Rachel White
2011: M.Phil., Modern European History, University of Cambridge
2010: B.A., History and French, Emory University (Phi
Beta Kappa, High Honors in History)
I am a first year graduate student specializing in 20th Century France, particularly the Second World War, the Algerian War, national identity, immigration, post-colonialism, and memory. At Yale, I will continue to explore themes I’ve addressed in my previous work as an undergraduate at Emory University and during my MPhil at Cambridge. My undergraduate honors thesis, entitled “Redeeming the Past: The 2001 Commemoration of the Paris Massacre of 17 October 1961,” addressed questions of memory in postcolonial France and sought to understand French reluctance to come to terms with crimes of colonization and decolonization. I argued that the 2001 commemoration for the 40th anniversary of the massacre served as an opportunity for certain elements of French society, notably the French left, to justify or make amends for their actions or inactions in the wake of the massacre in 1961.
My MPhil dissertation at Cambridge expanded upon this theme of memory in France; I examined the remarkable role of CIMADE, a French Protestant humanitarian aid organization, during the Second World War and the Algerian War, tracing the development of its motivations and justifications for involvement in the two conflicts on both a humanitarian and a political level. CIMADE began in 1939 as a Protestant organisation dedicated exclusively to helping Protestants in distress, but through the course of WWII, CIMADE gradually radicalized and crossed the line into clandestine resistance and illegality. I argued that the experience of the Second World War set a precedent for CIMADE’s work and facilitated its partnership with the FLN, the Algerian Front de Libération National, during the Algerian War.
At Yale, I hope to further explore the connections between the Second World War and the Algerian War, as well as the intertwined memory of the two wars in contemporary France.
When not wandering the Paris archives, I enjoy ballet, travelling, dark chocolate, French wines, and good music.
