Swem Library at William & Mary presents the exhibit, “From the ’Burg to Berlin and Beyond: World War II at Swem Library.” Using letters, diaries, posters, photographs, sheet music, and other materials from Swem’s Special Collections Research Center, the exhibit provides a general overview of the War, with a special emphasis on the College and Williamsburg. The first four sections of the exhibit are in the Marshall Gallery; the remainder are in the SCRC.
The first section looks at the beginning of World War II in Asia and Europe through Pearl Harbor. Among items on display are photos and papers relating to Albert Raymond, an American in Paris who volunteered as an ambulance driver after Germany invaded France. The attack on Pearl Harbor is recalled through the reminiscences of William & Mary alumni who were on campus at the time. A scroll contains Japan’s declaration of war on the U.S. in Japanese characters, with an accompanying English translation.
The next two sections explore the War at the College and in Williamsburg. Photos show naval chaplains and soldiers at the College and on parade on Duke of Gloucester Street, while war ration books and USO materials testify to civilian contributions to the war effort. An issue of the Bee Line, Camp Peary’s newspaper, and letters by Williamsburg residents further illuminate local wartime experiences.
The fourth section focuses on those in uniform. Highlights include letters home by nurses in Burma and Normandy, a photo album and Christmas menu for a hospital commanded by W&M alumnus Colonel Amos Koontz, and telegrams congratulating local hero and W&M alumnus Admiral John Lesslie Hall, Jr., for his successful supervision of the Normandy landings. W&M education professor emeritus Armand Galfo, who served as an airman, is represented by V-mails and a silk map with tiny bombs marking the locations his plane attacked.
The next section examines the end of the War and its aftermath. Photos of President Roosevelt’s funeral are accompanied by a letter lamenting his death written by a Sea Bee at Camp Peary. Other notable items include a photo of Tojo on trial in Tokyo and the prosecution’s opening statement in the Japanese war crime trials, photos of the devastation in Hiroshima and Europe, and a publication created by German civilians interned by the Allies as suspected Nazis.
The final three cases investigate specific issues or events of the war years. One case looks at the internment of Japanese and Japanese-American civilians in the U.S. and an anti-Fifth Column vigilante group operating in Montclair, New Jersey. Another case looks at the Holocaust, with original photographs of the dead at Dachau, letters by people in the United States reacting to news of the camps, and a facsimile of Hitler’s last will, where he still blames the Jews for his problems. The last case recalls a wartime controversy at William & Mary, when Marilyn Kaemmerle, the editor of the student newspaper, called for an end to segregation and was fired.
Images of the exhibit are available at the SCRC's Flickr page. An audio tour of the exhibit by curator Bea Hardy is also available from the W&M Digital Archive.
Curator: Beatriz Hardy, Special Collections Research Center Director; Assistant Curator: Jennie Davy, Class of 2009; Exhibit Design and Installation: Chandi Singer, Warren E. Burger Archives Specialist; Graphics: Karen McCluney, Swem Graphic Artist.