The Moomau Library is hosting a new exhibit sponsored by the Grant County Arts Council, Inc.
This exhibit, WOMEN IN WAR, is a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Army Women’s Museum, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. It is being shown in venues around West Virginia, courtesy of the West Virginia Humanities Council and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Parts of this exhibit feature women veterans who were from West Virginia.
This exhibit is free and open to the public and is available for viewing during regular library hours, 8:00-5:00. A closing date will be announced. Information is available at 304-257-4891. The Library is located at 18 Mt. View Street, Petersburg.
The five topics explored in this exhibit are On American Soil, The World Wars, Conflicts Against Communism, Western Hemisphere, and Desert Sands. They are displayed on six free-standing panels featuring text and pictures. The content of this exhibit is suitable for students and adults.
The West Virginia women featured in this exhibit are:
Laura Jackson Arnold, of Beverly, older sister of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, was a staunch Union loyalist, who nursed wounded Union troops in a hospital in Beverly.
Ruby Grace Bradley, of Spencer, Roane County, became chief nurse of the 8th Army during the Korean War. She retired as a colonel in 1963.
Paige P. Hunter, was the first female brigadier general in West Virginia history, and she served in Granada and both Iraq wars.
Thelma Maxine Spear, of Harrison County, served as a nurse during World War II at the Navy Seebees Camp Parks near San Francisco.
Emily Lilly of Beckley, was the National Guard’s first female Armor officer and the first woman in the National Guard to graduate from Army Ranger School.
The West Virginia National Cemetery Project (WVNCP), a program of the West Virginia Humanities Council, engages with high school students to research and write biographies of veterans interred in the state’s two national cemeteries. To read biographies of some of the West Virginia women featured in this exhibit visit: wwwhumanities.org/programs/west-virgina-national-cemeteries-project.
The WVNCP is made possible in party by funding from the Veterans Legacy Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Persons requiring accessibility assistance should contact GCAC in advance at P.O. Box 988, Petersburg, or at GCArtsCouncil@gmail.com.
