Graduate Studies, Student Voices, History

Travel Report: Benjamin Dipple, History

November 27, 2018
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From Graduate Studies...

Benjamin Dipple, a Master's student in History, received a Graduate International Research Travel Award (GIRTA) to further his research in Palo Alto and Istanbul. His report: 

Thanks to the Graduate International Research Travel Award, I was able to conduct research in the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California as well as the Atatürk Library in Istanbul, Turkey during summer 2018. I was able to research the personal letters, newspaper and journal articles, and photographs of the people I am studying for my MA thesis.

My research focuses on four different Ottoman and later Turkish figures from 1919-1952. These figures were well-known journalists, editors, and public intellectuals who travelled between the United States and Turkey and wrote for both audiences with the goal of influencing public opinion in both countries. At the Hoover Institution, I accessed the personal papers of one of these figures named Ahmet Emin Yalman. Through his papers, I was able to see his personal correspondence with both American and Turkish governmental figures, connections to American editors and newspapers, and numerous English and Turkish articles written both by and about him. In addition to helping me with my MA research, many of these documents have helped me to formulate a prospective PhD project.

After my research at the Hoover Institution, I conducted considerable research in Istanbul, Turkey. Much of this research was conducted at the Atatürk Library in Istanbul. I was able to research Turkish newspaper and journal articles from three different publications published by the figures I study from 1919-1952. Additionally, I was able to obtain a number of Turkish books published by these figures. These books are impossible to obtain in Canada and I found many of them at used bookstores in Istanbul. These books and the research I conducted at the Atatürk Library have aided me greatly in writing my thesis.

This research made possible by the Graduate International Research Travel Award forms the basis for my current MA thesis. I hope to defend my thesis entitled, “‘The Eyes of Patriotic Turks Turned to America:’ Transnational Turks and the Formation of U.S.-Turkish Ties, 1919-1952,” in spring 2019.