Baldwin County Heritage Museum’s WWI & WWII exhibit named Bicentennial Legacy Project

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 3/31/20

ELBERTA - The Baldwin County Heritage Museum received an honor earlier this month when it was announced that the museum’s “WWI & WWII Memories of Baldwin County” was named an Alabama …

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Baldwin County Heritage Museum’s WWI & WWII exhibit named Bicentennial Legacy Project

Photo by Jessica Vaughn
Posted

ELBERTA - The Baldwin County Heritage Museum received an honor earlier this month when it was announced that the museum’s “WWI & WWII Memories of Baldwin County” was named an Alabama Bicentennial Legacy Project.

The exhibit was previously recognized by 200 Alabama Bicentennial with a grant to help further the staff’s efforts preserving the history of Baldwin County. The exhibit honors the men and women from Baldwin who served in either or both wars, showcasing major events in the wars as well as the personal lives of our locals who supported the war efforts.

“Words cannot even describe how it feels to receive this award,” said museum volunteer Coletta Bailey, who is over the exhibit. “It’s been an approved event by the Alabama 200 state committee for three years now, and as soon as we learned of the award we applied for it … I feel honored to be able to honor the men and women who fought for us in WWI and WWII.”

Entering its eighth year, the display is far from done. Bailey is working to get 15 more displays up this year, and has already completed three. She’s also collecting a list of POWs of both wars from Baldwin County.

While the exhibit used to rotate it has now been made permanent, and has added the Home Front Section, which houses displays showing what life was like in Baldwin County for those at home during the wars. Even during the holidays the exhibit grows, with a special Christmas Tree decorated with cards and photos of soldiers from the wars.

“If anyone wants to have their relatives or loved ones honored in the exhibit, there is still time to get them in,” she said. “I have quite a list going, but I will do my best to get everyone included. We just ask that these men and women have been living in Baldwin County when they enlisted or were enlisted, or to have grown up here in the county.”

The exhibit focuses on people who lived in Baldwin County when they enlisted in either war, showing their lives before, during, and after. It began with letters the soldiers wrote to their families back home, diaries they kept while at sea or at the frontline, and personal artifacts that connected visitors with those who lived during the war era. Each separate display takes approximately 15 - 20 hours to compile.

No photo, letter, or document brought to Bailey is kept in the museum. She scans them and gives the original back to the family to take home with them, keeping their heritage in their family.

“I was so excited to hear the exhibit had been given this award,” Bailey said. “I look at it as my baby, and to have received this honor after working on it for hours and hours, I can’t even describe the feeling.”

The BCHM is located at 25521 Highway 98, Elberta. You can call 251-986-8375 for more information, and follow them on Facebook to be first in line when the museum reopens. Admission into the museum is free; donations are accepted and appreciated.