Trexler Library’s New Exhibit Celebrates the Contributions and Correspondence of ‘Berg Students and Alumni in WWII.
Navy students on parade, 1943.
‘From the four corners of the earth:’ World War II as Revealed in the Muhlenberg College Archives.
Opening Reception Tuesday, October 14th, 5-7pm
Trexler Library Level A Concourse
Lecture & Refreshments
Speakers
- Prof. John Malsberger
- Major Nathan Kline, USAF-ret.
- Mrs. Sarah Fister Van Auken
The opening reception and the exhibit are free and open to the public.
This exhibit was precipitated by the arrival in Special Collections of almost 1000 letters and postcards from Muhlenberg students and alumni from the WWII era. The letters had been integrated into alumni records in Development & Alumni Relations for decades, and because of their historical nature, it was thought appropriate that the archives should hold them.
The files contain postcards, letters, V-mail and, importantly, carbon copies of replies written by Muhlenberg staff to the servicemen. While a few folders contain only change-of-address postcards, most contain letters describing battles and conditions on the front lines in the European and Pacific theatres, as well as at training bases throughout the U.S. Servicemen talk about visiting Hiroshima and Nagaski months after the atomic bombs were dropped, about being held as POWs in Germany, and about their training as paratroopers, just to give a few examples.
Chow time in the mess hall (Dining Commons)
The exhibit celebrates these letters by showing interesting and varied examples, while at the same time capturing the atmosphere at the College during the war years, at which time it served as both a V-12 and a V-5 Navy training unit for officers. Photographs and documents from the period, as well as clippings from the Muhlenberg Weekly and Muhlenberg Alumni Quarterly document the campus as training camp from 1943-1945.
The exhibit is open to the public through June 2015, and is free of charge.
For more information, visit trexler.muhlenberg.edu/wwii, or contact Special Collections at 484.664.3694 / sfalciani@muhlenberg.edu.
