World War One Day at the Connecticut State Library

 (Hartford, CT)- Sergeant Raymond Queenin, a New Britain soldier with Company E, 102^nd Infantry Regiment, wrote after the war “I was scared stiff, but I was afraid to show it. I saw so many killed that I lost all fear of death. My only fear was the thought of how the folks at home would receive notice of my death.” It is words like these, along with the photos, letters, documents and souvenirs that help bring the stories of World War One back to life. And bringing WWI back to life is just what we’ll be doing here when we hold our last WWI Digitization Day as part of the World War One Day at Connecticut State Library

When:        October 27, 2018
Time:          9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where:       Connecticut State Library
                     231 Capitol Ave.
                    Hartford, Connecticut

WWI Digitization Day gives Connecticut residents, like Raymond Queenin’s descendants, an opportunity to have their WWI photos, letters, keepsakes and stories preserved for future generations. Library staff will record the stories and digitize the photos, letters, medals, keepsakes or objects saved by the men and women who served over here and over there. Their stories and digital images will be preserved in the Connecticut Digital Archive and made freely available online and so that their efforts and sacrifices are never forgotten.

“These events are an important way of documenting a piece of history that may otherwise never be known,” says Project Director Christine Pittsley from the Connecticut State Library. “People don’t think the story of how their father wanted to serve his new country just after arriving from Italy, or that photo of their grandmother in her Red Cross uniform is important, but they are. Every single photo, letter and story serve as a reminder of what these men and women endured and accomplished. Each thread helps to weave the narrative of who we were during the war and how we became the state and nation we are today.”

To help bring those stories to life we’ll have a small taste of what it was like to be a doughboy in the war. Outside on the lawn of the Connecticut State Library, a group of 26th Division reenactors, from Queenin’s company, will be setting up camp, complete with a working WWI Taylor model rolling field kitchen. There will be period vehicles, artifacts and other displays about the war including a few about Connecticut’s most famous war dog Sgt. Stubby.

Sgt. Stubby will be the star that afternoon when the Connecticut Military Department’s Service Member and Family Support Center and Fun Academy Motion Pictures host a Q&A with the production crew at 3:30 followed by a special free screening of Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero at 4:00 p.m. at the William A. O’Neill Armory.

For more information about WWI Day at Connecticut State Library please Christine Pittsley at (860) 757-6517 or CTinWW1@ct.gov. To learn more about the Remembering World War One project or other upcoming events please visit http://ctinworldwar1.org/digitization-days/.

For more information about the Q&A or movie please call 1-800-858-2677.