🦉 Sunday Owls

Greetings!  We at KHCPL in the Genealogy and Local History Department are hoping to recharge this blog.  Be on the lookout for new posts at this site in the coming weeks.  We hope to have everything from quick tips on doing research, information on events and sources, as well as articles on Howard County history and the people who lived here.  

Do you have the after-the-holidays January blahs?  KHCPL comes to the rescue with Genealogy for Sunday Owls on January 21st from 2 pm - 5:30 pm in the department.  You will need to register on the library's Events page to participate.  Spaces are filling quickly, so don't delay!  There is no charge.  All experience levels are welcome.  You will have access to our knowledgeable staff as well as all of our databases and physical materials.  

Come see our display Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine.  This exhibit comes from the US National Library of Medicine and will be on display until February 9th. 

100th Anniversary of the End of World War I

Today is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.  This was called "The Great War" and it began in 1914 and ended November 11, 1918.  We honor those who served then and now.  We will always remember. 

Howard County Hall of Legends

The Howard County Hall of Legends will induct six new members at its annual recognition banquet on August 24th at 6 p.m. at the Bel Air Event Center.  Those being inducted are Opha May Jacob Johnson, America's first female U.S. Marine; Reba Harris, founder and director of the Gilead House; Don Smith, Sr., banking entrepreneur; Steve Dailey, former mayor of Kokomo; Brian Harlow, Chrysler executive; and the Kokomo Park Band.  Tickets may be purchased online through the historical society's website, www.howardcoutymuseum.org and Eventbrite or at the society's office at 1218 W. Sycamore St., or by calling 765-452-4314.

The National Desert Storm War Memorial Program

The National Desert Storm War Memorial (NDSWM) is a new national monument slated to be built by 2021 in Washington, D.C.  It honors the service members who served and died in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  Teens and adults are invited to join us on Tuesday, January 16 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm at KHCPL South as lead architect Randy Schumacher, AIA of CSO Architects and NDSWM board member, Desert Storm Veteran and Design Committee Vice Chair Kent Shively discuss the preliminary design as well as the status of the memorial.  Visit www.ndswm.org for information about the memorial.

"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"

Today is December 7th.  National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed annually in the United states to remember and honor the 2,403 Americans who were killed in the surprise attack which brought us into World War II.  It has been 76 years since that fateful day.  We will always remember.

History of KHCPL During WWI

Recently, the Howard County Historical Society held their Annual Meeting.  The focus was Howard County and World War I.  This is the 100^th anniversary of the United States’ entry into that war.  One of the speakers during the evening was Amy Russell, Head of the Genealogy & Local History Department.  Amy enlightened us on the role of the Kokomo Public Library (now KHCPL) during the war.  KPL played a part in contributing to the war effort.  According to Books Along the Wildcat, by Leonard Felkey, newly appointed head librarian Dana Sollenberger barely had time to step into her position, in January 1917, when the American Library Association declared a $1,000,000 fund drive for books for our fighting men and women.  Kokomo’s assigned allotment was $850.  By October 1917, $821 and 2,200 books had been collected.  However, before his October figure, Sollenberger had sent several hundred books to Fort Harrison in Indianapolis and Camp Beauregard in Louisiana.  Months later, the ALA called for more books.  The Kokomo Tribune carried a “Give A Book” coupon.  When the coupon was sent to the Kokomo Public Library, someone from the library would go to the donor’s home to pick up the books.  A bookplate was affixed inside the front cover, with a picture of an armed doughboy carrying a stack of books.  The bookplate said: “War Service Library: Books are provided by the people of the United States through the American Library Association for the use of the soldiers and sailors.”  The book collections did not stop when World War I ended, the people of Kokomo contributed thousands more for the occupation forces.