Traveling Exhibit Opening at Chester Public Library
Chester, S.C.— Emails and photos sent home by South Carolina service members in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere are being featured on a new website and traveling exhibit created by the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. It is opening at the Chester Public Library on October 11, 2006.
At the start of the Iraq war in 2003, the museum launched Write from the Front, an effort to preserve emails and digital photos from South Carolina service members overseas. The program recognizes that electronic communication has begun to replace traditional paper letters as the preferred way for many service members to write home. “We are still actively seeking South Carolina service members and families who would like to ensure that their war correspondence and other material are saved for the next generation,” said Museum Director Allen Roberson. “We don’t want these real-world stories to be lost with the next hard drive crash.”
The new website, www.wftf.sc.gov, features selected emails and photos voluntarily submitted by soldiers, aviators and sailors who are South Carolina natives or were trained at one of the state’s many military bases. The traveling exhibit is free to local libraries, museums, and other institutions. The exhibit panels include highlights from the collection and information on how service members and their families can contribute to the program. The exhibit also comes equipped with a desktop computer kiosk that allows visitors to browse the online Write from the Front collection (Internet connection not needed).
Organizations interested in hosting the Write from the Front exhibit should contact Sarah Wooton, the Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, at 803-737-8094 or by email at swooton@crr.sc.gov. For questions or more information about the exhibit and website, contact Jai Cassidy Shaiman, Public Information Specialist, at 803-737-8287 or jcassidy@crr.sc.gov.
Locations (as of 10-11-06)
Columbia - SC Confederate Relic Room Sept. 11, 2006-Dec. 30, 2006
Columbia - Columbia Visitors Center Sept. 12, 2006-Sept. 28, 2006
Oconee - Oconee County Public Library Oct. 2, 2006-Oct. 31, 2006
Chester - Chester County Library Oct. 11, 2006-Oct. 31, 2006
Pickens - Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library Nov. 1, 2006-Nov. 30, 2006
Hampton - Hampton Museum & Visitors Center Nov. 1, 2006-Nov. 30, 2006
Pickens - Pickens County Museum Dec. 1, 2006-Dec. 29, 2006
Iva - Iva Visitors Center Dec. 1, 2006-Dec. 29, 2006
Edgefield - Edgefield Discovery Center Jan. 2, 2007-Jan. 31, 2007
Pendleton - Pendleton High School Jan. 8, 2007-Feb. 2, 2007
Conway - Conway Library Feb. 1, 2007-Feb. 28, 2007
Sumter - Sumter Mall Feb. 1, 2007-Feb. 28, 2007
Cherokee - Cherokee Public Library Feb. 2, 2007- Feb. 28, 2007
Barnwell - Barnwell County Museum Mar. 1, 2007-Mar. 30, 2007
Beaufort - Beaufort County Library Mar. 6, 2007-Apr. 30, 2007
Colleton - Colleton County Library May 1, 2007-May 31, 2007
Lexington - Lexington Main Library May 1, 2007-May 31, 2007
Summerville - The ARC, Adult Respite Care Nov. 1, 2007-Nov. 30, 2007
Marlboro - Marlboro County Library Nov. 2, 2007-Nov. 30, 2007
