EATON — The Preble County Room, Preble County District Library’s genealogy department, will have a special program to commemorate the 100th anniversary involvement of the United States in World War I. The event will be held at the Eaton Library on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m.
Preble County Room staff has worked throughout the year compiling information on Preble County veterans of WWI. The event will feature a presentation: “World War 1 on the Ohio Home Front: Your Country Calls!” by Susan Talbot-Stanaway.
Talbot-Stanaway’s page at the Ohio Humanities website describes the program: From 1917 through 1919, thousands of Ohio men and women engaged in the battles of the “Great War.” At home, in community organizations, on the farm, and in the workplace, Ohioans were exposed to new roles, new beliefs, and a new sense of national unity. People, young or old, were urged to support the families of soldiers, to purchase war bonds and stamps, to dig and tend Victory Gardens, to undergo the hardships of rationing, and to report spies and hate the “Hun.” Ohio women, many of whom were already suffragettes, entered the workplace for the first time, supported wartime charities, and joined organizations like the Women’s Land Army. Ohio manufacturers and their employees, shifted to producing munitions, dramatically increased their work forces; some actively recruited African Americans from the South to operate assembly lines. Immigrants from overseas were exposed to programs that would “Americanize” them. This presentation will explore how Ohioans participated in the Great War and how participation shaped important social and political changes.
There is no charge to attend the program. The Eaton Library is located at 301 N. Barron St. For more information on other programs and services of the library, visit www.preblelibrary.org.
