Preferred Name
Lindsey Wood
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of History
Advisor(s)
Michael J. Galgano
Gabrielle Lanier
Steven W. Guerrier
Abstract
Fort Hunt is a World War Two prisoner of war camp in Alexandria, Virginia. It housed more than 3,000 Axis prisoners and several war related programs, MIRS, MIS-Y and MIS-X. The World War Two POW experience is a missing part of the story, and Fort Hunt can help illuminate an important part of the United States’ war effort and responsibility. Fort Hunt was a secret location, and its activities included gathering and deciphering German written materials, interrogating Axis, mainly German, prisoners of war, as well as creating and distributing Escape and Evasion packages to air and ground forces in Europe. Today, Fort Hunt is a recreational park owned by the National Park service and the George Washington Memorial parkway. This camp remained secret until recently, when George Washington Memorial parkway employees began investigating its history. Since then, there has been an effort to preserve and present its most recent history to the public. This project began at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, combing through the documents of Fort Hunt’s past during World War Two, gathering information on its establishment and programs in hopes to bring attention to this important site. This project includes recommendations on how to present Fort Hunt’s World War Two story to its visitors, with photographs of what the park looks like today.
I would like to thank my thesis director, Dr. Michael Galgano, and both of my readers and committee members, Dr. Gabrielle Lanier and Dr. Steven Guerrier, for their assistance in this project.
Recommended Citation
Wood, Lindsey, "Fort Hunt's P.O. Box 1142" (2016). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 101.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/101
