The West Baton Rouge Museum will open a two-part exhibit on Nov. 4 from the National Archives titled “Over Here & Over There: Americans At Home and Abroad In World War I.”
“The first part of the exhibit consists of photographs from the Archives’ collections,” said curator of collections Elizabeth Brantley. “We’re going to try to give it a more local flavor by adding things from our collections and things people have loaned us.”
The exhibit is part of a month of programming commemorating the end of the war on Nov. 11, 1918. In addition to the exhibit, the museum is hosting a book club. The National Archives portion of the exhibit is all photographs and mostly focuses on the photography aspect, Brantley said. Local additions to the exhibit include things like military uniforms, both American and German, letters sent home by soldiers, souvenirs and some German artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection, Brantley said. One such item is a knapsack brought in by a local woman, filled with hundreds of postcards from art museums, textiles gathered from all over, and guidebooks.
“One lady brought in her father’s knapsack that he carried with him. He went to France and was from Pointe Coupee Parish,” Brantley said. “It’s interesting to see this young guy from Pointe Coupee going over to France and to see the things that he purchased.”
The exhibit is designed to capture and display the patriotic fervor inspired by the war. The items that were brought home were noteworthy to Brantley.
“To me, it’s just interesting to think this kid, it was probably his first time leaving home to go to France and being at war. To think he thought to buy all these souvenirs and postcards from museums, it’s fascinating that he was interested enough in the arts and culture.”
The book featured in the museum’s book club is World War I And America: Told by Americans Who Lived It by A. Scott Berg. The discussion will be led by Paul Paskoff, associate professor of history at the University, and retired history professor Karl Roider.
“People can read the book and come participate in that part of the program,” Brantley said.
The book club meets on Nov. 4, 11 and 18 and Dec. 2, 9 and 16.
West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen provides artifacts on Oct. 18, 2017, before it previews its World War I exhibit in the near future.
