Changes

The Oxford University Press recently published Theresa Kaminski's ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019992824X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019992824X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=CZBGILNGEE63U2FB Angels of the Underground: The American Women who Resisted the Japanese in the Philippines in World War II].'' Kaminski's book follows the lives of four American women who were stranded in the Philippines after Japan invaded during World War II. ''Publishers Weekly'' described her book as a "fast-paced true story" that documents how these women resisted Japanese occupation. Kaminski's other books have also examined the lives of women in the South Pacific during World War II. Her previous books include ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0700610030/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0700610030&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=DJNQL35WFQSZ5AND Prisoners in Paradise: American Women in the Wartime South Pacific]'' and ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572337575/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1572337575&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=GHWHIHREOYZOZRWG Citizen of Empire: Ethel Thomas Herold, an American in the Philippines].'' She also edited Dorothy Dore Dowle's autobiography ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786408510/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0786408510&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=KV7I6K2JNPKVKAVZ Enduring What Cannot be Endured: Memoir of a Medical Aide in the Philippines in the World War II.]''

Kaminski is currently a Professor of American Women's History at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. You can also follow her on [https://twitter.com/kaminskitheresa Twitter] or [https://www.facebook.com/TheresaKaminskiHistorian/ Facebook]. I would also recommend checking out her fantastic blog at [http://theresakaminski.com/blog/ www.theresakaminski.com].

Here's our interview.

Angels is about the incredible risks American women took and the impossible choices they made to not only survive a wartime enemy occupation, but to undermine the Japanese occupation and help others survive it as well. It’s a World War II story few people know.

Also, because I live in Wisconsin, I like writing about warm places.


[[File:Theresa Kaminski photo.jpg|thumbnail|200px|Theresa Kaminski]]

'''When did you first learn about the exploits of the four women who became the focus of Angles of the Underground?  Did you learn about them as part of your other research projects?'''

My first book, Prisoners in Paradise, focuses mostly on civilian women who were interned by the Japanese for the duration of the war. As I researched that book, I kept finding women, including those who went on to be featured in Angels, who managed to evade internment. I ended up incorporating their stories into a couple of chapters in Prisoners in Paradise. But the stories of Claire, Peggy, Gladys, and Yay--especially because they evaded internment for a larger purpose beyond personal safety--were so big and complex that they also needed a separate book.




'''When did you realize that you had enough material for more than just an article?  What convinced you that this project merited a book?'''

There are two main messages. First, women have always been integral to war efforts. Their contributions have often been minimized with qualifiers: they “only” did this, they “only” did that. But everything they did mattered. Second, we have to stop looking for perfection in our heroes. Courage comes in many different forms and degrees. Sometimes it’s temporary--specific to a time and place. The women in Angels were anything but. They were courageous and even heroic at times, but that didn’t make them perfect people.

It could be used in a women’s history class, a women/gender and war class, or even a course that teaches methods of historical writing. The book was written to attract a general readership, so while it’s based on all of the appropriate primary and secondary sources, the story is very front and center.