Kimberly Guise is the Senior Curator and Director for Curatorial Affairs at The National WWII Museum. She holds a BA in German and Judaic Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also studied at the Universität Freiburg in Germany and holds a masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Louisiana State University. Kim is fluent in German, reads Yiddish, and specializes in the American prisoner-of-war experience in World War II. After working at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, she began working at The National WWII Museum in 2008, where she has since facilitated the acquisition of thousands of artifacts, led numerous Museum tours, and curated several exhibits including Guests of the Third Reich: American POWs in Europe.
Kim Guise
Senior Curator and Director for Curatorial Affairs

More from the Contributor
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Camp Lucky Strike: RAMP Camp No. 1
The cigarette camp “Camp Lucky Strike” was a bustling tent city of 58,000 impatient American troops awaiting transportation back to the United States after Victory in Europe. Lucky Strike was described as both “seventh heaven” and complete chaos.
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Bullies and Bad Guys: World War II in Letters to American Children
The Museum’s archives contains many examples of letters written to children and the tones struck in the letters are as varied as the paper they’re written on. How did those in service help children understand what was happening in World War II while still trying to make sense of it themselves?
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Remembering Pearl Jacobs Daube, War Bride
The Museum looks back and remembers volunteer Pearl Jacobs Daube (1924-2013), WWII war bride and National WWII Museum volunteer from 2006-2013.
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Curator's Choice: Gifts from the "Geneva Man"
Diaries provided by the Red Cross and the YMCA occupied many long hours of those held in German POW camps. Assistant Director for Curatorial Service Kimberly Guise discusses how the Museum’s collection of this surprising genre has grown substantially over the last 20 years of the Museum’s life.
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Remembering Bob Zawada, WWII veteran and Museum volunteer
Bob Zawada, WWII veteran, was wounded in action and then captured, during the Hammelburg Raid. As a Museum volunteer he left a lasting imprint on our Education and Curatorial Services Departments.
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Memorial Day: A New Orleans Neighborhood Remembers
On Memorial Day and every day, the name of Richard McCurdy, killed in action during Operation Torch, and other boys like him should be kept alive and their sacrifices and those of their families remembered. They were and are part of a nation, a city, a neighborhood, and a family.
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A Memorial Day Remembrance: “Happy” Neil’s Share in the American Flag
Among the Museum's collection are many stories of those who did not return, like PFC Darrel “Happy” Neil, killed in action on July 7, 1944 in France.
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Rosie the Riveter and Benny the Bungler: WWII Propaganda at Work
During World War II, the US government waged a constant battle for the hearts and minds of the public. “Rosie the Riveter” and many other wartime propaganda posters remain relevant 75 years later.
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Operation Revival: Rescue from Stalag Luft I
Between May 13 and May 15, 1945 the 8th Air Force conducted Operation Revival. The target was Stalag Luft I and the objective was to evacuate nearly 8500 Allied POWs via stripped-down B-17s, along with some C-46s and C47s.
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Remembering Colonel Jimmie Kanaya
Colonel Jimmie Kanaya, 442nd Regimental Combat Team medic, became a prisoner of war in Germany after his family had been put behind barbed wire at home in the States. He went on to be a decorated three-war veteran and friend of The National WWII Museum who passed away November 7, 2019.