UW Libraries Fall Lecture Series to Commemorate World War I

University of Wyoming Libraries will host three free programs related to World War I during the fall semester in recognition of the centenary of the historic event.

The programs are part of “World War I and America,” a two-year national initiative of Library of America, presented in partnership with The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, other organizations and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Information can be found at www.wwiamerica.org.

The UW Libraries, in collaboration with local community and campus organizations, such as the Albany County Historical Society, the Laramie Plains Museum, UW’s Army ROTC and the UW History Club, sponsor the following programs:

-- “But I Just Had to Brace Up and Do My Best-Nurses in World War I,” Monday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m., Coe Library, Room 506.

Mary Burman, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing dean, will use diaries, letters and other sources to illustrate the experiences of nurses during World War I, focusing on American nurses who served overseas. The impact of military service in World War I on individual nurses and also the profession of nursing in the United States will be described.

In addition to the lecture, the Army ROTC color guard will post the American flag; the Harley-Fadial Duo and the UW Graduate Spring Quartet will perform World War I-era music; and the UW History Club will provide light refreshments.

-- “Warriors in Khaki: Indian Doughboys in the Great War,” Tuesday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., Alice Hardie Stevens Center, Laramie Plains Museum.

Douglas Cubbison and Johanna Wickman, from the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum, will discuss the participation of more than 12,000 Native Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces; acknowledge patriotism on the Wind River Indian Reservation before the declaration of war; recognize the strong wartime support afforded by Native reservations and nations throughout the United States; identify the confirmed Wyoming Native Americans who fought in the war; and discuss how Native Americans’ service and sacrifice influenced Indian-government relationships following the war.

The program will be held in conjunction with the monthly Albany County Historical Society meeting.

-- “Home Front in Wyoming,” Monday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m., Alice Hardie Stevens Center, Laramie Plains Museum.

Tom Rea, editor of WyoHistory.org, a project of the Wyoming State Historical Society, will discuss civilian life in Wyoming during the years immediately before, during and after the nation’s engagement in the war in 1917 and 1918. Among the topics he will discuss are anecdotes about the Red Cross fundraisers; war bond drives; anti-German sentiment and activities of the One Hundred Percent American Society; victory gardens; and related events that occurred in Wyoming.

The program is sponsored, in part, by the Laramie Plains Museum.

For more information about the World War I lecture series, call Cynthia Hughes, UW Libraries metadata librarian, at (307) 766-5611 or email chughes5@uwyo.edu.