World War II

By embracing the knowledge and expertise of the veterans and service members at Vanderbilt, the university community expands its scope of diverse perspectives and lived experiences, writes Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente in her latest column ahead of Veterans Day next week. Read More

Vandy Goes to War, an exhibition highlighting the dramatic effects of two world wars on Vanderbilt’s campus, are on display in the Central Library lobby through Oct. 16, Reunion and Homecoming Weekend. Read More

Emily Manchester Townes, BA’50, has preserved her brother’s war letters by compiling them into a family history. A portrait of John Manchester hangs behind her. (DANIEL DUBOIS)   When John Speier Manchester left Vanderbilt halfway through his sophomore year in December 1942 to enlist in the U.S. Navy, he… Read More

As the campus buzzes with the arrival of new students (and the university made sure they were outfitted with solar eclipse glasses), I think about the spectrum of history embodied in an institution like Vanderbilt. What school traditions or past stories will ignite the imaginations of these newest Commodores? Read More

Yarbrough's World War II scrapbook is now part of the foundational collection of the Smithsonian’s newest museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Read More

Named in honor of Vanderbilt University, the 455-foot SS Vanderbilt Victorywas launched April 11, 1945. Read More

The world would now be a very different place if D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, had gone badly, says Thomas Schwartz, professor of history. Read More

Carole Webb Slater will sign her book Letters From the Heart 1943-1946 from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt. The nonfiction work recounts the enduring love story between the author’s father, Cobby Webb, a P-51 pilot who flew missions in Europe… Read More

Award-winning scientist, author and educator Sean B. Carroll will illuminate the never-before-told account of the intersection of two of the most insightful minds of the 20th century during a Nov. 19 Chancellor’s Lecture at Vanderbilt. Read More