As part of Women’s History Month events, Emily Swafford, a doctoral candidate in 20th century U.S. history at the University of Chicago, will present “Keeping the Feminist Promise: Women and Gender in History” on Thursday, March 29, during the annual Genevieve Staudt Guestship Lecture.

Swafford is a recipient of the General and Mrs. Matthew B. Ridgway Military History Research Grant from the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Her dissertation, Democracy’s Proving Ground: The Wives and Families of U.S. Servicemen in Germany between World War II and Vietnam, focuses on the establishment and evolution of American military communities in Germany after World War II, and argues that tracing developments in such dependent communities, and in military policy toward families, offers important insight into the on-the-ground development of the Cold War in both the U.S. and Germany.

Her work has been presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the Society for Military History, and the American Historical Association.

The Genevieve Staudt Guestship Lecture is delivered annually during Women’s History Month at Elmhurst College. It is named for the College’s former dean of students, who served the College for 30 years and left an indelible stamp of leadership.

The talk will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.