Saturday, June 6, 2009, marks the opening of a small exhibition, Remembering Brown County’s Forgotten WWI Soldiers. The exhibit is based on a rare archival collection, The Brown County War History Committee Collection, and the research techniques used by Green Bay Preble High School students while working with the collection. The students helped select the exhibit content and design.
After World War I ended, the Brown County War History Committee interviewed local soldiers and their families about their wartime service. They collected a wealth of personal, family and military information, including hundreds of photographs and original letters. The goal of the Committee’s project was to publish a book, but it was never completed. The Collection, still intact, is owned by the Neville Public Museum and housed at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay Area Research Center.
Preble High School history teachers, Jason Baudhuin and Michael Wittig, collaborated with UW—Green Bay Professor Andrew Kersten on using the now digitized collection to enhance their history curriculum.
History™ provided funds through a Save Our History Grant to digitize the collection and add it to the Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) web portal www.wisconsinheritage.org. The grant also supported creation of the exhibit and revision of the high school history curriculum.
Save Our History is an Emmy® award-winning strategic philanthropic initiative of History™ that launched in 1998, designed to further historic preservation and history education. The program supplements the teaching of history in America’s classrooms, educates the public on the importance of historical preservation, and motivates communities across the country to help save endangered local historic treasures. The Save Our History campaign includes original documentaries, special teachers’ materials, national promotion on History™, and broadband activities in schools through work with The Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National World War II Memorial, American Rivers and The White House 200th Anniversary. History™ has given over $1 million dollars to fund historic preservation efforts across the country through the Save Our History Grant Program.
Additional information about the grassroots Save Our History program, including a comprehensive school manual containing suggested lesson plans for grades two through 12 and details about working with local preservation organizations, can also be found at www.saveourhistory.com.
