Event Recap

The Pelican State Goes to War Symposium

Marking the Museum closing of the special exhibit dedicated to Louisiana's WWII history, a panel discussion about the Pelican State's wartime contributions and legacies.

 

The Museum marked the conclusion of the special exhibit The Pelican State Goes to War: Louisiana in World War II with panel presentations and a music performance. The special exhibit, presented by The Alta and John Franks Foundation, closes April 29, but then packs up to begin a statewide tour. It will be on display at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport from September until January 2019, then moves on to Lake Charles, Alexandria, and other Louisiana destinations.

This panel was moderated by historian Gaines Foster, PhD, LSU Foundation M.J. Foster Professor of History. Panelists included Maureen Honey, PhD, Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir, PhD, Assistant Professor of History at Xavier University; and The National WWII Museum’s Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian Rob Citino, PhD.

Watch a Symposium presentation by Richard Campanella, geographer and Senior Professor of Practice at the Tulane School of Architecture, here, and an evening musical performance here. 

 

  • The Shreveport Times
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    Article

    Shreveport Under Attack: A Look Back at the Louisiana Maneuvers

    While military maneuvers train and test a force’s capabilities, they can also seem like an “alternate history” at times. Consider these fascinating front pages from September 1941, reprinted here courtesy of The Shreveport Times, describing the US Army’s big Louisiana Maneuvers. 

  • Louisiana in WWII special exhibit, photo of soldiers learning field maneuvers
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    Article

    The Louisiana Maneuvers

    Americans like to think of World War II as a “great crusade,” but if it was, the country certainly didn’t seem all that fervent about rushing into it. Think of it: by the usual reckoning, World War II lasted six years, from the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to Japan’s surrender on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. US participation spanned less than four years of that total, a little over half the war. Of seven campaigning seasons, the United States missed the first three and was active only in the final four.