Museum Book Club Our monthly book review features book reviews pertaining to regional history and geography. The public is welcome.
Join us for our May Book Review
Thursday, May 9, 2013 • 5:30 pm
Service & Sacrifice – Based on stories from Shaw Historical Library Journals
Presented by Lee Juillerat, regional editor for the Herald and News and a longtime Shaw board member and Journal contributor
Service & Sacrifice, based on stories in recent Shaw Historical Library Journals about World War II sites in the Klamath Basin, is the topic for the Favell Museum’s May Book Club program at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 9, at the Favell Museum.
Lee Juillerat, regional editor for the Herald and News and a longtime Shaw board member and Journal contributor, will focus on three WWII sites, The Mitchell Monument, Marine Corps Barracks and the Tule Lake Detention-Segregation Center.
He wrote about all three areas in “On the Home Front: World War II Sites in the Klamath Basin in the 2012 issue, “Discovering Klamath: Tours Through History in the Land of the Lakes,” published in conjunction with Discover Klamath Tourism & Convention Bureau, and “Service & Sacrifice: Klamath Basin Life Through Two World Wars,” in 2003.
The Mitchell Monument, located 13 miles from Bly, is the only place on the continental United States were American citizens were killed as the result of enemy warfare during WWII. Six people, a pregnant woman and five children, were on a picnic when they discovered a Japanese balloon, which was detonated and killed all six. Although the U.S. government was aware of balloon bombs, government censors prohibited the news media from warning people about the bombs until after the war.
The Marine Corps Barracks were located atop Old Fort Road about four miles from downtown Klamath Falls. From 1944 to 1946, nearly 5,000 Marines afflicted with such tropical diseases as malaria, filariasis and elephantiasis were sent to the barracks. A combination of high elevation, exercise and climate led to the recovery of what had previously been feared were incurable diseases.
The Tule Lake Detention Center was one of 10 camps created by presidential edict following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Because of fears that Japanese Americans living in West Coast cities might assist with a Japanese invasion, more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent – two-third of them U.S. citizens – were required to leave their homes and report to the hastily built camps. Tule Lake became the most notorious when it was made into the nation’s detention center.
Juillerat, who reported about the three sites for the Herald and News and other publications, will read from the Journals and be available to answer questions. He is currently working on a series of Herald and News photo-stories about the Tule Lake Unit of the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which is being developed by the National Park Service.
Artist of the Month
The Art of Conservation and Restoration with Kay Short
Art conservation and restoration includes the preservation of structurally sound works of art, the halting of processes that lead to the damage of works of art, and the repair of already damaged works of art. Works of art are subject to a variety of disfiguring ills, many of them caused by environmental effects, particularly temperature and humidity changes and pollution. The support (such as wood panel, canvas, paper), the ground (gesso, chalk), and the surface treatment (wax, varnish) of a painting all undergo some form of decay over the years. All effective art conservation and restoration ultimately depend upon the restorer’s understanding of materials, technical craftsmanship, and aesthetic and historical awareness.
Art Conservator Kay Short is a 15-year member of the prestigious American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and one of only 4 conservators in Oregon. Examples of Kay Short’s conservation and restoration work are on display throughout the month of May.
Her display is in the museum art gallery area, which is always free of charge.