Subject Area
History
Description
The emotional and psychological damage wrought by the Great War has long been rendered exceptional. The sheer numbers of dead and wounded coupled with new kinds of wounds – physical, emotional, psychological – perhaps justify this view. Yet in declaring that the Great War was a shock, a watershed, a tragedy, there is an implicit presupposition that some kind of precedent existed. As long as war had existed, so too did loss, grief, and mourning. The Great War did not introduce human sorrow to the world, though perhaps it altered human remembrance. When American families grieved their loved one, was it the same processes of mourning across time? When American communities faced a war, was it the same practices of memorialization, despite the varying kinds of warfare inflicted upon the nation? How did memorialization evolve to support the new and different ways to lose a soldier, to grieve a loved one, and to mourn as members of a modern world? Although there have been studies on American memorialization, this work aims to study American memorialization’s evolution distinctly due to the impact of the Great War. In that study, this research analyzes the implementation of national action to local interpretation by closely examining one New England community, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. From the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, this research tracks small town memorialization from its origins post-American Civil War, its evolution during the Great War, and it postwar revitalization as communities grappled with the loss of life in a war fought overseas. Drawing on research from local historical archives, the project offers an original and untold narrative of war, memorialization, and local history.
Publisher
Providence College
Academic Year
2022-2023
Date
Spring 2023
Type
Thesis
Format
Text
Language
English
