The United States World War I Centennial Commission is trying to compile commemorative events in each state for a publication.  For more details, see the following from Commissioner Monique Seefried:

The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the French Mission du Centenaire will co-publish a joint booklet of WWI centennial events and programs taking place in 2017, which France is treating as the “Year of the Americans.” The booklet will announce events and programs taking place in both the United States and France relating to the centennial.

The booklet will be available on-line through the Commission’s website, and a limited number of copies will be printed for distribution in both France and the U.S. This is an opportunity for state commemorative organizations participating in the centennial to advertise their events to a wider audience.

While we are aware of a great number of programs planned for 2017, we are reaching out to our state partners to ensure that we have collected all the key centennial observations taking place next year.

To that end, we invite you to provide the WWI Centennial Commission with a list of events and programs that you would recommend for inclusion in this brochure. For each event we would like to ask you for the following information:

  • Name/title of the event or program
  • Date, or date range (in the case of an ongoing exhibition or program)
  • Location
  • A brief (2 or 3-sentence) description, including targeted audience if applicable
  • Logo or other imagery you would like to include
  • Website or other resource (like a Facebook page) for further information
  • Point of contact, with name, phone number and email

Alternatively, you can fill this information on the WWICC events calendar: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/submit-an-event-form.html

Finally, if you are aware of an important event being planned in 2017 around the centennial of WWI, please give us the name and contact information of the person who could give us the information as listed above.

The Mission du Centenaire will be the principal publisher of this document, which will then be translated into English. The Mission has asked the WWI Centennial Commission to have this information by November 20, so that they can compile the pages by Christmas, be print-ready in February, and publish in March.

Accordingly, if you could provide us with your information by mid-November, we would be most appreciative.

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We’ve been given short notice on this, but if you have an event, please let us know through commenting below, or by contacting either Mary Madden (mmadden@kshs.org) or Blair Tarr (btarr@kshs.org).  Thank you!

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.