History professor uncovers unique stories
Monys Hagen spent six weeks over the summer living in a travel trailer in Amana, Iowa while studying the immigration of a German religious community to the United States. Tagging along, her dogs Oscar and Chloe.
The Community of True Inspiration immigrated to the U.S., in part, because of religious persecution, says the history professor who has a knack for uncovering unique stories tucked into the corners of U.S. history and then bringing them to the attention of her students and the public.
Hagen, who received the President’s Award at the College’s annual Welcome Back Ceremony in August, is an expert on immigration, U.S. women, World War II and the Cold War. She earned her bachelor’s from the University of Minnesota and both her master’s and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin all in history.
In her 21 years with the College, she has developed a number of popular courses that allow students to explore the United States’ dynamic makeup, namely Women in American History and American Immigration History.
A career highlight came in 2004 when she debuted a website that chronicled her research on Camp Hale, a World War II base located north of Leadville, Colo. Stationed at the base was the 10th Mountain Division, as a unit of mountain troops trained in skiing and winter warfare. Unbeknownst to many, it was also the base for 200 women in the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) detachment.
As fate would have it (Hagen’s mother served at Camp Hale), Hagen was one of the few who knew about the Camp Hale WACs.
The website shone as national spotlight on the women of the WAC detachment at Camp Hale, whose contributions, for 60 years, rarely made the major historical records. @Metro covered the launch of Hagen’s Camp Hale website in a Sept. 15, 2004 article.
The result of Hagen’s 10-year effort to piece together the scant documentation of the WACs contributions at Camp Hale was featured in The Denver Post, and a New York filmmaker even produced a 15-minute film about the women’s service.
Seven years later the website still has a following and is used as a learning tool in many of the College’s history classes. It is also a way for descendants of members of the WACs to commemorate loved ones.
“About three or four times a semester I’m contacted by someone in the country wanting to contribute their family member’s information or photos to the archive,” says Hagen. “Their families were thrilled to contribute (to the archives). I’m thrilled that they (some members of WAC) lived to see it. It meant a lot to me.”