"World War I and America" Program at Beaumont Woman's Club

As the United States marks the centennial of its involvement in World War I, Beaumont Library District is sponsoring a panel discussion on America’s war experiences during the past one hundred years.

The program will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, at the Beaumont Woman's Club, 306 E. Sixth Street in Beaumont.

This is the first program being sponsored, in partnership with the Veterans Resource Center, by a $1,200 “World War I and America” grant that Beaumont Library District received through the Library of America and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The series is meant to bring members of the veteran community together with the general public in libraries and museums around the country to explore the impact of the First World War and other wars since by reading about and sharing insights on what Americans have written of their experiences.

Dr. Jennifer Keene, Chair of History at Chapman University, will be leading the discussion on how war and its effects have changed, or not changed, over time. The panel will consist of veterans of different eras and branches of the service.

Dr. Keene has written several books on the subject, including: World War I: The American Soldier Experience (2011); Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America (2001); and The United States and the First World War (2000).

Beaumont Library, a California Special District independent of both city and county government, provides library services to Beaumont and Cherry Valley and is located at 125 E. Eighth Street in Beaumont. Call 951-845-1357 or visit bld.lib.ca.us for more information.

Beaumont Woman's Club has been serving the community since 1908. Visit them on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BeaumontWoman or join them at their meeting the first Thursday of the month at 11 a.m.