Join Rachel Gross, author of Shopping All the Way to the Woods: How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to America, to learn more about the surprising military origins of your favorite outdoor gear. Gross is an environmental, business, and cultural historian of the modern U.S. and an assistant professor of history at the University of Colorado Denver. Her book argues that in making Americans into consumers of the outdoors, the outdoor retail industry also shaped the identity of Americans writ large. For her research, Gross used the papers of Georges F. Doriot in the Manuscript Division to understand the critical role played by the military surplus industry in the creation of the modern outdoor industry. The French-born Doriot served in the U.S. Army in the quartermaster corps during World War II and oversaw procurement for the army. In her talk, Gross will discuss how the quartermaster corps developed the iconic U.S. Army M-1943 Field Jacket that introduced millions of Americans to the concept of layering for outdoor clothing.
The event took place online only on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 12:00pm-1:00pm EST. Watch the program here:
NOTE TO PARTICIPANTS: Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].