Dionna Uzueta Lucio

This project interested me because I enjoy learning about the social and political changes that occurred after WWII. I also didn’t know about the Lutheran World Federation or its deep ties with St. Olaf before researching for this project. I’ve enjoyed learning about St. Olaf’s connections to the LWF-SR and the DPs they helped. It’s restored my faith in humanity in some ways. The story this website tells is tragic in some ways, but also wonderfully sweet. I hope you enjoy learning about these amazing people and this wonderful initiative as much as I have.

I made an interactive timeline because it was hard to discern the connections between the primary source material we were handling and studying, as well as the secondary (more contextual) literature that we were reading. I also wanted people to be able to narrow down the information that they needed. Usually, a person doesn’t look at an entire site but at one particular section. I hoped that a timeline would help someone narrow down their search and also cultivate enthusiasm for looking at history through different lenses: studying the individual stories while also seeing how those stories are connected to significant/substantial historical events.

My initial research questions:

What geopolitical events caused the mass displacement of people around WWII and the Lutheran World Federation’s subsequent efforts to help?

How can that history be best communicated to a broad, online audience who are curious about this story?