(From the Eisenhower Library’s press release.)

Abilene, Kan. – On the 100th anniversary of the armistice, learn about World War I soldier poetry this Veterans Day at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, 200 SE 4th Street, Abilene. This will be the topic at a free public program on Sunday, November 11 at 2 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium.

Family and historical documents show that soldiers from every country involved in World War I (1917 – 1919) wrote poetry. On Veterans Day, Tim Rives will share how important and useful this soldier poetry can be in studying the experiences of American service members in the First World War.

The armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918. President Wilson declared November 11 as Armistice Day to honor WWI veterans. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation changing it to Veterans Day honoring all veterans.

Tim Rives, Eisenhower Presidential Library Deputy Director, is an Army veteran. He served as a Voice Intercept Operator and Photojournalist. He earned degrees from Wichita State University and Emporia State University. Rives joined the archival team at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in 2008 after 10 years with the National Archives in Kansas City.

 

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.