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Durham Museum wants your World War I items

Posted at 3:28 PM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-10 16:08:46-04

The Durham Museum is asking for the public to submit items to help them with artifacts for a new WWI exhibit, "Fighting for the Good Life: Nebraskans in World War I."

From gas masks, to pamphlets, Curator Carrie Meyer is currently sifting through the museum archives, preparing for their upcoming exhibit. She needs the community's help.

Through Nov. 17, Durham staff are asking people to send them photos of any World War I items to ww1@durhammuseum.org. They're specifically hoping for things like souvenirs, boots, propaganda posters, uniforms, weapons, or letters from the battlefield.

Meyer has had a few submissions: some posters, a pocket watch, the death telegram a soldier's family received.

The museum will borrow the items they're interested in, and then return them when the exhibit is over. The Durham did the same thing last year, with great success, for a 1970's exhibit. Crowd sourcing for a period twice as old might be a little harder, but Meyer has faith.

"People might not have as many things, but we're hoping. We're hoping the community has things stored away in their basements and their attics that they want to get out and see the light of day and have those stories told. The stories of how the normal people who left their homes went over to a foreign country, fought in this war and then they came home," she said.