Symposium to Commemorate the Great War

The “Lest We Forget” World War I Symposium will take place at Tennessee Tech University on Saturday.

The Tennessee Great War Commission designed the symposium to discuss the history of World War I. History Professor Michael Birdwell is the chair of the Tennessee Great War Commission.

“Most of the symposia, they focus on a specific person or a specific battle. We are trying to… talk about things that people don’t talk about. We want folks to be aware of lesser known, but equally as important stories associated with the war. ”

Birdwell said the symposium will cover various topics including women’s suffrage, the use of mules, Cherokee code-talkers, and Tennessee Aviators.

“Most people have a very little conception of World War I. They know a lot about the Civil War and World War II. But World War I is still with us in ways that those two conflicts aren’t,” Birdwell said, “Without World War I there is no World War II. Without World War I there is no Cold War. Without World War I there is no problems in the Middle East. ”

Birdwell said people do not realize all the ways World War I affected everyday life.

“And the war also affects us in really really simple ways,” Birdwell said. “For example the fact that most people went clean-shaven after the war because you can’t get a tight seal on the gas mask if you have whiskers.”

A piece of legislature created the Tennessee Great War Commission to commemorate the war.

Birdwell said World War I affected every area of Tennessee.

“An entire group of people went over from Vanderbilt, an entire medical unit. Now that was men and women,” Birdwell said. “And they ran one of the largest hospitals in Europe during the War. Literally, every community in Tennessee has been affected in some way.”

In past years symposiums took place in Nashville, Jackson, and Chattanooga.

The World War I Symposium will take place on Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM. The symposium is free and open to the public.