Ed Kemmick/Last Best News
Kathy Barton, the curator at the Yellowstone County Museum, prepares a pair of woolen pants for a World War I exhibit that opens Friday.
Among the contributions made by residents of Yellowstone County to achieve victory in World War I was the tireless needlework of Peter Peroe.
The Red Cross encouraged people to abandon their dainty knitting and instead create regulation clothing and supplies for American soldiers. In response, knitters in Yellowstone County made more than 26,500 items and knit more than 22,000 garments.
Peroe, a resident of Billings, was declared the champion male knitter of the Yellowstone County chapter of the Red Cross and of the agency’s Northern Division as well. He was said to have put in 2,427 hours of needlework.
Ed Kemmick/Last Best News
Museum Director Benjamin Nordlund shows a sign that hung in the downtown Billings post office on Armistice Day 1918.
That illuminating tale is part of an exhibit, “Big Sky, Big Sacrifice: Yellowstone County During World War I,” that will open Friday evening at the Yellowstone County Museum.
An opening reception will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It is free and open to all and will feature snacks, beer from Angry Hank’s and a group playing World War I-era jazz. Friday will also mark the opening of the museum for the new season. Regular hours are 10:30 to 5:30 Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is always free.
Benjamin Nordlund, a native of Billings who has been the executive director of the museum for a year, said he started thinking of a World War I exhibit last summer and ran it by the museum board of directors.
The board liked the idea, he said, but what really made it possible was the hiring six months ago of a curator, Kathy Barton. Almost everything in the exhibit has been drawn from the museum’s own collections, and many items haven’t been displayed in years.
Nordlund, who graduated with a B.A. in history from Montana State University Billings in 2013, said the time is ripe for such an exhibit. Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, and 1917 will be the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the conflict.
Nordlund said the exhibit, which will stay up through the end of 2015, will attempt, for starters, to honor all Yellowstone County residents who served in the Great War, as it is also known.
The exhibit will also honor the contributions of women and Native Americans to the war effort and will examine the effects on the homefront of hyper-patriotic laws, including the 1918 Sedition Act, which made it illegal even to criticize American involvement in the war.
Artifacts from the museum’s collection include cavalry hats, boots, uniforms, a can of foot powder, helmets, mess kits, spent shells, a grenade and shaving kits. Two large items that have already been on display for years are German 8mm machine guns
Barton explained that Liberty Bonds sold during the war were redeemed for cash at the end of the war, but in some cases the government gave certain groups souvenirs of the war in lieu of cash. The two machine guns were given to a local chapter of the American Legion, which donated them to the museum.
Ed Kemmick/Last Best News
An assortment of World War I artifacts will be displayed in the exhibit.
Another artifact of the war is a hand-lettered sign, posted on the door of the downtown post office on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, which read, “Post office closed after 1 p.m. The Kaiser is licked.”
On loan for the exhibit are a mess kit and red Marine helmet that belonged to Herman Schultz, of North Dakota. Nordlund said the items were donated by members of the Schultz family, some of whom live in Billings. The mess kit is particularly interesting because Schultz etched onto the metal cover a list of the battles he fought in during the war, plus the insignia of his unit.
There will also be a slide show consisting of 250 World War I photographs from the museum’s collection.
Details: The Yellowstone County Museum is located at 1950 Airport Terminal Circle. It’s the log cabin just south of the airport atop the Rims. Just pretend your’re going to the terminal and then continue looping around the main parking lot. Parking at the museum is free.
