Where did history happen, what history do we consider to be significant, who are ‘we’, and what can history do for us? As a geographer involved with this project, I have found myself considering these essential and interrelated questions, as we have all struggled to make sense of the massive scale of death associated with WWI, and to somehow find some meaning in it. So where did WWI history happen? Here I would argue it’s all about perspective, and for most people in the world, WWI history happened somewhere else -far beyond respective nation state borders. The result is that […]

On May 30th, our group took a drive into the Belgian city of Ypres where we visited the museum that now inhabits the reconstructed Cloth Hall. Personally, I had mixed feelings about the museum and its presentation of the conflict. The museum is made very dark due to subtle shades that cover the building’s windows. As you walk through the exhibits, solemn, dramatic music plays through speakers overhead.  Each display features haunting descriptions of the many recovered artifacts and their uses, stressing the deadliness of each item. The central piece, to me at least, is the film which shows actors […]

On Sunday, 28 May, our group visited Samogneux, a ruined village near Verdun. When we say ‘ruined village’, we mean it without qualification. In 1916, Samogneux ceased to exist; one of the first villages attacked during the Germans’ Verdun Offensive of February through December 1916, Samogneux, which sits within a shallow ravine cascading down the side of a tall hill north of Verdun, became a lunar ruin, every house destroyed to its collapsed foundations, every tree obliterated, every blade of grass burned away. It is still within a ‘red zone’ of uninhabitable spaces; no one may live there still, so […]

This Memorial Day Weekend, there was one particular veteran who I sought to remember and honor. I have been researching the life and service of Thomas Wesley Agnew, class of 1920, since the winter. I chose to follow Thomas’s story because he was a volunteer in one of two Bucknell ambulance units that served in Europe. Furthermore, Thomas had graduated exactly 100 years before my expected graduation in 2020, a fact that made him seem more “real” to me. Over the past two days, we have visited two locations where Thomas served. The first was located in Samongneux, where French villagers were evacuated […]

Unless one has a completely cold heart, it is difficult not to feel overwhelmed by what the Bucknellians in World War I group encountered today in what was an emotionally overwhelming series of visits to places of memory and remembrance. We ended our day emotionally exhausted and physically tired, with the fortune of our good hosts at the wonderful Le Cheval Rouge hotel in Sainte-Ménehould to help us recover over a dinner of camaraderie, lots of water, and profiteroles. As others have noted, we began our day at the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, where we observed the Memorial Day ceremonies. Speeches, taps, […]

In honor of Memorial Day, the Bucknellians in World War I team visited the Meuse-Argonne American cemetery to attend a special ceremony and visit the graves of two Bucknell veterans who rest there. Despite the heat, there was a surprisingly good turn out of both French and American attendees. The ceremony, performed in both French and English, featured invocations, blessings, and addresses from numerous public figures, including the Chargé d’Affaires at the American embassy in Paris, Ms. Uzra Zeya. The most moving part of the ceremony was, in my opinion, the playing of Taps and the National Anthems for both the United States and […]

This afternoon our guide, Dr. Thomson, took us to Vauquois, a rural French village on a hill turned World War I battle site. Dr. Thomson explained to us that the hill had originally held a small community, but the desolation caused by artillery shells, mining, and trench building caused the hill to significantly shorten and become too dangerous for habitation. Because it was in close proximity to the Argonne Forest and relatively accessible, Vauquois was a combat site for the entirety of the war. When the mobility of the early 1914 battles gave way to the permanence of trench warfare, […]

Today, in scorching heat, our team hiked approximately two miles to St. Hubert’s Pavilion in the Argonne Forest. This forest was the site of a major offensive for the American forces and one of Bucknell’s own, Dwite Schaffner, received the Medal of Honor there. The forest is still too dangerous to enter unless you stick to the designated paths because of the many grenades and artillery shells that remain in the ground nearly one hundred years later. Because of this, the forest is largely untouched and unused, giving it a uniquely tranquil quality. It is hard to imagine a large-scale […]

I wish I could have posted this yesterday but the internet connection was a little iffy, however may 26th was a great day for developing the picture of Lieutenant George Wilson Potts, the Bucknellian that I chose to research before our trip. We visited the area that he likely fought for against the Germans after American troops descended from St. Thibault towards the Marne River. The area was a bridge that was essentially the only way over the river and the only way for either side to advance. This was where Lt. Potts earned his silver star for his valor […]

We will be wrapping up our time here in Paris tomorrow morning and I felt it was a good time to reflect on what we have done and seen here. For me, the most touching experience was our visit to the Katherine Baker memorial at the Henri Rollet Association. I was personally responsible for researching Ms. Baker and have become quite attached to her and her story. I feel like I have gotten to know her somewhat through the many letters, newspaper articles, and even mentions in books that I have read. Her friends and family clearly thought highly of […]