Photo: Dr. Lisa Payne Ossian
Credentials
Historian, author, and public speaker. Specialist in Iowa history, the Great Depression, World War II, and postwar humanitarian history (UNRRA/UNICEF).
Highlights
- Emerita Professor of History, Des Moines Area Community College
- Author of three books with University of Missouri Press
- Over 100 conference presentations (regional, national, international)
- Research support from Stanford University; Truman & FDR Presidential Libraries; Hoover Presidential Foundation
- Pending/contracted works on UNICEF’s origins and postwar reconstruction
Education
- Ph.D., United States History — Agriculture & Rural Studies, Iowa State University
Dissertation: The Home Fronts of Iowa, 1940–1945 - MLS, Women’s Studies (History & Psychology), Eastern Michigan University
Thesis: Pregnancy: Literature, Experience, & Silence - B.S., English (minor: Sociology), Iowa State University
Selected Publications
- The Forgotten Generation: American Children and World War II (University of Missouri Press)
- The Home Fronts of Iowa, 1939–1945 (University of Missouri Press)
- The Depression Dilemmas of Rural Iowa, 1929–1933 (University of Missouri Press)
- “Dear Mr. President”: Hoover & Truman’s Unique Friendship, 1945–1964 (Lexington Books, 2023)
- “The Pate Reports”: From UNRRA to UNICEF (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023)
Full list available within Publications; see Resume for complete references.
Boards, Grants, and Service
- World Social Sciences Association — Board of Directors
- National Education Association — Board of Directors (At‑Large Higher Education)
- Hoover Institution, Truman Library, FDR Library — Research grants
- Humanities Iowa Speakers’ Bureau — WWII & Great Depression in Iowa
- Iowa State Historical Society — Board of Trustees (elected)
