Rebecca Warner’s father served in the Army in Europe during WW II. He was a packrat; he kept his Eisenhower jacket, letters he wrote to a female pen pal and his twin brother, and a few other small personal items. The collection also includes magazines and newspapers, K rations, war bond stamps, cookbooks, and Sears catalogs. What stories do these objects tell? What brought people together with such a strong sense of shared purpose? What’s different about life then versus now, and what has stayed the same? Warner will begin with a little social science, then share objects that tell stories about life on the Home Front (how shortages and rationing affected what people ate and wore) and the battlefield (camping in mud outside Cherbourg, feasting on Spam, disobeying unreasonable orders, and scrounging for “souvenirs”).

Warner earned her BA in Social Relations from Carnegie-Mellon in 1973 and her PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard in 1978; she taught in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire from 1981 to 2017. Other career highlights include teaching on Semester at Sea, and consulting for Shandong Medical University in China, the World Health Organization in Geneva, and Project Orbis, an international medical education program. Like most WW II veterans, her father didn’t talk much about his experiences until late in life; at that point he began to write and reminisce. Her late father’s personal documents are available as a book.

Amazon author pages:

https://www.amazon.com/author/rebeccawarnerauthor

https://www.amazon.com/David-Warner-Memories-Depression-Forestry/dp/B0CSS27GF9

List of objects to display for Warner WW II talk

1.     Replica of radio – play Glenn Miller “In the Mood”, excerpt from FDR “Day of Infamy”

2.     Issue of Life magazine

3.     Miniature Liberty edition news

4.     Ration stamps

5.     Recipe for cake with substitutions

6.     War bond stamp booklet

7.     1940s Barbie to show fashions

8.     Sears catalog and replica of catalog

9.     Packing list for nurses

10.  Eisenhower jacket with insignia

11.  Unit history booklet

12.  France pocket guide, Red Cross military sewing kit,

13.  Pocket book, Ernie Pyle

14.  Replica of K ration breakfast

15.  Memoir – book of Dad’s collected writings

16.  Letters to Wally

17.  Sound ranging manual

18.  Holster (but not gun) obtained as a "souvenir"