From students and decorated soldiers to conscientious objectors and national-service workers, what life was like for the people of Bridgewater College in the 1940s will be explored in a new exhibition at the college’s Alexander Mack Memorial Library April 16 to June 30.
The exhibition, “Standing Up: Bridgewater College’s WWII Experience,” is free and open to the public.
Bridgewater College – founded within the peace traditions of the Church of the Brethren – was home to students and personnel who both objected to participation in the military and who volunteered for active combat duty during World War II. The exhibition will use oral history interviews, artifacts and archives to tell the stories of some of these people.
Stephanie Gardner, special collections librarian at Bridgewater, said that student assistant Charlotte McIntyre of Street, Md., and intern Ryan Robinson of Stephens City, Va., spoke with five members of the college community who were of college age during the war.
“They conducted oral history interviews with a decorated WWII soldier, a conscientious objector who participated in alternative national service during the war and three people who were students at Bridgewater College during the time,” said Gardner, who noted that McIntyre and Robinson will share the interviews’ contents on display panels and through audiovisual media. “We are especially excited about allowing people to tell their stories in their own words.”
Gardner said that the Kline-Bowman Institute for Creative Peacebuilding at Bridgewater recently awarded the college’s Special Collections with funding to purchase audiovisual playback equipment for sharing video and sound contents.
Gardner said the exhibition will also illustrate Bridgewater College life during the early to mid 1940s by showcasing items from the library’s special collections and the Reuel B. Pritchett Museum Collection. These include a historic plaque honoring Bridgewater College men and women who served in the war, a sign from a Civilian Public Service Camp, a “dummy” artillery test cartridge, several groups of archival materials from the ’40s and a BC May Day dress from the era.
The exhibition will also feature many 1940s photographs from the college’s archives.
“There are so many campus and community people to thank for this exhibition,” said Gardner. “I have developed an even greater appreciation for those who served this country during WWII on the home front, in defense and through alternative national service.”
The exhibition will remain open through June 30 during the Alexander Mack Library’s operational hours.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,800 undergraduate students.
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