Michael McGuire, assistant professor of History at Mount Saint Mary College, recently discussed one institution's unusual reaction to the first World War in his academic talk, "Elective Citizens? The Radcliffe College Community's Spectral Participation in World War I Activity, 1914-1926."
The talk was part of the Mount's Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) series. This series is taking place virtually this semester and is open to the public.
"We like to think that, in a time of crisis, everyone will shoulder their fair share for a higher purpose, and that this would especially be true among members of a college family," said McGuire. "However, this was not the case with Radcliffe College during World War I."
Radcliffe College was an all-women's institution in Cambridge, Mass that traditionally represented itself as civic-minded. All totaled, more than 2,000 members of the Radcliffe College community eventually assisted people impacted by World War I. However, according to McGuire, many students, faculty, administrators, and alumnae did not join in the war effort until victory seemed imminent.
The Radcliffe College community's 1914-1920 war record shows that these women and men generally did not consider solicited patriotic action to be a civic duty during wartime. Students and the college president, McGuire noted, proved consistently unwilling to sacrifice traditions like proms or to take part in all but the most superficial of war aid efforts.
"For Radcliffe members, patriotic citizenship was an elective, not a requisite," said McGuire. "I hope their past actions and inaction inspire us in 2021 to value service within our own campus community – for our campus community, for our Mid-Hudson region, our country, and our world."
The talk was based on McGuire's article, "A War Generation? The Radcliffe College Community in the Great War Era, 1914-1926," which was published in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
McGuire has studied history throughout his education, earning a bachelor's degree at Vassar College and a Ph.D. at Boston University. He taught at multiple institutions in the greater Boston area before coming to the Mount. His prior and current research focuses on the reasons why people enter humanitarian projects, and how the charitable assistance they provide intersects with cultural and diplomatic concerns.
The goal of the college's iROC is to provide a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with the college and local communities. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.
The next iROC talk will be by Susan LaRocco, dean of Mount Saint Mary College's School of Nursing. She will present "Male Nursing Students in Obstetric Clinical Experiences" on Thursday, March 11 at 4 p.m. The talk will take place virtually via Zoom. It's free, but you must register to attend. Register at www.msmc.edu/iROCLaRocco
Mount Saint Mary College, ranked a Top-Tier University by U.S. News & World Report, offers bachelor's and master's degree programs for careers in healthcare, business, education, social services, communications, media, and the liberal arts.