Back Library of America announces World War I and America grants for 65 organizations in 36 states
An American soldier in a trench during World War I, France, 1918. (FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Sixty-five libraries and other organizations in thirty-six states have been awarded funding for public programs as part of World War I and America, Library of America’s two-year, nationwide initiative designed to bring veterans and their families together with the general public to explore the American experience of the war and its role in shaping the contemporary world by reading, discussing, and sharing insights into the writings of Americans who experienced it firsthand. The initiative, which extends through February 2018, marks the hundredth anniversary of the U.S. entry into the war.

Nineteen of Round Two’s winning institutions will also host the companion traveling exhibition of documents, images, and interpretive texts prepared by Gilder Lehrman.

$91,200 was awarded in the initiative’s second round, bringing the total grant allocation to $168,000, distributed to 120 institutions in 39 states. Grantees have received stipends of either $1,200 or $1,800 for public programs centered on a set of seven humanities themes associated with World War I and America. Recognized humanities scholars and members of the veteran community will participate in all programs, which will be free and open to the general public. “Everyone here at the library is very excited by this wonderful opportunity,” reports programming librarian Courtney Tedrick of the Wheaton Public Library in Wheaton, Illinois, a sentiment shared by many participants.

Last fall, fifty-five libraries, historical societies, and other institutions around the country won funding in Round One of World War I and America. Click here for a complete list of those organizations.

Readers who would like more information about the project are invited to visit the project website or email ww1america@loa.org.

World War I and America is presented by Library of America with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and project support from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

A list of the Round Two grantees appears below, ordered by state.

Alabama
Troy University Libraries, Troy

Arkansas
Ross Pendergraft Library, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville

California
Folsom Public Library, Folsom
California Baptist University, Riverside
California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks

Colorado
Pueblo City-County Library District, Pueblo

Connecticut
Russell Library, Middletown

Delaware
Lewes Historical Society, Lewes
Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington

Florida
Bay County Public Library (main branch of Northwest Regional Library System), Panama City

Georgia
National Infantry Museum, Columbus
Emory University, The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Decatur
Clayton State University Library, Morrow

Hawaii
Chaminade History Center, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Honolulu

Illinois
Moline Public Library, Molene
Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park
Wheaton Public Library, Wheaton

Indiana
Trustees of Indiana University, Bloomington

Kansas
Emporia Public Library, Emporia
Kinsley Public Library, Kinsley

Kentucky
Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Laurel County Public Library, London

Louisiana
West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen

Massachusetts
Jewish Heritage Center at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston
Leominster Public Library, Leominster

Maryland
Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick

Maine
Auburn Public Library, Auburn
Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Augusta
Glickman Family Library University of Southern Maine, Portland

Michigan
Orion Township Public Library, Lake Orion
Van Buren District Library, Lawrence Branch, Lawrence
South Haven Memorial Library, South Haven
White Lake Township Library, White Lake

Minnesota
Dodge Center Public Library, Dodge Center

Mississippi
Mississippi State University Libraries, Mississippi State

Montana
Gallatin History Museum, Bozeman
Lewis & Clark Library, Helena

North Carolina
Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte
Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, Fayetteville
North Carolina Museum of History Foundation, Raleigh

North Dakota
Prairie Village Museum operated by the Geographical Center Historical Society, Rugby

Nebraska
Central City Public Library, Central City

New Hampshire
Keene Public Library, Keene
Warner Historical Society, Warner

New Jersey
Piscataway Public Library, Piscataway
Scotch Plains Public Library, Scotch Plains

New York
Slate Valley Museum, Granville
Greater Astoria Historical Society, Queens
Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in partnership with the FDR Presidential Library, New York
St. Joseph’s College, New York, Callahan Library, Patchogue
St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill
Warner Library, Tarrytown

Ohio
Loudonville Public Library, Loudonville

Pennsylvania
Elizabethtown College, High Library, Elizabethtown
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

South Carolina
Nancy Carson Library, North Augusta

Tennessee
Center for the Study of War & Society – University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Texas
West Texas A&M University Cornette Library, Canyon
Betty Foster Public Library, Ponder
Tarleton State University – Dick Smith Library, Stephenville

Virginia
Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville

Washington
Timberland Regional Library, Turnwater

Wisconsin
McIntyre Library University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Eau Claire
Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation, Madison

Wyoming
University of Wyoming Libraries, Laramie

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