Current Exhibitions
Silk and Steel: French Fashion, Women and WWI
WWI exploded in the late summer of 1914 and though underrepresented in the histories, women were working hard in war industries, nursing, transportation and fighting for equal rights. Women’s fashion also played a surprisingly important role during WWI, especially in France. Learn why fashion was more than simply a means of personal expression in the new exhibition Silk and Steel: French Fashion, Women and WWI – a new chapter of the history of the war at the Museum and Memorial. Sept. 25, 2020 – Sept. 6, 2021, Wylie Gallery
Why Keep That?
Collecting, cataloguing, conserving. The heart of a museum is its collection, but how do Museums make decisions and who gets to answer the question, “Why Keep That?” This exhibition follows the journey of a collection item from the moment it is donated to the Museum, to the decision-making and archival process of our collections staff. To help illustrate, archival staff track the processing and digitization of a collection of 16 objects and share behind-the-scenes information about obtaining the artifacts, processing the items and storing and protecting them. Opens Jan. 27, 2021, Ellis Gallery
Votes & Voices
On Aug. 26, 1920, after more than a century and half of activism, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, officially barring discrimination of voting explicitly based upon one’s “sex.” The passage and ratification of the amendment was deeply influenced by women’s significant involvement on the battle and homefronts during World War I coupled with unrelenting political organizing. Votes & Voices explores some of the history of the women’s suffrage movement and its connections to the Great War, largely from the perspectives of the women who fought for democracy at home and abroad. Opens July 29, 2020, West Lobby Gallery
100 Years of Collecting
The National WWI Museum and Memorial began collecting directly from the First World War in 1920 and has amassed the most comprehensive Great War collection in the world. In a tremendous stroke of foresight, the organization’s founders determined that the collection should be inclusive of every nation that actively participated in the war. 100 Years of Collecting provides a window to examine incredibly diverse objects and documents, as well as the opportunity to see how this monumental collection came to fruition. The exhibition is presented in conjunction with 100 Years of Collecting – Art in Memory Hall. June 2, 2020 – Aug. 8, 2021, Exhibit Hall