Category Archives: Exhibit

Mary Snead and neighbor Melody visiting the museum and the Great War display.
The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range introduced our book, Brunswick County in the Great War, with an exhibit at the World War I and Life-Saving Service Living History Weekend in the NC Maritime Museum.

President Norma Eckard, one of the three authors, presented the book at the exhibit. The 584 page book contains 7 significant parts; each was shown in 7 separate notebooks to make it easier for the public to review.

Tri-folds showed the story of the last 10 years and how the mission of saving the rifle range grew to include the writing of Brunswick County in the Great War.

“The book is a valuable resource for all history buffs”, said Eckard. “College and high school students can also benefit by using the book to enhance their World and US History courses by reading the profiles of local men who left their farms to support France in the war.

“Professors and high school history teachers may provide a number of activities, using the book to embellish their students’ studies and emphasize the patriotism within their communities of 102 years ago. The Cape Fear Region is rich in military history as well as a population who responds to resources like this book. I can envision students interviewing descendants of many of the veterans.”

Brunswick County in the Great War includes more than some of the stories of local men and one woman who served. The 14 nurses from Fort Caswell who served during WWI are also presented in the book. In addition, there is a WWI Wall of Honor that includes brief biographies of men from outside of Brunswick County who served, submitted by the many supporters of the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

Spreadsheets (see the webpage on this website) are included in the book with all of the men and one woman who served from Brunswick County and nearby counties, listing their residence, date of birth, death, unit, age, rank, cemetery, and when they were discharged. The 718 men and one woman who served were honored by donations to support the purchase of a monument placed beside the rifle range in 2018, the Centennial year of the entrance of the United States in the Great War.

The State Port Pilot included a photo display in the September 23, 2021, edition, seen here.

Norma enjoyed learning more about WWI from the presenters near her exhibit. The photos at right and below include USMC officer Peter Meyer displaying the guns used during the Great War. The machine gun shown was too heavy to carry into battle. The bottom rifle is a “Springfield” that was used the most by the infantry in WWI. Peter had many military experiences to share with the public.

Also pictured, Daniel Jutson served in the Signal Corps for 28 years and retired as a captain. Daniel had many artifacts to share with the public. It was quite an extraordinary display.

The NC Maritime Museum in Southport will present

World War I and Life-Saving Service Living History Weekend
on September 18 (10am – 4pm) and
September 19 (noon – 4pm), 2021,
inside and on the grounds of the
NC Maritime Museum at 204 East Moore St, Southport.

The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range (FFCRR) has been invited to create an exhibit to share our recently published book, Brunswick County in the Great War.

The FFCRR exhibit will include several pictorial displays to present the contents of the book.

One will show the history of stabilizing the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range. You can read more on the Stabilization page of this website.

Work is proceeding on additional restoration work, which will be shared on this website soon!

Several photos from the World War I Wall of Honor will be displayed.

A photo of the Brunswick County World War I Monument at the rifle range will be shown, along with brief histories of the Brunswick County men who gave their lives in World War I.

An additional display will show photos from several WWI Profiles included in the book. The WWI Profiles can also be selected and read using this webpage.

The WWI Profile display will include a World War I photo that Trudy Young shared, which shows Company G of the 56th Engineers upon their completion of service in WWI.

Trudy’s uncle Wagoner John Daniel Eriksen may be found in the photo of 232 men whose names have been identified from the US Army Transport List on return from France. According to an archivist at the NC Archives, these panorama photos are unique to WWI. This is your opportunity to see this rare photo.

We hope to see you there!

A recent visit to the North Carolina Museum of History’s exhibit “North Carolina & World War I” served as a reminder that honoring the sacrifices of the men and women of North Carolina is what energizes us to continue to work to stabilize the Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

The exhibit is modeled after trenches and includes barbed wire, sandbags, and even (fake) rats. The low lights, noise of gunfire, exploding shells, screams, and sudden challenges shouted in various languages add to the realism.

Displays of artifacts are seen while winding through the trenches. Many of these are uniforms, medals, letters written to loved ones, and various items once used by the men and women from North Carolina who joined the battle overseas. These items pictured were used by Thomas R. Darden of New Hanover County.

The story behind the creation of the exhibit is also interesting. This diorama was a war game that Jackson Marshall, deputy director, project manager, and exhibit curator at the museum, built with his two sons who were fascinated by WWI and traveled with him overseas to battlefields. Both also helped him build the exhibit.

A group of home-schooled students and parents helped museum artist Robert Stone and his team fill the burlap sandbags that are stacked throughout the exhibit, some of which are real Army surplus.

Many years ago, curator Jackson Marshall began gathering these stories that he eventually published in a book in 1998. The veterans’ biggest fear: that they would simply be forgotten.

If you want to read more about the exhibit or visit yourself:
North Carolina & World War I exhibit
Re-creating WWI with staple guns, duct tape and 5 shades of gray
Centennial of US entry into WWI puts ‘Great War’ in focus
NC remembers World War I

The Barbee Library on Oak Island has an exhibit from the Historic Wilmington Foundation of the 8 Most Threatened Historic Places in the Cape Fear Region.  Shown are exceptional pictures, text about the sites, a map identifying the sites, and other interesting info.  The display will be there two more weeks. Look for Fort Caswell Rifle Range!

See this excellent article in The State Port Pilot describing the traveling exhibit and additional locations:
Exhibit features historic places