Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 11 april 2017
Preparing artifacts of the ‘Great War’ for the digital age

PAT EATON-ROBB the Connecticut digital ar-
Associated Press chive. So, even it that item
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — disappears, there always
Rick Maynard found the will be a digital record of
manila envelope contain- it.”
ing letters from the battle- The library is building a
fields of World War I while website that will allow any-
he and his sister were one to download the im-
cleaning out the base- ages. It also is working with
ment after their father’s schools across the state on
death. ways to incorporate the
The more than three dozen stories and images into
letters were written, some curriculum.
in pencil, by Paul May- The project includes not
nard, Rick’s great-uncle. only soldiers’ stories, but
“He was on the front lines,” also those of nurses, YMCA
said Rick Maynard, the canteen workers, those
parks and recreation di- who sold Liberty Loan war
rector for the town of Guil- bonds or anyone else as-
ford. “In one of the letters sociated with the war.
to his mother, he said he The project also allows
had not slept in 10 days. those who own the ob-
I can’t imagine it. I can’t jects to learn more about
fathom that.” In this April 6, 2017 photo, a World War I discharge paper awaits scanning at the Connecticut their relatives who served
Soon, letters such as those State Library in Hartford, Conn. in the war.
from 21-year-old Paul Associated Press In 1919, the state library
Maynard, who died in tifacts associated with the in 2014, about 130 people also became the state’s
1918 during the last day “Great War” to be photo- have come to events, re- Department of War Re-
of battle, will be available graphed or scanned for sulting in the digital pres- cords. Librarian George
for anyone to read, thanks posterity. Students and ervation of more than 600 Goddard took that role
to a project spearheaded veterans also conduct in- items and the creation of very seriously, and began
by the Connecticut State terviews with the owners about 150 profiles of peo- gathering everything he
Library to help mark the to get a history of the items ple who took part in the could get his hands on.
100th anniversary of the and the people to whom war effort. The library sent out ques-
U.S. involvement in the they are linked. tionnaires to every Con-
war. The library says it has the necticut resident who
The library is hosting events largest World War I archive served in the war, record-
across Connecticut, in- of any U.S. state. ing their experiences and
viting people to bring in Since the project began thoughts on war. Those
photos, letters and any ar- are all on file with the state
and those attending the
This undated family photo
provided by Bernice McNeil digitization events can get
shows Robert Remington, of help looking up the infor-
Hamden, Conn., who was mation.
killed in France in May of 1918 The preservation efforts
during World War I. are important, Isleib said,
Associated Press
because they put faces
man for the U.S. World War and personal stories to
I Centennial Commission. an abstract history les-
The preservation is funded son about a war that not
in part by an $11,000 grant many understand.
from the National Endow- “This is our inheritance and
This undated family photo ment for the Humanities. our future generation’s in-
provided by Bernice McNeil
shows a woman named Ethel The New Haven Museum heritance,” he said. “These
Cooke with Robert Remington, will host a major scanning stories make up who we
right, of Hamden, Conn. Rem- event May 24. There are 16 are as Americans.”
ington was killed in France in others scheduled this year Bernice McNeil, of North
May of 1918 during World War across the state.
I. Haven, said it was a way
Associated Press “We can do high-resolu- to make sure that when
tion captures of anything she is gone, others will re-
that comes in, 3D objects, member the sacrifice of
Similar preservation efforts
are being done at some flat objects,” said Christine her uncle, Robert Rem-
universities, some branch- Pittsley, the project man- ington, who was killed in
es of the military and lo- agers for the state’s Re- 1918 at the age of 18 in
cal historical societies, membering World War I: Seicheprey, France.
but nothing on the scale Sharing History/Preserving “He served our coun-
This June 1918 photo provided by Rick Maynard of Guilford, of Connecticut’s project, Memories program. “All of try and he died for this
Conn., shows a letter sent by his great uncle Sgt. Paul Maynard that stuff is going to be on- country, protecting our
to his family from France during World War I. said Chris Isleib, spokes- line. It’s being preserved in freedom.”q
Associated Press