Douglas M. Charles, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History
The Pennsylvania State University,
Greater Allegheny campus*
dmc166@psu.edu
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., history, University of Edinburgh ( 2002 ) *
M.A., history, Marquette University ( 1997 )
B.A., history, Pennsylvania State University ( 1995 )
FIELDS of INTEREST:
American History, Modern U.S., FBI, Gay & Lesbian History, Obscenity Regulation, Intelligence History, Foreign Relations, Political History, World History
PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming:
"Sex Deviates": The FBI and Gays, 1937 - 1987 (book manuscript under contract with the University Press of Kansas, expected publication date: 2015)
BOOKS:
The FBI's Obscene File: J. Edgar Hoover and the Bureau's Crusade Against Smut [1910-2011] (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012).
“Originality. Not many scholars achieve it, but Charles impresses with this example of breakthrough, research scholarship in a new field. His interpretive thrust, seeing the FBI as the creature of societal changes, personality, and politics, throws light on topics as diverse as the Lavender Scare of the 1950s and the neoconservative appeal to moralism in the recent presidency of George Bush. If you are at all interested in the deeper currents of American history, read this book.” Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, author of The FBI: A History, & The CIA and American Democracy
“An important contribution to our understanding of the FBI’s history and of the politics of morality shaping 20th-century America. Charles’s insightful and well-researched monograph explores a heretofore neglected aspect of the FBI’s role in 20th-century America and also offers insights that extend our understanding of the moralistic responses to the sweeping societal changes transforming popular culture.” Athan Theoharis, author of The FBI and American Democracy, & Abuse of Power: How Cold War Surveillance & Secrecy Policy Shaped the Response to 9/11
“Charles has produced a thorough, well-researched and clearly written volume on an important subject which has not been studied before—the FBI’s interest in and investigations of ‘obscenity.’ His scholarship is sound, reasonable, accurate and objective and should capture the attention of anyone interested in either the FBI or obscenity law (or both).” Robert Justin Goldstein, author of Political Repression in Modern America, and American Blacklist: The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations
“Douglas Charles provides a fascinating inside look at the history of the FBI and its fight against obscenity. Covering administrations from Roosevelt to Bush, this is an important addition to the growing scholarship on the history of pornography in America and its pivotal role in our politics and culture.” David K. Johnson, author of The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government, and editor of The United States since 1945: A Documentary Reader
“J. Edgar Hoover’s Obscene File has long been an archival black box, the kind of thing historians discuss in hushed tones of mystery. Douglas Charles is the first to access its contents, uncovering new information on targets of investigation ranging from Abbott & Costello to Linda Lovelace. Best of all, in The FBI’s Obscene File the file itself takes organic form, and, as we watch it grow, mutate, and transform, Charles shows us in concrete form how bureaucracy evolves and what forces determine its trajectories.” Whitney Strub, author of Perversion for Profit: The Politics of Pornography and the Rise of the New Right
A Comment on the Library Journal's Problematic Review
.
J. Edgar Hoover and the Anti-interventionists: FBI Political
Surveillance and the Rise of the Domestic Security State, 1939-45
(Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2007).
“Douglas
Charles’s monograph offers new information about the late 1930s public
and congressional debate over President Roosevelt’s interventionist foreign
policy decisions and about the politics of foreign policy. J. Edgar Hoover
and the Anti-interventionists adds an important dimension to other works that
have focused on FBI counterespionage policy relating to Germany during the
1930s and 1940s.” —Athan Theoharis, professor of history emeritus,
Marquette University
The Historian review, Fall 2009
The Review of a self-described individualist feminist & anarchist
Future Research Plans:
History of the FBI --- I plan to write a synthesis of all existing significant FBI scholarship, plus some original research
Refereed Journal Articles:
"Communist and Homosexual: The FBI, Harry Hay, and the Secret Side of the Lavender Scare, 1943-61," American Communist History 11:1 (2012): 101-124.
"From Subversion to Obscenity: The FBI's Investigations of the Early Homophile Movement, 1953-58," Journal of the History of Sexuality 19:2 (May 2010): 262-87.
"'Before the Colonel Arrived': Hoover, Donovan, Roosevelt, and the Origins of American Central Intelligence," Intelligence and National Security 20 (Summer 2005): 225-37.
"Informing FDR: FBI Political Surveillance and the Isolationist-Interventionist Foreign Policy Debate, 1939-1945," Diplomatic History 24 (Spring 2000): 211-32.
"American, British, and Canadian Intelligence Links: A Critical Annotated Bibliography," Intelligence and National Security 15 (Summer 2000): 259-69.
--Reprinted in David Stafford and Rhodri-Jeffreys-Jones, eds., American-British-Canadian Intelligence Relations, 1939-2000 (London & Portland: Frank Cass, 2000).
"FBI Political Surveillance and the Charles Lindbergh Investigation, 1939-1944," The Historian 59 (Summer 1997): 831-47.
--Both "Informing" and "Lindbergh" published afterwards in Walter Hixon, ed., The American Experience in World War II: Isolationists and Internationalists, the Battle over Interventions, vol 2 (New York: Routledge, 2002).
Pieces For the General Public:
"How Did the IRS get Investigative Authority?," History News Network, 21 May 2013.
"Ten Things You Don't Know About J. Edgar Hoover," commentator, H2 (History Channel 2), 5 March 2012.
"An FBI Historian Reviews 'J. Edgar,'" The Boston Globe, boston.com, 24 November 2011.
"The Real J. Edgar Hoover," guest on National Public Radio's program On Point with Tom Ashbrook, 9 November 2011.
"Kennedy's FBI File: Less Than Meets the Eye," The Boston Globe, boston.com, 1 March 2011.
"What We Can Learn From Hamilton and Another "Bail Out," History News Network, 13 October 2008.
"Is It Really Wise to Expand the FBI's Investigative Techniques?," History News Network, 29 September 2008.
"Was Gonzales's Historical Defence of NSA Eavesdropping Convincing?," History News Network, 20 February 2006.
Book Reviews:
Masked Voices: Gay Men and Lesbians in Cold War America (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2012), by Craig M. Loftin, for H-HistSex.H-Net.
J. Edgar Hoover Goes to the Movies: The FBI and the Origins of Hollywood's Cold War (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012), by John Sbardellati, for The Historian.
MH/CHAOS: The CIA's Campaign Against the Radical New Left and the Black Panthers (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2011), by Frank J. Rafalko, for Intelligence and National Security.
The FBI: A History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, for The Historian 71:3 (Fall 2009): 607-08.
American Blacklist: The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008), by Robert Goldstein, for History: Review of New Books 37:4 (Summer 2009), 138-39.
Yugoslav-Americans and National Security during World War II (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007), by Lorraine M. Lees, for American Historical Review 113:4 (October 2008): 1188.
The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government (Chicago: University of Chicago press: 2004), by David K. Johnson, for H-USA/H-Net (May 2004).
Lindbergh (New York: Putnam, 1998), by A. Scott berg, for History 84 (October 1999): 698-699.
Conference Papers & Invited Talks:
"Bully!: Teddy Roosevelt, Conservation, and Masculinity," PSU-GA International Women's Day & World Water Day Commemoration, 28 March 2013.
"The FBI, Obscenity, and History," presented to Penn State West Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium Series, Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, Erie, PA, 18 October 2012 (invited talk).
"A Struggle for Civil Rights: The LGBT Movement," presented to the McDonough Center for Leadership and Business, Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, 5 March 2012 (invited talk).
"Nixon, Hoover, and Obscenity," presented to the British Association for American Studies, 56th Annual Conference, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England, 15 April 2011.
"The FBI's Curious Investigation of Harry Hay, 1943-61," presented to Conference on the History of American Rights, San Francisco State University, 17 September 2009.
"'The Victim of a Degenerate': The Origins of the FBI's Surveillance of Gays, 1937," presented to the British Association for American Studies, 53 Annual Conference, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, March 2008.
"The FBI, the Mattachine Society, and One, Inc.: Gay Subversion in the 1950s," Organization of American Historians annual meeting, Washington, DC, 23 April 2006.
"Hoover, Donovan, Roosevelt, and the Origins of American Central Intelligence, 1940-41," presented to the 4th Annual Conference of the Scottish Association for the Study of America, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, 8 November 2002.
"FBI Wiretapping and the Anti-interventionists, 1940-42: A Hypothesis," presented to the Fifth International Symposium on Telecommunications History, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 26 September 1997.
"FBI Political Surveillance and the Charles Lindbergh Investigation, 1939-1944," presented to the 31st Annual Northern Great Plains History Conference, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, 19 September 1996.
RECOGNITIONS, AWARDS, GRANTS, & FELLOWSHIPS:
Challenge Coin, U.S. Naval Academy (2013)
Grant (co-applicant), PSU Office of Global Programs, embedded study abroad trip, Vietnam (2012)
Listed in Contemporary Authors ( 2011 )
Course release to complete FBI & obscenity, PSU-GA ( Sp. 2010 )
Research & Conference grants, Marietta College ( 2006 )
Grant, Harry S Truman Presidential Library ( 2004 )
British Academy-funded researcher, FBI project with Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones ( 2002 )
Visiting Research Fellowship, Princeton University ( 1999 )
Grant, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library ( 1999 )
Grant, Roosevelt Study Centre, Middelburg, Netherlands ( 1999 )
Grant, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming ( 1999 )
British government-awarded Overseas Research Studentship (ORS Award), University of Edinburgh ( 1999-01 )
Scholarship, American Friends of Edinburgh University ( 1999-2000 )
Research Assistantship, Marquette University ( 1995-97 )
Tuition Scholarships, Marquette University ( 1995- 1997 )
Pennsylvania State University -- Behrend College History Award ( 1995 )
COURSES TAUGHT:
American
Civilization since 1877
American Civilization to 1877
World Civilizations to 1500
World Civilizations since 1500
The World at War, 1939-45
Fascism & Nazism
The FBI in the 20th Century
Vietnam in War & Peace
Rights in America
Embedded foreign Study (DaNang, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Hoi An, Vietnam, Summer 2012)
Upper Level:
US
Intelligence History
Gay & Lesbian History
Comparative Genocide
Service Activity:
External reader, history thesis honors committee (FBI topic), U.S. Naval Academy (26 Jan. 2013)
Manuscript reviewer, University Press of Kansas
Manuscript reviewer, Journal of American History
Manuscript reviewer, Journal of Communication Inquiry
Textbook Reviewer, Bedford St. Martin's
Affiliate member, PSU Commission on LGBT Equity (2012-2013)
Chair, campus Student Life Committee
Faulty Affairs Committee
Academic Affairs Committee
Teaching International Committee
Student Activity Fee Committee
Campus discipline Coordinator for history
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor of History (2008-present, tenure track), The Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny
Lecturer of History (2006-2008, two year contract), The Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College
Assistant Professor of History (2005-2006, one year contract), Marietta College, Marietta, Ohi0
Lecturer of History (2004-2005, one year contract), The Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College
Adjunct Lecturer of History (Jan., 2003-2004), The Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College
Tutor of History (2000-2002) Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, Scotland
My father built this wonderful Jefferson book stand for me.
Professor Charles' Great Great Great Grandparents Johns, ca. 1860
Professor Charles' Great Grandfather Stojan Pavlovic (far right),
immigrant, Slavic bar owner in McKeesport, PA, ca., 1910s
My Great Grandmother Danica Pavlovic, reputed expert pool player (1920 Atlantic City Women's Billiards Champion [unconfirmed])
& immigrant in her ethnic, Serbian (from Croatia) costume, ca. 1910s.
(She died in 1922.)