Women workers at the Jacksonville Ordnance Plant during World War II. Odessa Summers (far left) had a perfect work attendance record. Her philosophy was, “Just make up your mind and then stay on the job every day for our fighting soldiers.”
(Photo Arkansas State Archives)
The Garland County Historical Society, in association with the Garland County Library (GCL), will host Brian Irby presenting “Stories Through Photographs: Arkansas in World War II” at noon, Tuesday, November 17, at the Library. People can attend in person or can view the program virtually at facebook.com/garlandcountylibrary or youtube.com/garlandcolibrary.
Irby will shine a light on Arkansas’ World War II heroes—on the battlefield and on the home front. Featuring photographs from his book Arkansas in World War II, he will show how the people of the state served with honor on the Western and Eastern fronts and also on the home front as Arkansans rationed food and resources, bought war bonds, and served the war effort in other ways. Women, for example, traditionally tied to working at home, volunteered to work in factories to support the war effort.
Irby also includes photographs that show Arkansans on the eve of war, in military training, and in postwar Arkansas, as well as photos of Japanese Americans who were confined in the state’s Japanese internment camps at Jerome and Rohwer.
A lifelong Arkansas resident, Brian Irby earned his MA in history from the University of Central Arkansas and his MLIS in library science from the University of North Texas. He is on the staff of the Arkansas State Library.
