The Interviews
Several oral history interviews by the Dartmouth Vietnam Project (DVP) were integral to the construction of this exhibit. I would like to dedicate “The Faculty Front” to Professors Hoyt S. Alverson, Carolyn W. Eisenberg, Gene Garthwaite, Marysa Navarro-Aranguren, Leo Spitzer, as well as James Kloppenberg ‘73, who offered their candid memories, emotions, and recollections of their time at Dartmouth to the DVP. I would also like to thank Professor Edward Miller and Professor Mara Gregory for making this project possible.
If you would like to listen to these oral histories in full, please proceed to the sections below.
Professor Hoyt S. Alverson
Interviewed by Hannah Solomon '17
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Dartmouth College. Oral history interview documenting his experience of the anti-war movement at Dartmouth during the Vietnam War. Alverson describes his early life, including undergraduate studies at George Washington University, graduate studies at Yale University, and graduate research in South Africa. He discusses anti-war initiatives at Dartmouth, including the student occupation of Parkhurst Hall in 1969, as well as the back-to-the-land movement.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
Professor Carolyn W. Eisenberg
Interviewed by Nora X. Cai '27
Professor of History and Foreign Policy at Hofstra University. This oral history interview documents Dr. Eisenberg’s experience growing up in suburban New York during the rise of Civil Rights and antiwar movements. She describes experiencing censorship in high school during the McCarthyism era and protesting segregation as an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. Further, she reflects on her experiences partaking in the 1968 Hamilton Hall Occupation at Columbia University while in pursuit of a Ph.D. She discusses her time teaching at Dartmouth from 1971-1975 and 1988-1990, including her participation in civil disobedience against the draft. Finally, she recalls her experience teaching part-time at the Center for Worker Education while tenured at Hofstra University and conducting research in Vietnam for her recent book, Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
Professor Gene Garthwaite
Interviewed by Patrick Dellinger '17
Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College. St. Olaf College ‘55. At St. Olaf Garthwaite majored in English and served in ROTC. After flying B-47s over the Soviet Union, he enrolled in University of Chicago to obtain his Ph.D. After a year and a half, he delayed taking his prelims to go on an archaeological dig to Iran. Upon returning, he found a job in the management division of Aerojet General Corporation in Sacramento, California. He then went to study Middle Eastern studies at UCLA to complete his Ph.D. He began to work at Dartmouth College in 1968. He was part of a younger, liberal group of professors which formed to socialize and discuss the Vietnam War, and other issues such as civil rights. Garthwaite discusses the campus climate and how it changed, the admittance of women into Dartmouth, as well as anti-war protests such as the Parkhurst sit-in in 1969.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
Professor Marysa Navarro-Aranguren
Interviewed by Patrick Dellinger '17
Professor of History at Dartmouth College. This oral history interview documents Dr. Marysa Navarro-Aranguren's experiences as a historian and faculty member at Dartmouth College during the Vietnam War era. She recounts her early life in Spain, exile due to the Spanish Civil War, and subsequent academic journey through Uruguay, Columbia University, and Dartmouth. Navarro-Aranguren discusses her involvement in the antiwar movement, faculty debates over ROTC, and her relationships with student activists. Navarro-Aranguren also describes the challenges of being one of the first female faculty members at Dartmouth and her involvement in pushing for coeducation and gender equity in faculty hiring. She reflects on the rise of The Dartmouth Review and broader institutional changes at Dartmouth over her 40-year tenure.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
Professor Leo Spitzer
Interviewed by Rachel Kesler '19
Professor of History at Dartmouth College. This oral history interview documents Dr. Spitzer’s experiences as a historian and faculty member at Dartmouth College during the Vietnam War era and beyond. He recounts his early life as a refugee from Nazi Austria, growing up in Bolivia, and his later immigration to the United States. Spitzer discusses his academic journey at Brandeis University and the University of Wisconsin, his early political consciousness, and his involvement in anti-apartheid and anti-Vietnam War activism. He reflects on faculty debates over ROTC, the Parkhurst Hall takeover, and student protests against military recruitment. Spitzer also describes his role in founding Dartmouth’s African and African American Studies, Jewish Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies programs, as well as his broader efforts in social justice movements, including anti-apartheid activism in the 1980s.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
James T. Kloppenberg ‘73
Interviewed by Leigh Steinberg ‘18
Professor of History at Harvard University. This oral history interview explores Dr. Kloppenberg’s political transformation at Dartmouth during the Vietnam War era. Raised in a conservative Catholic family in Denver, he arrived on campus in 1969 expecting to focus on debate and baseball but was soon influenced by the 1970 student strike and faculty-led teach-ins. Exposure to critical historical study shifted his views on American foreign policy. By 1972, he actively organized antiwar lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.. He reflects on the campus divide between activism and traditionalism, the impact of coeducation, and the influence of his professors. Kloppenberg credits his Dartmouth experience with shaping his career in intellectual history and deepening his understanding of American democracy.
Access the full audio and transcript here.
