Calling all doughboys. The 100th anniversary of U.S. entry in World War I will be commemorated with a collaborative effort titled Summit County and the Great War.
Beginning next week, a series of community events will be held to mark the centennial of the U.S. declaration of war April 6, 1917.
Here is the schedule:
• The Summit County Historical Society will kick off the series with a ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday next to Charles Goodyear Park at The Spirit of the American Doughboy statue at 174 S. High St. outside the Summit County Courthouse in downtown Akron. Featured speakers will include Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and State Sen. Frank LaRose. A Salvation Army brass choir will provide music at the free event.
• An exhibit honoring Akron soldiers of World War I will open Monday inside the courthouse and remain on view for the rest of the year. A map of memorials, cemeteries and events relating to the county’s involvement in the war is available at www.summitWWI.org. It will be updated throughout the year.
• The Summit County Historical Society and Summit Metro Parks will sponsor a downtown walking tour on Great War veterans from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 18. Participants should meet in the Polsky Building lobby off High Street for the free event. The society also will make its Over There program available to groups who request a speaker. For more information, call 330-535-1120.
• Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens plans a World War I program from noon to 4 p.m. May 21 at 714 N. Portage Path in Akron. The event will include a talk by Kevin Kern, an associate professor of history at the University of Akron, historical displays and first-person interpreters. F.A. and Gertrude Seiberling’s son Fred Seiberling served in France during the war. Guests to the estate can see a permanent exhibit, The Seiberling Legacy, which will run from mid-April through December. For more information, call 330-836-5533 or visit www.stanhywet.org.
• The University of Akron Archival Services is granting public access to hundreds of documents and photos from American Legion Post 209, whose members served during World War I. An inventory of the collection is available at www.uakron.edu/libraries/archives/. More information is available at the uakronlibraries Facebook page.
• Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Special Collections Division will sponsor a free class, “Discovering Your Military Ancestors,” from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Main Library auditorium at 60 S. High St. Military historian Eric Johnson and genealogist Michael Strauss will discuss research techniques. Registration is requested. For more information, call 330-643-9030 or email speccollections@akronlibrary.org.
The library is also planning a Nov. 11 screening of the 2010 documentary For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots. Times will be announced for the two-part, four-hour film.