The Adams County Historic Preservation Commission will host exhibits honoring veterans of World War I, opening 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 17, with an 11 a.m. Ambassador Salute and chamber coffee at 615 Davis Ave. in Corning.
The exhibition includes:
World War I: Lessons and Legacies from the Smithsonian. It explores “the war to end all wars” and its lasting impact and far-reaching influence on American life. It redefined how we saw ourselves as Americans and its legacy continues today.
World War I: The Honor Roll, from the State Historical Society of Iowa, features more than 4,000 names and corresponding photos from all 99 Iowa counties that the society collected from Iowa families who lost loved ones during the war.
An initial call was sent out in 1920 and then again in 2017 to shore up the official records during the war’s 100th anniversary. The display is the result of that research—and a tribute to a generation of Iowans who sacrificed their lives to the cause of freedom.
World War I: The Doughboys of Adams County is an exhibit developed by the Adams County Historic Preservation Commission to commemorate, with a profile of each, the many soldiers and sailors that had a connection with Adams County.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, Humanities Iowa and the Adams County Historic Preservation Commission will sponsor Michael Vogt, curator of the Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge. Vogt will be in Corning to do two presentations on Camp Dodge: Home Away from Home 1917-1918.
The first is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Southwest Valley High School Auditorium, 904 8th St. in Corning. The second will be 7 p.m. in the Corning Community Center, 601 6th St. in Corning. The exhibition will be open 3 to 6:30 that day as well.
Following the U.S. entry into the war, the war department undertook the task of raising, training, equipping and arming a force large enough to successfully contribute to the Allies war effort. Camp Dodge was selected as one of 16 training camps for draftee soldiers. The small Iowa National Guard camp was expanded into the largest military base in Iowa’s history and in the upper Midwest.
The audience will learn how, from September 1917 through November 1918, 37,111 Iowa draftees left cities, towns and farms to become soldiers during the First World War. For these Iowans and other inductees from the upper Midwest, Camp Dodge became their new “home away from home.”
The free exhibits are open to the public 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays from Oct. 17 through Nov. 9. Exhibits will also be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 10 and 11 for Veteran’s Day.