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‘I Remember’ at Gadsden Museum of Art

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A Tribute to Etowah County, AL Veterans and their Families

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Please welcome guest author Rebecca Duke. Duke is the curator at the Gadsden Museum of Art, where she manages the museum and coordinates the art program for the City of Gadsden, AL. Additionally, Mrs. Duke is a PhD candidate in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University, where she is completing her dissertation on a New Deal resettlement community in Jackson County, AL. She has previously served as the Curator of Education and Collections at the Sam Davis Home historic site in Smyrna, TN.

The Gadsden Museum of Art is pleased to announce the opening of the temporary exhibition, I Remember. This is the third year that the museum will host the exhibit, which runs in correlation with Veteran’s Day. The intent at its inception was to honor and highlight the contributions and efforts of the men and women of Etowah County who have served in combat. This year, the theme focuses on the home front and the effects of the war on the families that were left behind when a loved one went to serve their country overseas.

After a public call for memorabilia, the museum received many items, particularly from families of the World War II era. Many of the items on display are from this time period, including sweetheart pins and jewelry, original framed posters and newspapers, and everyday ephemera that feature military or wartime propaganda. Pro-American and military imagery were commonplace on the home front during this time, and the exhibit highlights some of these items.

Etowah County played a key role in the war effort during World War II. Residents not only participated in food rationing, planted victory gardens, and organized supply drives, the landscape itself changed to accommodate war-related industry. The Gadsden Ordnance Plant was constructed to manufacture shells for cannons, producing more than 16 million shells over the course of the war. The “shell plant”, as it was called many locals, was located in East Gadsden and covered 330 acres. The site consisted of twenty-three buildings and the perimeter was protected by a high fence. At the time of construction, the plant was the largest government-owned facility in the nation that was solely used to forge and make shells.

The British War Relief Society was a US-based humanitarian organization that supplied non-military aid such as food, clothing, and medical supplies to the U.S. servicemen and the people of Great Britain during World War II.  This photo shows the local Bundles for Britain group putting together an aid package to go overseas. Courtesy of the Gadsden Public Library, Scarborough Collection, 1941.
The British War Relief Society was a US-based humanitarian organization that supplied non-military aid such as food, clothing, and medical supplies to the U.S. servicemen and the people of Great Britain during World War II. This photo shows the local Bundles for Britain group putting together an aid package to go overseas.

Another major development in the Gadsden area during the Second World War was the establishment of Camp Sibert. In June 1942, United States government used 37,035 acres in Etowah and neighboring St. Clair County to establish the first chemical warfare center in the state of Alabama. Three-hundred-thirty-nine families lived within the proposed boundaries of the camp. The Farm Security Administration assisted with their relocation. Named after William Luther Sibert, the first chief of chemical warfare service and Etowah County native, Camp Sibert served as a training center for chemical warfare.

The camp housed anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 troops at a time. The facility was extensive and featured forty-one miles of roads and 1,500 buildings including a hospital, theatre, and a prison stockade. Various maneuvers took place at the training facility such as smoke-screen defense, chemical decontamination and chemical depot maintenance. During certain exercises, fuming sulfuric acid was dropped on troops from airplanes to simulate aerial mustard attacks. Camp Sibert altered the landscape and stimulated the economy in Etowah County. Several hundred civilian jobs were created and the men stationed at Camp Sibert spent lots of money in Gadsden. After the camp closed in December 1942, numerous men stationed at the camp remained in the area.

Many World War II items on display were loaned to the museum from former state Representative Jack Page. Page, who majored in history and is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, collects historical wartime memorabilia and allowed the museum to peruse his private collection for items for the exhibit.

Losing your spouse, son, or daughter during war time is a very real possibility for families whose loved ones serve overseas. Families dreaded receiving telegrams for fear of getting the heartbreaking news that someone had died in combat. Jane Martin, a local business owner in Gadsden, shared letters, photographs, and documents relating to the death of her father in World War II. Frank Marion Young died while serving in Germany and was buried in a U.S. cemetery in Holland before his body was reinterred to Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. Young’s display shows the dark side of the war for families.

Hanging memoriam of dog tags, seen at the top of this photo, in honor of those from Etowah County who were killed in action.
Hanging memoriam of dog tags, seen at the top of this photo, in honor of those from Etowah County who were killed in action.

Staying in touch with the men and women overseas was very important for families back home, and at times was very difficult, if not impossible. A large portion of the I Remember exhibit deals with communicating during war time and shows the evolution of communication methods over the past seventy years. Letters were the primary method of communication during World War II and the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, soldiers could use M.A.R.S., or the Military Auxiliary Radio System. M.A.R.S. was a Department of Defense sponsored program that consisted of civilian licensed amateur radio operators who were interested in military communication.

Enlisted men would sign up for an appointment at the M.A.R.S. station at their camp. M.A.R.S. calls often had spotty reception and only lasted three minutes. However, even hearing the voice of someone back home could raise the spirits of a soldier who was thousands of miles away from his family. In today’s military engagements, technology allows for the use of the internet to provide communication in real time through email, instant messages, and video chatting.

Perhaps the most poignant facet of the exhibit is the hanging memoriam in honor of those from Etowah County who were killed in action. The main gallery corridor features timelines for each war from World War II to present day. Above each timeline panel is a hanging display of dog tags from the ceiling. Each tag features the name of an individual who died in combat. A printed list of names is shown next to each timeline as well. Tableaus reflecting uniforms from different eras, efforts of the American Red Cross, and a memorial to Colonel Ola Lee Mize, a Medal of Honor recipient who died earlier this year, are located throughout the gallery.

A large map display poses the question “Where in the World Were You?” and invites veterans to pinpoint where they were deployed on the world map and where their families lived in the United States during their deployment. This portion of the exhibition often serves as a place for discussion amongst museum patrons who delight in comparing stories of where they have lived during service.

Mail Call: Letters were the primary method of communication during World War II and the Korean War.
Mail Call: Letters were the primary method of communication during World War II and the Korean War.

Since this is the third year of hosting the I Remember exhibit, it was important that the museum not duplicate themes or displays from previous years. An exhibition advisory committee was established in May of 2014 that met weekly to discuss potential themes and narrative points. John Graham, a Vietnam War and twenty-plus year military career veteran, who also serves as a museum volunteer, proposed the concept of focusing on the spouses and children who served alongside their enlisted service member.

“People often thank those who are enlisted, but forget about the families that give up so much so their loved one can serve the country that they love,” says Graham. In addition to two museum staff members, the exhibition advisory committee consisted of various members of the community including a former reference librarian, two veterans from Etowah County and members of the local Patriot Association, and a spouse of a veteran.

It was important to the committee for the exhibit to feature an interactive element. It was clear to the museum staff that one of the most moving aspects of developing the exhibit was interviewing the veterans when they brought in memorabilia to display. However, the museum visitors did not get to experience this. The museum partnered with Craig Scott at the Gadsden Public Library to record interviews of area veterans and their family members for this year’s exhibit. Quick Response, or QR, codes, are located throughout the exhibit that play excerpts from these interviews.

The Gadsden Museum of Art would like to invite you to the reception of the third annual I Remember exhibit on Friday, November 7, 2014 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The display will remain on exhibit until November 22nd. The GMA is open Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and open 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information please call 256-546-7365 or visit our website at www.gadsdenmuseum.com.

The case displays war bond advertisements, ration books, and a "knit for defense" pattern book - all items display ways civilians could help with the war effort during WWII.
This case displays war bond advertisements, ration books, and a “knit for defense” pattern book – all items display ways civilians could help with the war effort during WWII.

More articles on WWII museum exhibits:

New Exhibit at Salem Museum celebrates D-Day(Opens in a new browser tab)

World War II book to be published by Anderson County [SC] Museum(Opens in a new browser tab)

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