November 11, 2018, marks 100 years since the end of the Great War. Through book discussions, local history walks, and expert speakers, the Delaware County District Library is working to pay tribute to a generation over the next few weeks.
Today, Oct. 27, a local history walk will take place, beginning at the Ostrander Branch at 1 p.m. and making its way through the Bokes Creek Cemetery. Ostrander Branch Manager and local historian Harla Lawson will teach some histories of the area and feature veterans of World War I on the casual walk for all ages.
Today is also Make A Difference Day. In conjunction with Connections Volunteer Center, we will have a dozen volunteers at each of our library locations “planting” 4,000 red pinwheels to symbolize the red poppy and those from Delaware County who served our country during the war. The pinwheels will remain on display through the anniversary on Nov. 11.
Two speakers will make presentations early in the month. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Susan Talbot-Stanway will present “WWI on the Ohio Home Front” at the Orange Branch Library. The 6:30 p.m. presentation will explore how Ohioans participated in the Great War and how participation shaped important social and political changes.
Then on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m., Dr. Mark Gingerich, the James S. Britton Professor of European History at Ohio Wesleyan University, will speak at the Ostrander Branch on the subject of the Armistice of World War I.
Throughout the month of November, our library book clubs will discuss books surrounding the topics of the war. Find a copy of any of these at your local branch, or bring a favorite of your own, and join us for good conversation in a casual setting. All titles and dates can be found on the library’s website at www.delawarelibrary.org.
• “Angels in the Gloom” by Anne Perry. Presents a thriller set against the backdrop of World War I Britain, as a beautiful Irish spy plies her trade in a London nightclub and, in a secret remote laboratory, scientists work to develop a weapon that could end the war.
• “The Daughters of Mars” by Thomas Keneally. Joining the war effort as nurses in 1915, two spirited Australian sisters, carrying a guilty secret, become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger as they serve alongside remarkable women during the first World War.
• “Birdsong” by Sebastian Faulks. In 1910, Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, journeys to France, becomes embroiled in a series of traumatic events, including a clandestine love affair, and finds himself trapped amid the horrors of the First World War.
• “The Unknowns” by Patrick K. O’Donnell. The author describes the history of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and tells the stories of those laid to rest there, as well as the veterans serving as Body Bearers.
• “A Casualty of War” by Charles Todd. Caring for an unstable soldier who believes his distant cousin is responsible for his injuries, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford investigates the patient’s claims, only to find herself in unexpected danger.
