Opening Soon - A Few Good Women: Women in the Military During the Second World War

An exhibit on women in the military will open at the North Berrien Historical Museum on Friday, April 1 with a reception from 5:30-7:30pm. State Senator John Proos will give opening remarks at 6pm. “A Few Good Women: Women in the Military During the Second World War” is a traveling exhibit from the Michigan Women’s Historical Center in Lansing and will be on view from April 1 – May 27, 2011.

This temporary exhibit highlights the involvement of Michigan women in the military during the Second World War including the Army and Navy Nurses Corps, Coast Guard SPARS, Marine Corps, Navy WAVES, WACs (Women Army Corps) and WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots). Several Michigan women who have earned a place in the Michigan’s Women’s Hall of Fame for their service in the war are specifically covered.

Michiganders can be proud of female veterans including Nancy Harkness Love (1914-1976), a native of Houghton, Michigan, who helped found and was director of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS) in 1942. Love hand-selected the country’s top twenty-eight female pilots to serve in the WAFS ferrying planes from factories to bases nationwide. First Lieutenant Aleda Lutz (1915-1994), of Saginaw, Michigan, volunteered with the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron where she flew 196 missions evacuating over 3500 men, logging the most flight hours of any nurse. Lutz was killed in 1944 when her plane crashed in Italy, making her the first American military woman to die in a combat zone during the war.

Artifacts donated by North Berrien residents are included to tell the story of local women during the war. Among these is Frances Bridgman’s silk wedding dress, which was made from a parachute panel recovered by her future husband from a downed Japanese plane in the Philippines. Lillian Pritchard and Jackie Phillippi Nurses’ uniforms are also on display from the permanent collection. Additional uniforms and images are loaned from Berrien, Van Buren and Elkhart County museums.

Special events at the museum are planned throughout the exhibit. An all-ages World War Two themed Spring Break program is planned for Wednesday, April 6 from 1-3pm. A panel of North Berrien female veterans including Vel Ripsco and Janet Allkins is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19 at 7pm. Documentaries will be screened at the museum on the afternoon of Saturday, April 16 and a book discussion will be held at the Coloma Public Library on Thursday, March 12. Finally a 1940s Show & Tell discussion on Tuesday, May 17 invites all local residents to share objects, photographs, and stories relating to life in North Berrien during the war period.

Admission is free to the exhibit and all programs. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10am to 4pm. For additional information please contact the museum at 269-468-3330 or visit http://www.northberrienhistory.org/.

American Women in a World at War Book Discussion May 12

A discussion of American Women in a World at War will take place at the Coloma Public Library on Thursday, May 12 from 5:30-7pm. The book discussion is part of programming related to the exhibit A Few Good Women: Women in the Military During the Second World War, which is on display at the North Berrien Historical Museum from April 1 - May 27, 2011.

American Women in a World at War is a selection of contemporary accounts written by women in the 1940s. While many historical accounts are compiled many years after the fact, these stories come directly from the war period. The book is composed of twenty-five writings by women who share rich and varied experiences offering eloquent testimony that World War Two was indeed "everybody's war." Discussion participants will enjoy first-hand accounts including Army nurses in the Phillipines, Navy Nurses at Pearl Harbor, Coast Guard SPARs in New York, female factory workers, and recollections of life on the homefront while husbands and fathers were away at war.

The book is a quick read at 200 pages. Copies of the book are available at Coloma Public Library, Watervliet District Libary or for sale at Lakeside Books in downtown Coloma.

Tour of Russian Icon Exhibit

The Krasl Art Center will provide a group tour of the exhibit Windows to Heaven: Treasures from the Museum of Russian Icons on Wednesday, March 23 at 7pm. The tour is offered free of charge for North Berrien Historical Society members and friends. No rsvp is required and guests are asked to meet in the Krasl Art Center lobby.

Windows to Heaven brings together a grouping of historically significant Russian Icons dating from 1500 to the present. St. Nicholas and St. George, Old Testament scenes, pictorial themes centered on the life of Jesus, and images of the Mother of God are represented in this collection. This is a rare opportunity to learn about Russian history, art, and religion through beautiful and rare objects. This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts. Windows to Heaven will be on display at the Krasl through April 24.

Museum hosts Civil War speaker March 15

All are welcome to attend a free public program at the North Berrien Historical Museum to commemorate an historic occasion this spring—the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Dr. Chris Paine, Professor of History at Lake Michigan College, will join us to present a talk entitled “The Winter of Our Discontent: The Civil War Gets Started”. Dr. Paine will discuss the secessions of southern states from the Union in 1861 and President Lincoln’s response to the problem. What happened during that time changed our nation forever— but was it a coup? A revolution? Neither? Dr. Paine’s teaching skills and expertise in 19th century American history make this a program not to be missed. Refreshments will follow.

This event will be held Tuesday, March 15, at 7:00 pm. The North Berrien Historical Museum is located on Red Arrow Highway across from Coloma High School. For more information, call the museum at (269) 468-3330.