IMG_0423This upcoming Fourth of July, the Lake County Historical Society will be hosting a Salute to Soldiers event.  For years I had wanted a Fourth of July event at the History Center.  It seemed only fitting.  Finally, in our off year from hosting a Civil War Encampment, the History Center will be open on the Fourth with activities befitting the occasion that everyone can come and enjoy.

For my part, I was asked to create an exhibit that would complement the Salute to Soldiers theme.  I reveled at the chance to honor our military.  I am a military dependent; my husband is an Air Force Reservist and an Iraq War veteran.

Now that the exhibit is almost complete, I can say that I am proud of the LCHS exhibit, but I wasn’t certain that would be the case from the outset.

After some fumbling around on my part trying to figure out how to represent our military over the entire history of our nation, I settled on displaying uniforms from each war and telling the story of the person who wore the uniform.  Additionally, I wanted to display a uniform from each branch of the service.  This goal, I thought, was much more doable than trying to display military gear and weaponry from each war.  That type of exhibit would have taken years to plan and research.  This goal also seemed realistic since I knew that the LCHS held in its collection numerous uniforms from various branches and eras of our history.

The LCHS has been collecting for over 75 years.  During that time, it has been primarily a passive collector rather than an active collector.  That means that the collection is made up of items that have been donated rather than sought out or purchased.  The LCHS has received many interesting donations, and the collection is fantastic, but creating an exhibit that makes sense and truly illustrates the selected subject requires all of the exhibit stars to align.  In the case of the Salute to Soldiers exhibit they needed to align on four points – each war, the uniform, the person who wore it, and the branch of the service.

Some of the uniforms were an easy decision.  The LCHS has a militia coatee from the War of 1812, and we have the story of the person who wore it from a direct descendent.  Besides, an 1812 coatee?  That’s just cool.  Another decision easy to make was to display the WWII flight jacket of George Gasper.  This jacket and George’s medals were a recent donation with story that many Lake Countians can relate to.  The LCHS also has the uniform of Mary Ivey Hawkins, a WWII era Lieutenant Commander in the Navy WAVES.   Mary was a very accomplished woman of her times.  The uniform of a Korean War era pilot who lost his life in a training accident just two weeks after he was married was also an easy decision.  The uniform was donated by his widow who wrote a lovely letter to the LCHS that accompanied the uniform.  I didn’t worry about representing the Civil War since the History Center has had Civil War exhibits on display for five years in honor of the 150th anniversary of the war.  Much of the Civil War exhibits are still on display.

However, putting the exhibit together got a little harder after that.  One or two of the stars just wouldn’t align.  For example, a beautiful WWII era Coast Guard uniform donated by Bob and Wilma Simon in 1997 was a great way to honor the Coast Guard.  In the record for the uniform it said it was attributed to an Edward E. Chrisman or an E. E. Chrisman of Madison.

My first task was to get the uniform on a mannequin.  Mannequins are my nemeses.  My tombstone will read, “She hated mannequins.”  They just stare at you expressionless while you wrestle with them to get clothing on only to have a leg or arm fall off.   Have you ever tried to put the arm of a mannequin back into the socket AFTER the clothes are on?  Oh! And their feet!  No shoe in the world was made to fit a mannequin’s foot!

Anyway, back to the subject of the exhibit.  Once the mannequin was dressed, I began to look into our archives and genealogy collection for information on Edward E. Chrisman.  There was nothing.  No reference anywhere.  No worries; I asked the Madison Historical Society for help.  There was nothing there either.  Nor did the Simons know anything about E. E. Chrisman.  How do I tell the story of the man who wore the Coast Guard Uniform?  Did E. E. Chrisman really wear it?  Well, I just had to keep moving on.

The next uniform selected for a mannequin was a WWI uniform.  But again the stars didn’t align.  The LCHS had two complete WWI uniforms, but none associated with a name.  There were bits and pieces of a uniform or gear like a helmet or mess kit associated with a name, but not a whole uniform.  (Plus the legs of the mannequin were too big for the “doughboy” uniform pants which lace up at the calves and are covered with canvas puttees!  Of course, the mannequin’s legs were too big!).

But moving on got harder still.  Though the LCHS has an extensive collection of military uniforms from World War II and before, it was slim pickings when it came to the Korean War and Vietnam War.  And there was nothing at all for the Gulf War, Afghanistan War or Iraq War.

While I had challenges, I want to say again that I am proud of the way it turned out.  Even though the stars didn’t completely align for each war and for each uniform, the exhibit is a fitting tribute to our soldiers – and a gentle reminder of the importance in preserving our more recent history. We have a uniform from each branch of the service, the exhibit represents each war, and most importantly, we tell the stories of some pretty incredible people who served our country in the military.

For the Revolutionary War, come read our collection of stories by Mildred Steed of Lake County pioneers who were Revolutionary War veterans.  She wrote the stories in 1974 through 1976 for the Painesville Telegraph.   Learn about Harry Winsor, a young man who volunteered for the American Field Service in France during the early part of WWI.  Or learn about the heart rending story of a Concord father who served in the Civil War and son who served in the Spanish American War.  Learn about the service of the women who served in the American Red Cross in WWI and WWII.

We came up with the name of the Coastee who wore the Coast Guard uniform.  Thank you to the Madison Historical Society because they didn’t give up.  It was worn by EARL E. Chrisman, not EDWARD E.  Helps to have the name right.

What about the recent wars in the Gulf Region, you ask?  Sometimes the stars have their own ideas.  The family of Marine Lance Corporal Andrew Nowacki has loaned to the LCHS just for this exhibit the Memorial Shadow Box of Andrew’s medals and funerary flag along with a Feyadeen Helmet worn by one of Saddam Hussein’s guards.

And yes, we have a uniform representing the recent wars in the Gulf Region – my husband’s.  My husband even helped me dress the mannequin.  Boots and all!  That mannequin didn’t stand a chance.

By: Lynn Vandevort, Collections Manager LCHS