Higher Learning: “We’ve Been Dumped on by the Pentagon”: The American South and the Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Waste.

Aubrey Underwood, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies, Africana Women’s Studies and History at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), will serve as a panelist at a Sept. 19 symposium at the National Archives at Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Ga. 30260.

Underwood is among six speakers at the symposium.  Her presentation is “We’ve Been Dumped on by the Pentagon: The American South and the Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Waste.” 

More than 10,000 cubic feet of records relating to the Cold War in the American South are held at the National Archives at Atlanta.  These records include documentation of the space program, nuclear research and development, civil defense and the effects of these programs on the social and political environment of the Southeast.

This year’s symposium, “The Long Simmer: The Cold War and the American South,” encourages research in these diverse records, features scholars whose published works were based on these holdings, and promotes the discovery of new scholars from universities and colleges across the Southeast and the nation.

Underwood holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Alabama and received both a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in American history from Georgia State University.  Her expertise includes Cold War, Postwar U.S. History, World History and History of Media.

The symposium includes an online exhibit and a lobby display highlighting documents from the National Archives at Atlanta’s massive holdings of NASA, the Atomic Energy Commission, and Civil Defense records.  “This symposium not only highlights our holdings, but also regional scholars and authors who have used our records as source material in creating their books and presentations,” said Education Specialist Joel Walker of the National Archives at Atlanta.  “This symposium continues to attract historians and history buffs from outside the Atlanta area.  Already there are registrants from 20 different universities and colleges and seven different states.” 

The symposium will run from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with the doors opening at 8:30 a.m.  It is free and open to the public, but limited to 200 participants.  Pre-registration is required.  To register for the symposium, go to  http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/symposiums/cold-war/ or call 770-968-2530 for more information.  To view the accompanying online exhibit, go to  http://www.archives.gov/atlanta/exhibits/exhibits-coldwar.html