaylie Borden has set the bar high for student involvement at the University of Idaho. Kaylie will be graduating this semester, capping a three-and-half-year undergraduate career with a double major in History and Political Science and a minor in French. Since her very first semester at UI, she has taken advantage of every kind of opportunity available. She has worked on the Student Alumni Relations Board and on the Homecoming Committee each year at UI. With the Homecoming Committee, she has been a Bonfire/Serpentine Chair, Parade Chair, and a Parade Organizing Assistant.

In addition, she has worked with Vandal Reps, providing guided tours around campus to visitors and prospective students. Kaylie is a member of Terpsichore Student Dance Society and is a dance instructor with Festival Dance. As if she needs more credentials, she is also a member of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority, where she has held the position of Vice President of Operations and Ritual Coordinator. Her participation in the Greek community extends further as a Sigma Rho Chi Sorority Recruitment Counselor. Of course, as an active student of History, she is also a member of a Phi Alpha Theta, where this semester she is helping put out our inaugural department newsletter!

Michael Weaver is one of the outstanding undergraduates currently studying at the University of Idaho. A senior History major, Michael’s greatest contribution to the department thus far has been his exceptional research and presentation of this research at this past year’s Phi Alpha Theta conference.

Kaylie retuned to campus this year after a semester abroad in Cork, Ireland.

She chose Ireland because she had been interested in the nation’s history and knew Ireland was going through a change in government structure. Being a student of political science and history, naturally she wanted to witness the situation as a student resident. While there, she became very interested in the role of the Irish collective memory and how it has played out in daily lives and government. To students thinking about study abroad, she says just go for it.

“Learning to act for yourself in a completely different culture and system of beliefs,” according to Kaylie, is the most important benefit of study abroad.

But if you ask Kaylie what really gets her excited, she’ll tell you it is maritime history. Two years ago, Kaylie had an internship opportunity where she learned how to crew a tall ship sailing vessel, and it has been one of her passions ever since. This past summer, Kaylie worked with the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, where she worked as the Steward/Educational Coordinator. The group works with a diverse demographic of young, old, K12, and any combination of people who want to spend a day, a week, or even a few months at sea learning about and experiencing tall ship sailing. The vessels are recreations of 18th and 19th century commercial ships, and while on board, Kaylie and her crew provide the tall ship experience along with short educational lectures on the history of ocean trade, commercial sailing, class structure, and life aboard a tall ship.

While she hasn’t ruled out pursuing her maritime interests in graduate school, Kaylie’s immediate plans are to continue to work with tall ship sailing companies after graduation—she already has two job offers. For long-term plans, she may pursue her historical interests in the educational field, either for communities as a maritime museum curator or to students as a professor.

Whatever she decides, her future looks to be full of potential, and we all extend our best wishes as she finishes a stellar undergraduate career at UI!

Michael has always known that he wanted to pursue a career in history, political science, or philosophy. After taking a spectrum of classes in his first few years at UI, he settled on a History major and Political Science minor. In his History major, Michael has distinguished himself especially in the field of individual research. His emphasis has been American political history, specifically Cold War infrastructure projects and the political implications of these projects. This interest has led to his presentation on a paper discussing the construction of Hell’s Canyon Dam at the conference in Portland this past spring. His thesis—that the political conflict over the construction of dams in Idaho was one of the primary factors of the statewide Democratic to Republican shift and presented the death of New Deal policies in Idaho—was well-received by his conference peers.

While on the search for information concerning his paper, Michael was able to peruse the university’s extensive collection of correspondence from Gracie Pfost, the Idaho politician whose goal it was to construct Hell’s Canyon Dam. In doing so he read thousands of individual letters and sources from Pfost, leading to an impressive bibliography that garnered praise at the conference.

Michael appreciated the chance to hear feedback from both professional historians and fellow students. His was one of five student papers from UI to be selected for presentation at the conference, and his only disappointment was that there wasn’t enough time during the conference to hear every paper being presented.

Michael’s plans after graduation will entail either law school or graduate studies in history. To facilitate this decision he will be taking both the GRE and LSAT this spring, applying to the best graduate programs in the country, and looking for funding and grants. If he does indeed seek further schooling in history, Michael plans to focus on the study of water rights and infrastructure: “It’s definitely a field that’s not so flooded as to not get an in,” he says.

During his years at the University of Idaho, Michael has been deeply involved in campus and community life. As a History major he has been a member of Phi Alpha Theta, serving as its Vice President this year. He was president of the UI chapter of College Democrats for two consecutive years and this year has stepped down to fulfill the Vice President role and allow new leaders to gain experience. Michael is also a member of the Ballroom Dance Team and the University Honors College. However, his primary focus this semester has been success in his eighteen credits of classwork, proving that senior year need not be an easy year for the most driven of students. Before he graduates, Michael hopes to continue his research into the story of Hell’s Canyon Dam with a directed study.

The history department looks forward to the continuation of Michael’s research in this and any other fields he chooses to study and wishes him well as he concludes an exemplary undergraduate career next semester.

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Dakota Willett

Kellie Koester

Dakota J. Willett is part of the outstanding student body which the University of Idaho boasts. Pursuing a B.A. in History, while double minoring in Spanish and Philosophy, Dakota is now a junior in good standing. Born in Burley, Idaho, he grew up on a small farm in the Southern Idaho. Seeking to escape the familiarity of his hometown, he looked north to the state’s flagship institution. UI offered more than affordability— the atmosphere of the campus and community presented the perfect blend. Moscow was just far enough from home, but still in state; “Northern Idaho was a good change.” Acquiring a position in the library with Access Services, in the previous three years Dakota has secured an array of professional skills beyond his coursework. His favorite part of the job is interacting with other students.

While at the University of Idaho, Kellie Koester has made good use of her time. A member of the Honors program, she will graduate this spring with a double major in History and International Studies and a minor in Spanish.

Kellie has been involved in several organizations around UI during her time as an undergraduate. Starting with the Honors program, she spent her time last year as a Student Mentor for Quest for Survival, a program designed to assist incoming first-year honors students. This year, she has been running a discussion group for honors students which meets once a week to discuss issues ranging from assisted suicide to individual ideas of perfection. She has worked for the Dean of Students Office for the past three years as a fall orientation leader for incoming students and as a teacher for Focus on Success, which provides advice to students on how to manage their schedules and balance their academic and personal lives in a healthy way. For the Office of Student Involvement, Kellie had spent this year as a Daytime Events Coordinator, helping to set up the Daytime Distraction Series. The purpose of the Daytime Distraction Series is to encourage random acts of student involvement by setting up various short activities. She is a member of the UI Ultimate Frisbee Club, which has competed in six tournaments around the Northwest this semester alone, and she helped found the Moscow Undergraduate Mock Trial Club her freshman year. In its second year, the mock trial group travelled to Atlanta to compete in a national speech and debate competition. Finally, she works with Envision Idaho, a program for visiting high school students to learn about UI and find out if UI is the best fit for their needs.

In his personal life he is a musician, playing electric and acoustic guitar, piano, and composing music; he is currently learning the drums as well. Although his favorite band is the Beatles, Dakota takes his inspiration from Rock, Jazz, and Blues music. Loving nature, he tries to be outside whenever possible. In the summer he takes routine hiking and camping trips in the Sawtooth Mountain Range accompanied by his girlfriend and Australian shepherd. He equally loves winter, enjoying the cold and snow, and finds adventure in snowboarding.

At present, Dakota is a research assistant for Professor Dale Graden. Their project examines Ernest Hemingway’s influence during the Spanish Civil War, adding to the discussion of American support for Spanish Republicans. The war is an important historical event: Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn were among the few Americans engaged at the time and their involvement needs further analysis. Broadly, world and cultural history intrigue Dakota’s intellectual curiosities. He also loves social history. Although he admits to “loving it all,” his major historical interests include the United States during the 1960s and India. “History, to me, is not just about looking at one area of the world, but analyzing the world as a whole to figure out why the present is the way it is, why things are the way they are.” He hopes that prior to departing from UI he will be able to study abroad; Spain, South America, and India are all on the list of possibilities.

Dakota looks to the future with aspirations of graduate school, perhaps focusing on the global spread of Eastern philosophies, particularly Buddhism.

As a Zen-Buddhist, such historical events fascinate him. He is particularly captivated by the life of Bodhidharma, who brought Buddhism to China. With this story in mind, the cultural adaptations of Buddhism in various nations and its expansion into the U.S. by the 1950s may be a focal point of a future thesis. The combination of philosophical, religious, cultural, and social history amazes the young scholar. Ultimately he would love a career in research or teaching. “I love finding information and critically thinking about it . . .

History is like a puzzle and I love to put the pieces together.”

This past year, Kellie spent a semester in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

She spent a little over three months in school, taking some Portuguese classes, and stayed in Brazil for the summer “WWOOFing,” working for room and board on a farm at a Tibetan Buddhist retreat in the state of Minas Gerais. She also travelled to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, where she played Ultimate Frisbee in several tournaments and helped one club team organize practices.

Ultimate Frisbee is relatively new in Brazil and growing in popularity in recent years, according to Kellie. These activities helped Kellie to create relationships with locals and be a traveler more than a tourist.

As part of her International Studies degree, Kellie has established her emphasis on Latin America, but in History, her favorite classes have been Dr. Quinlan’s history of medicine and science classes. In these courses, she has gained an understanding and interest in the history of European medicine and science, but she would like to find out more about the field in relation to Latin America.

As Kellie looks to graduate this spring, her time at UI has certainly been well spent, and she is fully prepared to take her skills whereever she likes. She may consider graduate school in the future but is unsure of which field she will pursue if she takes that step. She would love to study more history but is leaving her options open. For now, she hopes that after graduation she can gain some experience working for a non-profit organization and would like to stay rooted in the Northwest.

As Kellie finishes up her time at UI, she can reflect back on a very active and successful undergraduate experience. We all extend our best wishes as she sets off on new adventures.

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greatly on his educational journey in that his dissertation would involve the Camas Prairie Railroad. With a focus in American history, an interest in transportation stemming from geography, plus connections to the Prairie, the stage was set for Butler’s career in railroads. Greever enthusiastically supported Dan’s choice to look at the Camas Prairie Railroad, headquartered in Lewiston, Idaho. The Railroad had been owned by two other companies with continual success; however, no scholar had studied its role.

The Legacy of Giving Esteemed alumnus Dan Butler continues the History Department’s and University’s legacy of giving. Having earned his PhD in 1975, Butler is giving back to the department which served him so well. He established the Need Based Book Fund, a scholarship awarded to financially strapped students for the purchase of educational material.

Dan Butler was born in San Francisco. His family moved to Benicia, California, which served as the state capital from 1853-54. Dan grew up in this small town forty-five miles east of San Francisco, where his ancestors had migrated during the Gold Rush.

Butler is a decedent of Irish immigrants who came to the West in the 1850s. “Growing up, history was all around me,” he remarks. After attending three years of Catholic school, he graduated from Douglas County High School in Nevada. Dan’s fiftieth high school reunion took place earlier this year and what a joy it was. He subsequently received a B.A. in History from the University of Wyoming, minoring in Speech. In the two years following his undergraduate, he lived in Alaska teaching junior high on a U.S. Army base. Butler was known for the stringency of his U.S. History courses, which prepared sophomores for life with the tools of critical thought.

Next he earned an M.A. from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. After earning his Masters, his advisor talked him into getting a PhD and strongly suggested attending the University of Idaho. His advisor knew two things: that Dan was interested in transportation and UI offered Dr. William Greever.

Greever had served the History Department since 1949, and was a specialist in railroads and mining.

Dan Butler was his last doctoral student. Arriving at UI in 1970, young Butler met his mentor, William Greever, who became a major supporter and lifelong friend. Greever was, “A no nonsense kind of guy. But if you did your work and played by the rules he was right there with you.” Butler trusted his major professor to such an extent that, “Whatever he asked, I did.”

In his five years at UI, Butler worked on campus as an Area Coordinator for seven dormitories; his duties included overseeing Wallace Residence Center and McConnell Hall. Supervising the dorms was a “great job” and allowed Dan to afford tuition.

Lots of students from the Camas Prairie resided in McConnell Hall, and so Dan became connected to the Prairie through these acquaintances. This bore

Butler traveled to Lewiston to meet with the chief clerk, who was certain that Dan was there for a job.

When Butler asked to study the history of the company the chief clerk had a puzzled look on his face—“No one asked me to do that before.” The chief clerk contacted his superiors in Portland and Seattle; three days later a phone call assured Dan that his project would go forth. The stipulations for the study were laid out, but nothing that Dan did not expect—no access to personnel files. Upon his first day at work he was given a desk near the chief dispatcher, free access to the facility, and access to the attic where records were stored. Along a wall in the attic were fifty file boxes containing the vast array of primary sources that historians so deeply cherish. He began work with file number one, which he studied for the rest of the day. Initially unable to bring files home, his working relationship with the Camas Prairie Railroad expanded into a kindred friendship. A week later he was allowed to take files home for two or three days, by the sixth week of work, the chief clerk told Dan to take what he needed and bring them back when he was finished. This laid the foundation for a wonderful dissertation. The railroad, owned by the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern, asked for ten bound copies of his dissertation. A few years later the company asked for an additional ten. Butler’s love of trains was enhanced by experiences while working with the railroad, riding the train to Grangeville, Idaho, among other destinations.

Although Dan did not receive a teaching assistantship, he did teach geography for one year.

Maintaining the dormitories and hosting new student orientation assisted with tuition. His job in the residence halls equipped him with the skills to handle any situation. He also humorously recounts the reaction of mothers visiting the women’s dorm where he was housed. He also served on the Democratic Central Committee. Working fulltime and maintaining his coursework kept Dan busy, but not joyless. “I really enjoyed my years at Idaho.”

Butler recounts the celebration following his final exams as a doctoral student. Dr. Greever said: “Mr. Butler come into my office.” Dan thought, “Oh God, what have I done now.” “You had a hell of a party last night.” “Yeah pretty big, three dorms pooled money for the bars.” “I’ve been here since 1949, and I’ve never seen so many hung-over undergrads.

That is all.” Butler notes the three most important people in his life as, his father, son, and Greever.

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The University was a “great place to go to school, the faculty was outstanding.” Beyond Greever, Butler notes Fred Winkler as an outstanding mentor, an “awesome man with a steel trap for a mind.” Winkler was known for U.S. Diplomatic History and was a favored speaker to whom students loved to listen. Butler reminisces about picking up Winkler at least twice a year for award dinners in which he was invited by students as the faculty speaker. Dr. Carlos Schwantes and Dan also became friends. The two met, after Dan graduated, in an elevator at a western history conference. Butler recognized that Schwantes’ name tag said University of Idaho. When Dan introduced himself, Schwantes replied, “Ah, Greevers’ boy.” Dr. Greever looked out for Dan, so much so that today Butler visits his widow, Mrs. Greever, whenever he is in Moscow.

At this time UI required doctoral candidates to minor in a subject. Dan chose geography based on his own interest and the guidance of his advisor.

Dan comments, “UI and geography was the best advice I ever received.” Jobs were hard to find in the mid-70s, but geography allowed Butler to find one after graduation. He worked at a community college in Arkansas then went on to be dean of a community college in Kansas. Butler spent twelve and a half years working for the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. He served eighteen months as the department chair, which he enjoyed because of his contact with students. However, his passion for trains carried him to Amtrak, where he worked for the next twenty years. The job was fun with the excitement of riding trains; Butler notes, “I rode them more than anyone else.” Traveling was always a hobby of his, and he lived all over the country.

Dan then got involved in teaching Peruvian children. Peru only compels children to a fourth grade education, after this, children must pay to ride the bus into town for further schooling. Butler supplies funds for their bus fair and teaches in person every couple years. He jokes about his Spanish, “I have a great vocabulary, but no grammar.” He is also seeking to start a fund for these children.

Although he now lives in Spokane, Washington, he maintains a relationship with the University. In addition to creating the Need Based Book Fund, Butler serves on the University of Idaho’s Library Committee. The Committee selects resources, suggests improvements, and maintains the smooth functioning of the library; this service was a way to get back into the University. He says, “It’s important to give back.” Since 1977, he has been a member of the Lexington Transportation Group— an organization of railroad historians and executives. The group meets once a year and membership is by invitation only. Butler is currently working on a paper regarding the Camas Prairie to present in 2015 at a conference in Moscow. “I left UI in 1975, for most people that is long ago, but for me it was just the other day.”

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Introducing the newest members of our graduate program 2013–14 marks one of the largest incoming groups of graduates we’ve had in the past decade. Let’s introduce you to some of these excellent students ...

Caitlin Marineau

James MacNaughton

Brian DeFriez

Carey Nigh

Caitlin earned her B.A. from Gonzaga University. She received her M.I.S. in Library and Information Services, and Archives and Records Management from the University of Michigan. She came to UI from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take a job at the UI library, where she continues to work. Her thesis is a comparative study of conservative women’s movements in the United States, focusing on their opposition to suffrage in the early 20th century and the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

James graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology from Arizona State University, minoring in Bioarchaeology. He holds an M.S. in Archaeology from Illinois State University. Prior to coming to UI, he worked in Ireland as Assistant Director of a field school, and as a professional archaeologist in Wyoming and most recently in Arizona. He is now working toward his PhD in Historical Archaeology, where he studies Asian immigrant workers in the American West.

Brian studied at Brigham Young University-Idaho where he received his B.A. in History.

Following his undergraduate, he went on to study law at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan. Over the past five years, Brian has worked in a private law practice. His research interests relate to early American history with an emphasis on constitutional law.

Carey received his B.A. from Purdue University, where he studied Secondary Social Studies Education. He comes to UI from Shelbyville, Indiana, where he spent the last seven years teaching 8th through 12th grade AP U.S. history, government, economics, and world history.

His research interests include American colonial history, with a focus on political and economic influences of mercantilism.

Amelia White

Becky Byers

Taylor Papworth

Anthony Saia

Anthony completed his B.A. in History while receiving a minor in Art at the University of Idaho.

After completing his undergraduate degree, he moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he was Assistant Director of Landmark Arts and worked in an art gallery.

He returned to Moscow to pursue his M.A. at UI, where his primary research interests involve outlaw culture in the United States.

Taylor attended Brigham Young University-Idaho, where he received his B.A. in History in 2010. Shortly after graduating from BYU-Idaho, he relocated to Clarkston, Washington, where he currently lives with his wife and two daughters.

His research interests vary from Modern Europe—Germany in particular—political history, and the U.S. Civil War.

Amelia studied both Secondary Education and History at the University of Idaho, where she earned a B.A. in both fields in 2012. Afterwards, she took a year off of school and moved to Southern Idaho. She returned to Moscow this year to pursue her M.A. in both History and Secondary Education. She is still considering her thesis topic but is currently considering and researching the English Civil War, with a focus on Cornwall.

Becky earned her B.A. in English while minoring in History from the University of Idaho in 1999. In 2004, she completed her M.S. in Adult and Organizational Learning and Leadership from UI Coeur d’Alene. She lives in Post Falls, Idaho, with her husband and three children, and has worked for UI Coeur d’Alene as a recruiting and advising coordinator for the past 14 years.

Her research interests include the American West, Chinese immigration, and women’s history.

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Professor Somaditya (Soma) Banerjee is the newest addition to the University of Idaho’s teaching staff.

Professor Banerjee began his academic journey in physics, receiving both a B.Sc from Saint Xavier’s College Calcutta and M.Sc from the University of Pune in physics, followed by a M.S. in physics from the University of Arkansas. He then received his M.A. in the history of science from the University of Minnesota. Banerjee’s most recent achievement is the completion of his doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia.

Professor Banerjee’s interest in scientific thought began in the 10th grade when he observed a solar eclipse. He was inspired by its beauty and wanted a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that caused it to happen. The eclipse was “a spectacular natural event,” and one that motivated him to pursue a career in scientific inquiry. As he progressed in his field, the innovative and philosophical areas of physics became a particular interest, as did the history of discoveries within physics.

Initially, Banerjee planned on taking a doctoral degree in physics, but modern physics proved to focus too much on the computational aspects of the discipline to satisfy his curiosity. The kind of physics that Banerjee had in mind was less conceptual and more problem-centric; throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies, he found himself getting better and better at solving individual problems but was losing sight of the big picture, as well as the fun he had previously found in physics. “Equations would magically pop up with no context,” Banerjee says of his first course of study. “Equations need context to make sense.” He found it frustrating that general assumptions without background were the only foundation available for the modern physicist. The development of quantum physics, a topic that would later feature prominently in Banerjee’s research, was explained with the simplistic suppositions that “Einstein was a genius and

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scientists are all very smart people.” When Banerjee asked an advisor about the dearth of context present in his discipline, he was dissuaded from pursuing the history of science as an emphasis: “‘It was no use studying the history of physics because you need to look forward, not behind.’” Thereafter Professor Banerjee began to seriously consider a degree in the history of science in order to find the answers he sought within the frame of the background that he had been lacking. Science without perspective, he says, “doesn’t make sense.

Scientists are also human beings, they all have a context. They think in a particular way.” In order to pursue his doctorate, Banerjee moved to the University of British Columbia. His new program provided the academic environment that Banjee sought, and it was there that he studied under Dr. Alexei Kojevnikov, an authority on the intersection of the histories of science and culture. Banerjee and Kojevnikov had met at a conference in 2005, while Banerjee was still a graduate student in Minnesota’s physics department. The two had kept in touch and Kojevnikov’s recent move to British Columbia intersected conveniently with Banerjee’s search for a university that would best fit his research interests.

Working there in the history of physics, Banerjee became interested in the relationship between science and culture, citing “how culture influences science and how science influences culture” as the basis of his corpus of research. Banerjee’s dissertation examines the history of physics in early 20th-century India, focusing on how Indian physicists created their own indigenous school of thought and responded to the development of quantum physics. The reaction of these individuals and their school to the ideas of Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr, their own visions of physics based on colonial background, their cosmopolitan outlook

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due to the widespread reading of western scholars, and the reflection within India of Danish, British, and German scientific themes in Indian science feature prominently in Banerjee’s thesis work.

Additionally, Professor Banerjee has published various articles and schoarly reviews on works of the history of science in Science and Narratives of Nature: East and West and Isis. He is currently working on a book manuscript based on his dissertation for which he recently travelled to Boston, in part to present his research to potential publishers. He is also working on a piece for Physics in Perspective examining atomic science in twentieth-century India.

This semester Professor Banerjee has taught the first half of a survey course on the history of science, covering antiquity to 1800, the second half of which will be given in the spring. He has also taught a course on modern India. Spring 2014 will see the second installment of the survey course, covering 1800 to the making of modern science (titled “Frankenstein to Einstein”) as well as a class on world history from 1650 to the present.

As he wrote his dissertation, Banerjee applied to openings in History of Science positions at various universities, ultimately accepting his current post.

In contrast to Vancouver, where Banerjee wrote his dissertation, Moscow has proven to be a quiet, welcoming place to live and work. Banerjee appreciates Idaho’s more personal class sizes, faculty/student ratio, and the level of student engagement and focus that these things facilitate.

Banerjee describes the faculty and staff within the history department and the university as a whole as “fantastic.” We look forward to what the future holds for Professor Banerjee and sincerely welcome him to the history department!

Dr. Banerjee was the keynote speaker at our recent Phi Alpha Theta initiation dinner. He discussed his transition from a graduate student in physics to a professor of the history of science.

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Conspiracy Corner The “Nazi Rasputin”: Erik Jan Hanussen Professor Rick Spence, Department of History On the morning of 7 April, 1933, a farmer near Berlin made a grisly discovery: the dead body of a man, dressed in evening clothes. Beyond that, it was hard to tell much. The corpse was bloated and maggot-ridden and animals had so gnawed the face that it was practically unrecognizable. Nevertheless, police quickly determined that the deceased was Erik Jan Hanussen, a well-known Berlin psychic, astrologer and public figure who had gone missing two weeks earlier. He had been killed, execution-style, with two shots to the head.

Officially, the case remained unsolved.

In fact, Hanussen’s killers were members of the Nazi Brownshirts (SA) organization in Berlin. On whose orders they acted remains a mystery, but presumably it was someone higher up on the Nazi hierarchy. This was odd, because up to his demise, Hanussen had been the friend of several highranking Nazis, not to mention a Party member and an honorary member of the SA. Beyond that, he had met and advised Adolf Hitler himself and his accurate predictions had earned him the nickname “The Prophet of the Third Reich.” But even odder was the fact that Hanussen was a Jew. Hanussen wasn’t Hanussen at all. His true name was Hershmann Chaim (later Hermann) Steinschneider and he was born in Vienna in 1889 as the son of an itinerant Jewish vaudeville comedian. From the start his and Hitler’s lives seem weirdly intertwined. They entered the world in the same year, roughly a month apart, both as subjects of the declining Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both spent time bumming around Vienna in the years before World War I; indeed, it’s not improbable that they rubbed elbows in some seedy café.

Both went on to serve in the war and each rose to the rank of lance-corporal.

Both also developed a kind of mystical conviction in their special destiny. No doubt Hanussen would have argued that these were all signs that those destinies were bound to intersect.

Hermann “Harry” Steinschneider followed in his father’s footsteps and spent his youth traveling around Central Europe with circuses and vaudeville shows. Along the way he consorted with fortune-tellers, strongmen, escapeartists, hypnotists, stage magicians and clairvoyants and picked up many of their tricks, as well as adding a few of his own. On occasion he aided (or more often annoyed) local authorities by posing as a “psychic detective” in the solution of puzzling crimes. In the army, his apparent talents as a mindreader and dowser got him out of the trenches and into cushy duty in the rear.

As in similar cases, it’s not clear whether Hanussen really believed he possessed extra-sensory ability or whether he was merely a convincing trickster. But there’s no real question that whatever his abilities, he was also something of a crook and con-man.

Steinschneider played around with several aliases before latching onto Erik Jan Hanussen in 1918. As such, he claimed to be a Dane of noble background whose telepathic powers had led him to become a showman, psychic investigator and student of the occult. When Viennese authorities banned the public exhibition of hypnotism and similar antics, Hanussen headed for greener pastures and landed in Berlin in the early 20s. In 1924, he even crossed the Atlantic for an American tour, though he found Yankee audiences either too jaded or dull-witted to appreciate his act. In Europe, however, especially in Germany, Hanussen was a big draw and by 1928 he was billing himself as the “Wizard of the Ages.” But growing fame also generated opposition. A prosecutor in the Czechoslovak town of Leitmeritz charged Hanussen with fraud and larceny, basing his case on the proposition that clairvoyance did not exist. In a long, public trial, Hanussen won acquittal by demonstrating his mental powers to judges, jury and the assembled press.

By 1930, Hanussen had pitched his tent more or less permanently in Berlin where he quickly became a celebrity of the first order and a symbol of the

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decadent hedonism of the Weimar capital. His lavish performances at the Scala and other theatres were attended by the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Peter Lorre, Fritz Lang—and Hermann Goering. By means mysterious, Hanussen came into enough money to not only buy expensive cars, a yacht and a private airplane, but also magazines and newspapers.

There is the distinct suggestion that Hanussen’s sudden wealth and influence was abetted by unseen hands, possibly the intelligence agencies of one or more foreign powers. For instance, another occultist living in Berlin in this period was the notorious Aleister Crowley. Crowley had a long connection to British intelligence, and at least part of what he was up to in Berlin involved spying on certain individuals for Scotland Yard and MI6. A man like Hanussen would not have escaped his scrutiny. Hanussen cultivated contacts in high political and social circles, and as his predictions increasingly focused on political matters he thereby gained some ability to influence them. He could be a very useful man to know, or to have on one’s payroll.

In 1933, Pierre Mariel, a writer with close ties to Frênch intelligence, authored (as “Teddy Legrand”) a strange book, Les Sept Tetes du Dragon Vert (“The Seven Heads of the Green Dragon”). It claimed to reveal the machinations of an international criminal conspiracy which, among others things, was behind Hitler’s rise to power. Hanussen appears thinly disguised as the “Man with the green gloves” and an agent of the conspiracy. Whether or not Hanussen was part of some shadowy cabal, there is no doubt that he was involved in shady doings. He hosted—and secretly filmed—private séances in which participants often wound up in compromising circumstances. He also extended private loans to “special friends,” including prominent Nazis.

Exactly when Hanussen met Hitler is another point open to some debate. In 1943, psychoanalyst Walter Langer compiled a “Psychological Profile” of Hitler for the American OSS. One of his sources was dissident Nazi Otto Strasser who claimed that Hitler took lessons on public speaking and audience manipulation from Hanussen “during the early 20s.” Given that there is no other evidence to support such an early encounter, Langer probably got his wires crossed on timing, though the possibility cannot be ruled out entirely.

However, the pair certainly did meet in June 1932 and periodic meetings continued for the better part of a year. Hanussen’s biographer Wilfried Kugel suspects that the initial introduction may have come through Hanns Heinz Ewers, a German occultist who gravitated to the Nazis and, incidentally, was an old acquaintance of Crowley. However, the clearest evidence suggests that the connection came through Count Wolf Heinrich von Helldorf, chief of the Berlin Brownshirts and one of Hanussen’s devoted fans (and debtors). In 1932, what Adolf wanted from Hanussen wasn’t speaking lessons but glimpses into the future.

As early as 1930, Hanussen had prophesied that Germans would soon receive a dictator of “radical-socialist” stripe, though his publications satirized Hitler as they did other politicians. That changed in March 1932. At the time, Hitler was running for president against the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg.

Hanussen predicted that Hindenburg would win (he did) but that Hitler would become chancellor within a year. From this point on, Hanussen and his press took a decidedly pro-Nazi stance. In June Hanussen assured a jittery Adolf he need not worry about the Party’s fortunes in the upcoming elections.

Sure enough, the Nazis scored a huge success in the July balloting, doubling their seats to become the biggest party in the Reichstag.

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, just as predicted. Hanussen was at the peak of his power. In addition to being the favored soothsayer of the new regime, he was about to open his opulent Palace of the Occult in Berlin. The Capital’s elite clamored for invitations to its grand opening. But there were also troubles brewing. His tilt to the Nazis earned Hanussen the enmity of the Communist press which had, without much difficulty, dug up proof of his Jewish ancestry. Hanussen did his best to brush off the whole thing and his Nazi pals like Helldorf remained steadfast, for the time being anyway. Most of them probably had known of or suspected his Jewish origins all along.

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The Palace of the Occult opened its doors on the evening of 26 February. In a semi-private séance, Hanussen had a fateful vision. Gazing into the future, he claimed to see a “great building” on fire. Less than 20 hours later, the Reichstag was ablaze. The Nazis promptly blamed the fire on a Communist plot and rammed through emergency powers which enabled Hitler to establish dictatorial control. Berlin police arrested Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutchman with Communist connections and a history of arson. Van der Lubbe doubtless was the fire bug, but whether he acted alone or of his own volition remains a subject of mystery and debate. Wilfried Kugel makes a compelling, if circumstantial, case that the true mastermind of the Reichstag fire and the hypnotic puppet master controlling Van der Lubbe was Hanussen.

His goal, presumably, was to re-affirm his psychic powers and win greater influence over the Nazis. If so, it backfired. As Hanussen seemed to realize in his final letters, he had gone too far and brought down upon himself a doom he felt powerless to avoid.

In mid-March, most of his Nazi friends, including Helldorf, found themselves ousted or re-assigned. On 24 March, a brace of SA men dragged him to Gestapo headquarters but released him after a few hours of rough questioning. Among other things, they accused him of secretly working with the Communists. That seems very unlikely but, again, not altogether

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impossible. The next day, three men snatched him off the street. The end of the story we know, more or less. For instance, there was a rumor that the faceless corpse in the field wasn’t Hanussen, that the Trickster avoided his enemies by again changing form and disappearing. It’s another doubtful, but intriguing, possibility.

Did the Nazis kill Hanussen because he was a Jew, because he was a Communist, because they owed him money, because he had become too powerful, or because they no longer needed him? Was it a combination of things? Or were the SA gunmen, and Hanussen, just the disposable tools of something else, like Mariel’s Green Dragon?

Additional Reading: The best English-language source is probably Mel Gordon’s Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler’s Jewish Clairvoyant (Feral House, 2001). See also Arthur Magida, The Nazi Séance: The Strange Story of the Jewish Psychic in Hitler's Circle (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Wilfried Kugel’s Hanussen: Die wahre Geschichte des Hermann Steinschneider (Grupello Verlag, 1998) is arguably the most thorough account.

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