Frances Humphrey Lecture Series: Boxcar Diplomacy by Jane Sweetland

Description

At this time this lecture is full. Click here to reserve a seat at the Friday, March 1st 1:00 pm Encore Presentation of this lecture.

Boxcar Diplomacy is about two trains that crossed the Atlantic after WWII.  “The Friendship Train” was initiated by columnist Drew Pearson who noted that Communists were getting a foothold in a hungry Europe and Americans could showcase democracy with gifts of food. On October 11, he published the idea that a train could cross America collecting nourishment for Europe. On November 7, 1947 eight loaded boxcars rolled out of Los Angeles; eleven days later, the train arrived in New York with 700 boxcars. In February 1949, France reciprocated with a “Merci Train:” forty-nine boxcars, one fore each state and one for Washington, DC, which carried over a thousand gifts ranging from children’s drawings and handcrafted flags, to valuable artwork and historical artifacts. This lecture will take you back to the very beginning of the Cold War, when America united in a gesture of friendship designed to showcase what people living in a free country could do and many stories about how a grateful France said Thank you.

Jane Sweetland is a former dean and associate vice president at California State University Channel Islands. She has master’s degrees in Counseling and Writing and a doctorate in Education and has written three books. Jane has deep roots in Nevada. Albert Seeliger, for whom Carson’s grade school is named, was her great uncle. Her grandfather, Ernest Sweetland, was born in Carson City in 1880, and built the Sweetland Building just north of the capitol. In 1927, Ernest bought land at Lake Tahoe, from Henry Yeringtonnot too far from where Jane lives in Zephyr Cove.

Jane will be available after the lecture to sign copies of her book.

$8 for adults; free for museum members and ages 17 and under.

Seating is limited;