World War I committee readies for 2017-18 anniversary in Arkansas

The Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee recently launched a website and is encouraging donations of historically significant items from the WWI time period to archival institutions, ahead of a 2017-18 centennial commemoration of the “Great War.”

The new website features a timeline of events that occurred during WWI in Arkansas, a map of WWI-related sites throughout the state and a calendar of commemorative events, in addition to a page where Arkansans can post photos and documents related to their families’ experiences during the WWI era.

A series of podcasts on WWI history and educative materials are also available on the site, and site visitors can book a visit from the group’s WWI traveling exhibit.

“This centennial commemoration presents Arkansans with an opportunity to preserve the experiences of those who served in and lived through the first World War, so that future generations will know and understand their sacrifices,” Lisa Speer, WWI Commemorative Committee member, state historian and director of the Arkansas State Archives, said in a press release from the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson created the WWI Commemoration Committee in March as part of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The committee is tasked with planning activities around the 100-year commemoration in Arkansas, conducting research and otherwise seeking the expansion of the understanding and appreciation of the significance of WWI, according to its website.

“For more than 110 years, the Arkansas State Archives has been collecting and preserving materials that document our state’s history, as well as the history of Arkansas servicemen and women from the Revolutionary War to more modern-day conflicts,” Speer said in the release. “The last U.S. veteran of World War I died in 2011, so our opportunity to capture first-person accounts from the soldiers, and undoubtedly many of the civilians affected by the war, is gone. However, family members of the veterans and civilians who supported the war effort can ensure that their legacies are not forgotten by donating photographs, letters, documents, artifacts and other materials that allow their stories to live on to the Arkansas State Archives.”

Chairman Shawn Fisher announced the new website, at wwiarkansas.com, on Nov. 11 in a press conference at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock.