"War Comes Home" Exhibition Features Wartime Correspondence

A new exhibition, “War Comes Home: The Legacy,” will be at the San Joaquin County Historical Museum from September 9 through November 5, 2017. The special exhibition, rich with historic and contemporary letters, offers an intimate perspective into the thoughts and emotions of veterans and their families. “War Comes Home: The Legacy” is part of Cal Humanities’ thematic program designed to promote greater understanding of veterans and explore how war shapes a community. The exhibition is based on the work of the Center for American War Letters (CAWL). The exhibition explores the joys and hardships that soldiers and their families face during homecoming, as expressed through private letters and correspondence. Spanning conflicts from the Civil War through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, “War Comes Home: The Legacy” reveals the shared themes of wartime separation, the adjustment to life back at home, and the costs of war. The San Joaquin County Historical Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and Tuesdays and selected holidays. Regular Museum admission is $5 for adults (18-64), $4 for seniors (65+) and teens (13-17), and $2 for children (6-12). Admission is free for children 5 and under and for members of the San Joaquin County Historical Society. There is a parking fee for each vehicle entering Micke Grove Regional Park, waived for members of the Historical Society. The nonprofit San Joaquin County Historical Society maintains and operates the 18-acre Historical Museum in Micke Grove Regional Park. The Society provides education programs for school groups such as “Valley Days” and “Pioneer School Day” (in the 1866 Calaveras School). The Museum is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. For more information see www.SanJoaquinHistory.org. “War Comes Home: The Legacy” is a partnership between Cal Humanities, the California State Library and Exhibit Envoy. It is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the BayTree Fund, The Whitman Fund, and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. Learn more about Exhibit Envoy at www.exhibitenvoy.org and about Cal Humanities at www.calhum.org.