World War II Exhibit Pairs AP Photos with Local Stories, Artifacts

A rare archive of Associated Press photos from World War II are on display at the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum through June 4. 

The museum also dipped into its own collection to create a documentary film of local memories of the war. 

"So far it has been a popular exhibit, especially among World War II survivors and their  families," said Executive Director Kirsten Lee Villegas. "What we've found is this exhibit allows some vets to open up and share stories they might have never told their family before, and families of the veterans have said the exhibit is priceless because the veterans don't always talk about their experiences during the war."

As one of only 17 locations in the country to host the collection of AP images, the exhibit is a rare opportunity to see some of the most popular and some of the lesser-known images from the World War II era. Some photographs on display earned the Pulitzer Prize, including the first image visitors see at the entrance of the exhibit – Joe Rosenthal's iconic "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima."

In addition to the AP photo collection, the museum created the "Greatest Generation Theatre" inside the exhibit, which offers a small seating area for a 20-minute film featuring four surviving World War II veterans with ties to Waukesha County. The film combines firsthand accounts from the four veterans,  with photos and video footage from the era, which document different wartime roles.

"It's intense," said Jim Hahn, development and marketing director. "The stories these veterans tell are just incredible."

Throughout the entire exhibit, the museum has also added a host of its own photographs and an array of various "slice of life" artifacts that range from local wartime correspondence, uniforms and weaponry to items local veterans brought back from the war, such as a Nazi helmet and a pair of Japanese sniper footwear.

According to Villegas, many of the items from the museum's collection are available to the public through the museum's research center.

"We feel it's really important to honor our vets and make sure these stories aren't forgotten," Villegas said. "It does no good to have all these objects in a back room somewhere."

In conjunction with the exhibit, the museum is also holding a series of monthly lunchtime talks on topics related to World War II and military life. The series began earlier this month and will be offered on the second Wednesday of the month through May.

The next talk in the series is Jan. 12 and is titled , featuring Ervin Szpek Jr., who wrote a book under the same title. Szpek is the son of a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge and an ex-POW of the Dresden, Germany prison made famous in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Slaughterhouse Five. 

Each of the lunchtime talks begin at noon and are followed by a guided tour of the Memories of WWII exhibit at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $8 per program and includes lunch, talk, tour and admission to the museum. Registration forms can be picked up at the museum and mailed with payment, or registration can be handled by calling Marjorie at (262) 521-2859, ext. 226.