Coming Summer 2023: Service and Sacrifice: World War II – A Shared Experience
Those who served in World War II did so for a variety of reasons, the universal draft being a major factor. They viewed their service through different lenses while sharing the experience of trying to win a war. For Americans of color, service in a war to “preserve democracy” was an ironic counterpoint to the suppression of their civil liberties at home. Women who were able to work in different capacities within the Armed Forces for the first time were greeted with hostility by their male counterparts.
For all those involved, the war opened different avenues and changed perceptions. As a result, countless servicepeople went on to shape and change post-war American society. This exhibit will tell the stories of a few of the many.