A.K. Smiley Public Library commemorates Veterans Day on Saturday, November 9 at 11am in the Assembly Room and on Zoom with a presentation by Ann Deegan, PhD. Dr. Deegan’s program, “‘I give up Jerry – come home.’ – A Story of Enduring Separation During World War II,” tells the story of Gerald and Maxine Smith through their letters written during the Second World War.
Very few men and women involved in the effort to end World War II were professional military. For many their goal was to survive and return to their family and friends as soon as possible. The nearly 900 letters in Smiley Library’s Gerald Smith Marshall Island Collection offer a rare opportunity to follow a husband and wife as they made their way through wartime. Using these letters, Dr. Deegan will reveal the story of Gerald Smith’s Navy years as he separated from his wife Maxine and traveled to Hawaii, and then on to the Pacific Theater enduring training, invasion of the Marshall Islands and a subsequent devastating bombing raid, and what all that meant to his wife at home. Gerald (also called Jerry) and Maxine lived in the Redlands and Bloomington areas and both attended University of Redlands. Their stories of enduring the conflict, as told through their letters, provide an unusual opportunity to hear voices from this war and better understand what it felt like to those who experienced it.
This event is free and open to the public. To watch from home, please select the following link on the day of the program: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88067287856. Registration is not required.
If you have any questions, please contact the Heritage Room at (909)798-7632 and heritage@akspl.org. Program subject to change.
About the Presenter…
Ann Cordy Deegan received her Ph.D. in Textile History at the University of Maryland minoring in U.S. History. She has taught at numerous universities over the last forty years including the University of Maryland, Kansas State University, Utah State University, University of Redlands, Woodbury University and University of California at Riverside. Additionally, she has been a curator of history in private and public museums including the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California, as Head of the History Division. She does research, writing and publishing in areas of U.S. History and in worldwide ethnic textiles including research and writing on textiles of the Pacific area. Her numerous publications in professional and public journals include co-authoring the books Early Redlands and Redlands in World War One.
Don’t miss the Lincoln Memorial Shrine’s commemoration of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on Saturday, November 16 at 11am in Smiley Park.
The anniversary of the Shrine’s reproduction field gun will be celebrated with an artillery demonstration at Smiley Park at 10am on August 17th. For the third year, the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery will provide an exciting program that combines historical facts with practical expertise to give a glimpse into the work of artillerymen during the Civil War. As a bonus, Abraham Lincoln presenter Robert Broski will add the presidential touch to the morning’s festivities.
