ST. MARYS — The Auglaize County Historical Society will present “World War I on the Ohio Home Front: Your Country Calls!” with Susan Talbot-Stanaway on Thursday, June 7, at 7 p.m., at the St. Marys Community Public Library, 140 Chestnut Street. The event is part of the Historical Society’s second quarter membership meeting, but is open to the public.
From 1917 through 1919, thousands of Ohio men and women engaged in the battles of the “Great War.” At home, in community organizations, on the farm, and in the workplace, Ohioans were exposed to new roles, new beliefs, and a new sense of national unity.
People, young or old, were urged to support the families of soldiers, to purchase war bonds and stamps, to dig and tend Victory Gardens, to undergo the hardships of rationing, and to report spies and hate the “Hun.”
Ohio women, many of whom were already suffragettes, entered the workplace for the first time, supported wartime charities, and joined organizations like the Women’s Land Army.
Ohio manufacturers and their employees, shifted to producing munitions, dramatically increased their work forces; some actively recruited African Americans from the South to operate assembly lines. Immigrants from overseas were exposed to programs that would “Americanize” them.
This presentation explores how Ohioans participated in the Great War and how participation shaped important social and political changes.
Susan Talbot-Stanaway is the retired director of the Zanesville Museum of Art. An art historian, concentrating on American art, Talbot-Stanaway has curated more than 500 exhibitions.
Recently, her research and curatorial efforts have focused on World War I posters, American illustrators, and contemporary art quilts.
