PCHS, UWSP students collaborate on video
Award-winning program shows connection between past, current veterans
By Kris Leonhardt
A collaborative project of the Portage County Historical Society and UWSP students shows the connection between veterans of World War I and those of today.
“What we tried to do with the video is have UWSP Irag/Afghan vets reading the WW I letters – the ‘connection’ between the men who wrote the letters and those today is apparent as you go through the tape. I think the film does a good job of showing what the commitment to the military/country means and the toll it can take on the soldiers whether in 1919 or 2020. As an example the end of the film deals with what today we call PTSD, then it was called shell shock,” said PCHS President Tim Siebert.
The video was part of the “Over There – Portage County in the Great War” program, which recently received the 2019 Public Program Award from the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The award recognizes “outstanding work in a new Wisconsin public history program.”
The retrospective on “The Great War” consisted of seven months of events and programs that evolved from a range of partnerships and included exhibits, published books, speakers, and a park dedication.
“The Public Programs award is one of several award categories that the state historical society presents each year. They include a publications award, museum displays award, Thwaites Award for overall programming and can only be won every 20 years; we received it 19 years ago,” explained Siebert.
Siebert said that the award reflected the contributions of local volunteers and those who served from Portage County.
“First, it reflects the many hours of work that a number of people put in, particularly Sue Koehl, Sara Scripps, Anton Anday, and Tim Siebert. Thanks to their efforts the society was able to engage the help of a variety of organizations and schools in the area to make the whole Great War Remembrance presentations very much a county wide effort,” he said.
“Secondly, I think, the award helps to recognize the contribution that the people of this county contributed to the war effort.
“Finally, the award is the recognition of the wide variety of presentations the historical society put together as a remembrance of the county’s contribution to the war effort.”
The “Over There – Portage County in the Great War” video is available by contacting PCHS at P.O. Box 672, Stevens Point, WI, 54481, or 715-600-4930.