January 20 - May 31, 2017

Curated by Tyler Edmond ’17, Helen Mistler ’19, Donny Santacaterina ’15, and Dr. Courtney Tollison

This exhibit surveys World War I’s (1914-1918) impact on the local community; it examines the contributions of this area to the war effort, domestically and overseas, and it assesses the mixed legacy of progress emanating from the war years.

From the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, and especially after the United States’ entry into the war in April 1917, Greenvillians felt compelled to “do our bit.” Alongside local citizens, students at Furman and the Greenville Woman’s College invested time, energy, and resources to the war effort domestically and overseas, and in some instances gave their lives in service to the nation. Through exposure to new people and new ideas, and as a beneficiary of the nation’s great economic mobilization, World War I brought social and economic progress alongside changes in infrastructure to the area, but fell short of what could have been accomplished during this time of national and international upheaval.

The curators would like to thank the Greenville County Historical Society, the Greenville County Public Library, Don Koonce, and the Upcountry History Museum-Furman University for loaned materials. Thanks also go to Julia Cowart and Jeff Makala of Special Collections; Elaina Griffith, Kathy Hamlin, Steve Richardson, and Libby Young from James B. Duke Library; Carolyn Day, Marian Strobel, Diane Vecchio, and Lilah Westmoreland from the History department; Rick Shosky and Facilities Services; and Jack Green, Sean Hartness, John Holman, Genie Kramer, Bill Price, Daniel Reese, and Mike Winiski. Rick Jones deserves special credit for creating the poster and exhibit panels.

This exhibition has been sponsored by the Friends of the Furman University Libraries and the History Department.