Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

History

Major Professor

David Johnson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Julia Irwin, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Larissa Kopytoff, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Cassandra L. Yacovazzi, Ph.D.

Keywords

Cold War, Foriegn Aid, Foriegn Policy, Humanitarian Aid, Public Diplomacy

Abstract

On a brisk fall night in November 1947, more than 100,000 people packed the streets of Hollywood to celebrate the launch of the Friendship Train. High-ranking government officials, business leaders, and a galaxy of film stars all attended the send-off ceremony. Over the next eleven days, the train traveled across the country, gathering essential foodstuffs to send to hungry Europeans. In small towns and big cities, the train received enthusiastic receptions. Its journey ended in New York City with a ticker-tape parade down the iconic Canyon of Heroes. Along the way, it collected more than 200 boxcars of food, worth over an estimated $40 million. My dissertation, The Friendship Train: Peas, Politics, and Propaganda, examines the under-studied story of one of America’s first Cold War offensives—the Friendship Train. The train was a national sensation, uniting Americans coast-to-coast around a humanitarian endeavor and attracting extensive worldwide media coverage in the process. But this dissertation looks beyond the newspaper headlines and newsreels, shining a historical light on the Friendship Train’s true objectives and impact. This dissertation reveals that the train was not the spontaneous grassroots-driven project that many organizers and media outlets framed it as. Guided by some of the biggest names in industry and entertainment, the train was a highly coordinated event that sought to galvanize Americans of all ages, ancestries, incomes, and sexes in a common causehalting the spread of communism. Occurring at a time when America was debating its role in the world, the Friendship Train, though not an official government project, proved a valuable tool for educating the public about America’s new responsibilities in the post-war era and winning them over to this cause. Once its food aid crossed the Atlantic, the train delivered the United States a victory in the early Cold War battle for hearts and minds.

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