On May 20, Robert Rubero, of Florida State University’s Claude Pepper Center, held a talk about the Women in World War II exhibit on display at the Havana History and Heritage Society, in the Shade Tobacco Wing of the Museum.
The histories of Women in the community around Havana – and Florida – during the onset of the War was discussed.
It was the general management of the community as their husbands and children fought in both Europe and the Pacific that was brought to light, and their many duties and sacrifices during the social upheavals of the era.
At the Center of the event are four core veterans, four ladies who dedicated their lives to the war cause: Mary Rumph, graduate of the Florida State College for Women and communications officer, Willie Mae Williams, one of the first black women from Hillsborough County to join the United States Army, Helen E. Walsh, linotypist and Sergeant in Radar Communications, and, last but not least, Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram, nurse in the US Army Nurse Corps, and assistant in the conduction of research on penicillin trials.
Pieces of the Women of Florida’s past, parts of a Claude Pepper archive gratefully curated by Mr. Rubero, supplemented our oral, living and local history.
Memorabilia and ephemera of each and every lady is on display. As the human and political impacts affected nearly every aspect of society, one finds in the exhibit histories of all sorts related to the Havana Area. From poetry to Christmas Letters from teachers to management of banking and loreful stories and pieces about canning plants, the exhibit exhibits comprehensive knowledge and folklore about the Havana Area.
The Women in World War II exhibit is on display until of the month.
Rubén Darío Uribe – Gadsden County News Service
