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USC has joined a partnership of six city and state institutions that will develop a first of its kind major project this spring commemorating South Carolina's participation in World War I.
"Forward Together: South Carolina in World War I," will feature exhibitions, public lectures, and the development of curricula to give the community a better understanding of the 20th century's economic, political, and social issues that are embedded in the legacy of what was once known as The Great War.
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| Fritz Hamer |
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| Elizabeth West |
Funding for the project is coming in part from the Partnership for a Nation of Learners, a leadership initiative of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
The South Carolina State Museum is the lead institution for the grant project. Fritz Hamer, curator of history at the museum, and Elizabeth West, university archivist at the South Caroliniana Library at USC, are serving as the project's co-directors.
Other project institutional members are USC's McKissick Museum (coordinated by Jason Shaiman), the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, the Historic Columbia Foundation, and the South Carolina Educational Television Network.
In addition to the general public, the project will target students and teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as the USC community.
Project events will begin with the opening of exhibits at the South Caroliniana Library and McKissick Museum in April. Exhibits at the State Museum and Historic Columbia Foundation will open in May. The final exhibit will open at the Relic Room at the State Museum in the fall.
The South Caroliniana Library's exhibit will examine the effects of the war on the University. McKissick Museum's exhibit will look at the propaganda and artwork that was produced to support the war effort. The State Museum will explore the home front, while the Relic Room will illustrate the experience of South Carolinians in the military and overseas.
Historic Columbia will feature images of the City of Columbia and war-related activities. A free public lecture series by the exhibitions' curators begins in August and continues through the fall. ETV will also produce a documentary on South Carolina during he war, which will air in the fall.
The grant also will fund an academic symposium at USC Oct. 5-6 that will examine the Palmetto State's experiences during the war, was well as larger national issues. The content of the exhibitions and symposium will be on the project's Web site at www.scforwardtogether.org as an ongoing resource for researchers, teachers, and students. The site's host is the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL).
Ancillary projects also under discussion but not funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services include a film festival, a concert of period music, and an exhibit by Rare Books and Special Collections at USC. Also, the South Carolina Humanities Council has funded a living history performance on President Woodrow Wilson by retired USC history professor Ed Beardsley.
For more information on the commemoration, contact West at 7-5158 or westec@gwm.sc.edu.
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