“San Jose and World War One: A Centennial Exhibition,” an exhibit celebrating the end of World War One, features information about local veterans, war paraphernalia and commemorative art.
A reception was held on Thursday night to mark the launch of the exhibit at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.
History professor Dr. Jonathan Roth, who helped curate pieces in the exhibit, thanked several individuals involved before he introduced the featured speaker Karen English.
English, a humanities lecturer, spoke about poetry written during the war. She selected four poems that were read aloud by student volunteers.
The poems explored the perspectives of a variety of individuals throughout the war.
“I thought it was important to have both gender coverage and also different tones,” English said about how she chose the poems.
Two of them were written by women, while one explored the point of view of an African-American soldier.
English said she began researching World War One poetry three years when she was asked to give a talk for the Bay Area World War One Historical Society.
She said she was shocked by the amount of poetry that was written during the time period and also how many people are unaware that it exists.
Poetry is being featured in the exhibit, with one written by a local woman opposing the war.
“He Went for a Soldier” by Ruth Comfort Mitchell begins by describing how a soldier entering war changes after he experiences the harsh and terrifying realities of the battlefield.
She then questions how long these events will last.
“How much longer, O Lord, shall we bear it all? How many more red years?”
Biology sophomore and Reserved Officers’ Training Corps member Cynthia Bowl, attended the reception with her fellow members.
“We decided that we wanted to honor the people who died in World War One and we wanted to know more about [its] history,” Bowl said.
Bowl said that the exhibition will help students’ understanding of the trials and tribulations experienced by soldiers during the war.
“You actually have contact with it and see it in person. It’s really amazing . . . Instead of just reading about the subject, it’s really interesting that I get to see it first hand,” Bowl said.
One of the displays in the exhibit is about Sgt. Sing Lau Kee, a native of Saratoga, who received the Purple Heart for his bravery during the war.
The Purple Heart is a military decoration awarded to those that were wounded or killed in battle.
Several members of Kee’s family, including his daughter and granddaughter, were in attendance for the reception.
After it ended, Roth showed Kee’s family around the exhibition.
“It was very meaningful for me. It was a great honor for me to be able to share that with the family,” Roth said.
“Behind the scenes, they really helped me a lot with the information and I was able to put this together because the family had these stories and were able to tell me things.”
Roth said the space on the second floor of the library was booked two years in advance by Masters of Public Administration director, Frances Edwards, for the exhibition.
A variety of sources, from History San Jose to the Los Altos History Museum, helped provide information and pieces to be put on display.
Roth wants students to realize the war was not that long ago and how it affected the San Jose area in particular.
“It’s something I think that people should understand, that things don’t just happen in the past,” Roth said.
“The past is part of our present and I hope [students] take away [that] some of the problems and politics and war that we face today, they were facing then.”
The exhibition will be on display until the end of this month.
