Rockford College professors host book-signings, take part in discussion about women in WWII

From press release

After three years of painstaking research and drafts, a book by three Rockford College professors is hot off the press.

We Are a College at War: Women Working for Victory in World War II by Rockford College professors Catherine Forslund, history; Mary Weaks-Baxter, English; and emerita professor Christine Bruun, psychology, was released Aug. 15 by Southern Illinois University Press and is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.

“The book argues that a women’s movement based on the political concept of care and rooted in Rockford alumna Jane Addams’ legacy persisted through the war period and beyond,” said Weaks-Baxter. “While highlighting voices from the Rockford College community, the book weaves together letters, speeches, newspaper stories and ads, personal recollections, and photographs with national historical context and analysis to show more generally the ways in which young American women and college students were involved in the war effort.”

The three professors plan several book-signings and talks in the next few weeks. They will appear at an event called “Capturing History” from 3 to 6 p.m., Oct. 7, at Memorial Hall. They will also take part in a panel discussion with author Emily Yellin and WWII-era Rockford College alumnae at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 14, in the Maddox Theatre and will sign their book afterward.

Yellin is author of Our Mother’s War about American women at home and at the front. She will speak at 4 p.m., Oct. 14, in the Maddox Theatre.

A website that provides supplemental materials for the book, We Are a College at War: Women Working for Victory in WWII, may be accessed at weareacollegeatwar.org.