Memories of World War II
Photographs from the Archives
of the Associated Press

January 12 – March 9, 2008

Sponsored by National City Bank, Dr. Louis A. and Anne B. Schneider Foundation and Indiana’s Newscenter

The Associated Press (AP), founded in 1848, is the world’s oldest and largest newsgathering organization, providing content to over 15,000 news outlets in more than 120 nations. During World War II, AP was the backbone of information gathering and offered a daily view of the global conflict that took 40 million lives.

From the bombed out streets of London and the islands of the Pacific, to the Allied landings at Normandy and Japan’s surrender aboard the USS Missouri, AP brought to those at home the immense scope as well as the individual tragedy and challenge of the war that claimed millions of lives. The more than 120 photographs in this exhibition and the accompanying book were culled from AP’s collection of over 100,000 World War II images, including photographs from archives in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Tokyo.

These photographs are a “personal history relived” for those who fought the war and millions more for whom it was “part of their lives,” WWII veteran and former United States Senator Bob Dole wrote in the foreword to the book. “For many millions more, the postwar generations, who know the war only as distant history, these images will serve as the record of a shared and shaping era in our nation’s history.”

The images, some of which have become icons, but many not seen in public since the war, were shot by AP photographers who focused their bulky Speed Graphic cameras on the battlefields of Europe, in the Pacific theater, and on the home front. Many photographs credit AP staff photographers by name; others came from anonymous Army or Navy photographers. Some were killed in combat; others went on to postwar prominence in their field.

“You had the same fears as the GIs, but you had to think about the picture,” says retired AP photojournalist Max Desfor, who covered the battle of Okinawa and Japan’s surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri, and later won a Pulitzer Prize in Korea. “My camera was my shield, and I didn’t even think about the idea that a bullet might hit me.” Six others won Pulitzer Prizes, including Joe Rosenthal, who clambered up Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi to take the flag-raising photograph that became the emblem of American victory and one of the most famous photos of all time.

In an introduction to the book, retired CBS anchor Walter Cronkite praises the courage of journalists who shared danger with the troops. “Indeed, if there were no correspondents or photographers who went to war, what would the folks at home know...what would future generations know?” wrote Cronkite, who covered the war for AP’s then rival United Press.

In addition, many artifacts from the WWII era will be on display, courtesy of the Museum of the Soldier, Portland, Indiana, to augment and explore various aspects of the war, such as its impact on Indiana.

Memories of World War II debuted May 2004 in Washington, DC’s Union Station as part of a summer of events honoring World War II veterans kicking off with the unveiling of the National World War II Memorial. This tour was developed and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, an exhibition tour development company in Kansas City, Missouri.

Lecture & Opening Reception

Friday, January 11, 2008

Free FWMoA Members / $5 Non-members

Lecture by George Koskimaki • 6:30 pm (doors open at 6 pm)
Opening Reception • 7:30 – 9 pm

Catering by Lindi Miller of Deli 620

RSVP to Brian Wagner at 422.6467, ext 338 or wagner@fwmoa.org prior to January 8.

George Koskimaki, a veteran of the 101st Airborne Division, is a noted historian and the author of three books on WWII.

Silver members and above are invited to join Executive Director Charles Shepard for a Preview Cocktail Party at 5:30 pm in the Auer Library. Please RSVP to Brian Wagner.