About this Project
The Letters/Project
These letters, written during World War II and titled the “French Freedom Papers,” were donated to Hale Library at Kansas State University by Alan Greer.The translation process was a part of a student-created research project in which students translated the original letters from French into English. These translations are a part of an exhibit at Hale Library. Throughout the project, students developed familiarity with translation techniques, archival research, and digital humanities.
The Site
This website includes summaries of the "French Freedom Papers" and brief extracts of the original letters and their translations. It also provides historical context by giving information about the historical events and figures mentioned in the collection. If you are interested in the topics covered on this website we recommend looking through our bibliography and external resources page.This site is most easily navigated using the links provided on each page or with the Table of Contents (the drop-down button in the upper-left corner of the page).
Contributors
Dr. Melinda CroAssistant Professor of French
French Language Coordinator
French Graduate Advisor
Dr. Melinda A. Cro (Ph.D., The University of Georgia, 2010), is currently an Associate Professor of French in the Department of Modern Languages and French Language Program Coordinator at Kansas State University. Her research and teaching interests include early modern French and Italian literature, the pastoral mode, and the digital humanities. Her publications include a monograph, Armas y Letras: la Conquista de Italia (1405-1625) (Madrid: Fundación Universitaria Española, 2012), as well as numerous articles on French and Italian literature in Romance Notes, Oeuvres et critiques, Moreana, and South Atlantic Review.
Dr. Kathleen Antonioli
Assistant Professor of French
Dr. Antonioli's research interests include Modern and modernist French Literature, literary history, the sociology of literature, theories of modernism, women’s writing, feminist theory, Québec literature and theories of francophone literature. Her teaching interests include 19th and 20th century French literature, teaching writing, teaching language, research methodologies in Romance studies, and teaching literature with history.
A part of her work centers on the correspondence of French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, so the correspondence of de Gaulle in the "Freedom Papers" archive was a particularly exciting discovery for her.
Student Translators
Ariana Guerin – Graduate Student in Second Language AcquisitionOlivia Leno – Graduate Student in French Literature
Patrick Riggin – Graduate Student in Second Language Acquisition
Katherine Boulanger
Leah Devers
Mary Hellmer
Robert Oller
Adam Hewitt-Smith
Megan Sowers
Samantha Stephens
Copyright Information
All translations and presentations of these letters are available under the fair use doctrine. Kansas State University does not claim copyright for any of the original documents found on this website.
User Notice for The Website:
This website contains copyrighted materials. Those materials may include the official letters, translations, footnotes, and other content (collectively, the “Content”). In some cases, the copyright is owned by third parties, and Kansas State University is making the third‐ party Content available to you by permission or under the fair use doctrine. The Content is made available only for personal, noncommercial, educational and scholarly use. You may not use this Content for any other purpose, or distribute or make the Content available to others, unless you obtain any required permission from the copyright holder. Some Content may be provided via streaming or other means that restrict copying; you may not circumvent those restrictions. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other proprietary notices included in the Content.
Source aiding this copyright notice
Sources
"Faculty and Staff." Department of Modern Languages. Kansas State University.
Cro, Melinda, and Kathleen Antonioli. FREN 720 Syllabus. Cro and Antonioli, 2016.
