German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era

^ Read * German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era by Monique Laney È eBook or Kindle ePUB. German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era Based on oral histories, provided by members of the African American and Jewish communities, and  by the rocketeers’ families, co-workers, friends, and neighbors, Laney’s book demonstrates how the histories of German Nazism and Jim Crow in the American South intertwine in narratives about the past. In 1950, Wernher von Braun and his team of rocket experts relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, a town that would celebrate the team, despite their essential role in the recent Nazi war e

Author	:	Monique Laney
Rating	:	4.28 (926 Votes)
Asin	:	0300198035
Format Type	:	paperback
Number of Pages	:	320 Pages
Publish Date	:	2016-09-30
Language	:	English

DESCRIPTION:

“Laney, a daughter of Alabama and Germany, has produced an insightful, nuanced study of a unique historical phenomenon: the moral and cognitive dissonance that ensues when former agents of the Third Reich are transplanted to a segregated southern community and charged with winning the Cold War space race.”—Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Carry Me Home

"Fascinating raw historical data, no clear answers" according to Aaron C. Brown. On the plus side, this book is an in-depth investigation of a tremendously interesting historical juxtaposition that weaves together some of the most important threads in mid-20th century history. On the negative side, while the author is able to compile some fascinating observ

Based on oral histories, provided by members of the African American and Jewish communities, and  by the rocketeers’ families, co-workers, friends, and neighbors, Laney’s book demonstrates how the histories of German Nazism and Jim Crow in the American South intertwine in narratives about the past. In 1950, Wernher von Braun and his team of rocket experts relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, a town that would celebrate the team, despite their essential role in the recent Nazi war effort, for their contributions to the U.S. government–assisted integration of German rocket specialists and their families into a small southern community soon after World War II. Army missile program and later to NASA’s space program. This thought-provoking study by historian Monique Laney focuses on the U.S. This is a critical reassessment of a singular time that links the Cold War, the Space Race, and the Civil Rights era while addressing important issues of transnational science and technology, and asking Americans to consider their country’s own history of racism when reflecting on the Nazi past.