LYNN — The war to end all wars returns to the Lynn Museum next week.
On Tuesday, March 6, a World War I exhibit will launch at the Lynn Museum and Historical Society. The purpose of the exhibit is to shed light on how the war influenced and was influenced by Lynn, both at home and abroad.
“Some of ways we are approaching the exhibit is looking at women during the war,” said Judith Marshall, Education Manager of the Lynn Museum. “Constance Greene was from Lynn and became a physical therapist in France during the war, we have her whole uniform.”
The exhibit will also highlight how workers at General Electric (GE) and Lynn’s various shoe factories contributed to World War I. According to Marshall, the shoe factories made footwear for the soldiers and GE manufactured torpedo detection equipment, airplane searchlights, and machine guns.
“We’re also looking at what people at home were doing during the war, especially with fuel and food shortages, and how Lynners volunteered,” said Marshall. “Women raised money by knitting sweaters for soldiers and the city would ban together to raise money to buy war bonds.”
The exhibit will have uniforms of both soldiers and red cross workers as well as a revolver gun. A helmet, handwritten diary and a package delivered from the war in France to a family in Lynn, all from local WWI soldier Edmond Q. Bee, will also be on display.
“We have been working on this exhibit for half a year by researching and then looking through our collections to see what we have,” said the education manager.
The exhibit is temporary and will close sometime in December. General admission tickets are only $5.