Professor Delivers Talk in South Africa

Carol Summers is a Professor of History and Global Studies at the University of Richmond where she holds the Samuel Chiles Mitchell/Jacob Billikopf chair in History.  

She is currently a fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, working on a comparative history project exploring patriotic savings programs across Britain’s world from World War II to the 1950s. This project began when Summers was in the Uganda National Archives, working on a previous project about Ugandan radicalism during this same time period. In the British world of the 1940s, saving money became patriotic and Summers examines how war savings initiatives contributed to ordinary people’s transition from being subjects to being creditors. 

“I'm interested in history partly because I'm interested in change,” Summers said. “I'm also interested in learning something, so I tend to gravitate toward what I initially don't understand. When in an archive, I'm not really seeking to demonstrate the truth of what I guessed at. Instead, I'm most interested in documents, stories, and any kind of material that makes me stop and think ‘Wow, that's different.’” 

Recently, Summers delivered a talk entitled “Make your money fight!” discussing patriotic thrift in Britain, Canada, and Uganda during the Second World War. You can check out the video here to learn more.