By MIKE POLSTON
Museum of American History in Cabot
History is lost every day. Thrown away, destroyed or just forgotten, if not somehow recorded.
These two recently discovered photos are examples of lost history. While the photos record the appearance of these soldiers of World War I, they don’t record where they were from or even who they are — lost history.
The group photo does have the last names of the soldiers inscribed on the back in faint ink, but no first names. The information on the back is as follows: Left to Right Pvt. Craig, Sgt._____, Pvt.______, Pvt. Tipton, Corp. Blackwood.
Perhaps a reader can help identify these young soldiers. If you can shed some light on their identity, contact Mike Polston at 501-286-9665 or Sherryl Miller at 501-676-6750.
These photos are a part of the joint project of the Lonoke County Museum in Lonoke and the Museum of American History in Cabot to preserve the World War I history of Arkansas.
The staffs of the museums are asking that people who have diaries, letters, documents, photos or stories of Arkansas soldiers who served in the war and would like to keep history from being lost to contact the museums.
Hopefully, people will donate the original items so they can be cared for and preserved for future generations. If donation is not an option, the museums would like to preserve copies of the material. Diaries and letters will be transcribed and photos copied and returned to the owners. Artifacts such as uniforms and war souvenirs will also be gladly accepted to be displayed at the museums.
