At a moment when political division feels like the defining feature of American life, historian and author Peter Shinkle takes us back to a time when leaders from opposing parties came together to confront an existential threat.

In his book Uniting America: How FDR and Henry Stimson Brought Democrats and Republicans Together to Win World War II, Shinkle tells the remarkable—and largely forgotten—story of the partnership between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Republican statesman Henry L. Stimson.

Drawing on newly uncovered correspondence and deep archival research, Shinkle shows how this unlikely alliance helped overcome isolationism, build public support for intervention, and ultimately mobilize the United States for victory in World War II. Their collaboration—joined by figures like Frank Knox and Wendell Willkie—demonstrates how crossing party lines was not a political liability, but a national necessity.

As Shinkle explains, this bipartisan effort didn’t emerge in calm times—it took shape amid fierce political conflict, public resistance to war, and deep uncertainty about America’s role in the world. Yet it proved decisive. The defeat of fascism, the creation of the United Nations, and the enduring idea that the United States must help defend democracy abroad all grew from this moment of cooperation .

This program explores how Roosevelt brought Republicans into his cabinet, and how they overcame isolationism before Pearl Harbor. But it wasn’t all easy, and bipartisanship did not guarantee moral clarity. But it did make possible one of the most consequential mobilizations in American history .

Join us for a conversation that connects past to present and asks a simple, enduring question: what does it take for Americans to act together when it matters most?

#WWIIHistory #FDR #HenryStimson #Bipartisanship #AmericanHistory #WorldWarII #Leadership #VeteransHistory #VBC #HistoryMatter

For Women’s History Month, we talk with author and historian Brooke Kroeger, whose recent article, “The Go-Between,” shines new light on one of World War II’s most fascinating and least understood correspondents: Helen Kirkpatrick. Brooke will also discuss WWII reporter Ann Stringer, whose story Brooke captured in A Journalist at War.

Helen Kirkpatrick was everywhere the war burned hottest: London during the Blitz, North Africa, Italy, Normandy, and Paris. She broke major stories, moved with unusual ease among political, military, and diplomatic circles, and became the only woman among 1,600 accredited American correspondents to receive the U.S. Medal of Freedom for her wartime service. How did she gain such access? And why do some of her accomplishments still sit in the shadows of classified files and unanswered questions?

Kroeger also draws attention to a troubling ambiguity: her younger brother, Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Jr., became a high-ranking figure in U.S. intelligence after WWII, and the degree to which his and her careers overlapped raises unanswered questions about whether journalism and espionage sometimes blurred.

Brooke Kroeger will walk us through the life and service of this remarkable reporter who straddled the worlds of journalism, intelligence, and wartime diplomacy. It’s a story of courage, connection, and mystery told by the scholar who knows it best.

Helen Kirkpatrick broke barriers at the eve of World War II when the Chicago Daily News hired her for its London bureau.

As war unfolded, Kirkpatrick reported across Europe. Her dispatches appeared sometimes several times a day, and she was credited with breaking sensitive news based on high-level, confidential sources.

When asked later why she merited awards such as the U.S. Medal of Freedom and France’s Légion d’Honneur, Kirkpatrick often replied with humility — sometimes claiming she didn’t even know. Her wartime papers, now archived, remain thin on direct explanation.

Ann Stringer (1918–1990) was a trail-blazing American reporter whose career with United Press took her from covering domestic beats with her husband to the battlefields of World War II after his death in Normandy. Determined to carry on both his work and her own ambition, she crossed into war-torn Europe in late 1944, even when military restrictions tried to keep her from the front lines. Colleagues like Walter Cronkite and Harrison Salisbury praised her as one of the finest reporters of her generation, and she won lasting distinction for filing the first dispatch on the historic link-up of American and Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe. After reporting through the end of the war and covering the Nuremberg trials, she left United Press in 1949, married, and continued to write for major news outlets from her home in Manhattan.

Glenn Flickinger welcomes Doug Cervi, who will offer a general presentation on the Holocaust that blends historical overview with educational insight.

Cervi will situate the Holocaust within the broader sweep of Nazi persecution and genocide — tracing how state-sponsored antisemitism escalated from discrimination and isolation to industrialized mass murder. His presentation will clarify the scope of the Nazi regime’s crimes, including the targeting of Jews as well as Roma, people with disabilities, political dissidents, LGBTQ individuals, and others deemed “undesirable.”

Drawing on decades in the classroom, Cervi will also explain how and why Holocaust education is taught across New Jersey’s schools today. New Jersey was one of the first states in the nation to mandate Holocaust and genocide education. As Executive Director of the Commission, Cervi works with educators to provide curriculum guidance, training, and resources designed to ensure students understand not only the historical facts but the moral and civic questions the Holocaust raises.

He will share reflections on the challenges and opportunities of teaching this history in a time when fewer survivors remain to tell their stories firsthand. As living witnesses pass from the scene, the responsibility shifts to educators, institutions, and communities to preserve testimony accurately and thoughtfully — without sensationalism, distortion, or political misuse.

Finally, Cervi will address why understanding genocide and its human impact remains vital for students and citizens alike. The Holocaust is not presented as distant tragedy alone, but as a case study in how prejudice, propaganda, bureaucratic obedience, and indifference can converge with catastrophic consequences.

Whether you’re new to the topic or looking to deepen your grasp of its historical and contemporary significance, Cervi’s talk will anchor the history of the Holocaust in both documentary fact and the responsibility of memory.