The Vietnam Archive has hired Anna Mallett to process the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA) Collection. Anna comes to the Archive from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, where she recently completed a Master’s Degree in History. She previously worked at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, and volunteered at the Idaho State Historical Library and Archives.

The FVPPA collection was donated to the archive in June 2005. The Archive received a $48,565 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to process the collection.

We are happy to announce that on Friday, October 27th Steve Maxner successfully defended his dissertation, entitled, “War and Death: Changes in American Attitudes Toward Sacrifice and the Effects on National Security Policy.” He will be hooded in ceremonies on December 15th 2006. I know all of DR. Steve’s friends will join us in congratulating him on this great achievement.

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT:Since the American Civil War, American attitudes toward death have changed in several important ways. How Americans reacted to wartime deaths in the nineteenth century differed rather substantially from how they have reacted during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This dissertation examines how Americans have reacted to deaths during war, how they assimilated those experiences into everyday life to include media and entertainment, and how these various factors have both reflected and contributed to change over time. This study includes an examination of how the issue of American casualties in war has come to dominate the public policy debate surrounding war and how this has impacted American National Security Policy.

Well done, Steve!

The Vietnam Archive has a new man at the helm, although he is hardly a new face on the scene. Steve Maxner has been named Associate Director (Archives), replacing Ron Frankum, who has moved on to a new teaching opportunity.Maxner joined the Vietnam Archive in 1998 as a research assistant. In 1999 he became the Archive’s first oral historian and played a key role in the development of the Archive’s Oral History Project. “Steve was well-trained under Ron,” said Jim Reckner, director of the Center. “I know he will do an outstanding job in that lead position. Ron’s departure is a great loss, but his move is a new opportunity for pursuing his career objectives.”Maxner is working on his dissertation for a doctorate in history at Texas Tech. He received BA and MA degrees in American history at the University of North Carolina and UNC-Wilmington in 1990 and 1995, respectively. Frankum had been at the Archive for nearly five years. His new horizon is a tenure track teaching position at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.