MO History Museum Event Details America And St. Louis At War

ST. LOUIS, MO — Ron "Johnny Rabbit" Elz will present "America and St. Louis at War: The Revolution to Vietnam" from 10:30 to noon on Tuesday, November 13 in the Missouri History Museum's Lee Auditorium. The program will detail how St. Louis and its citizens supported the troops at home and abroad during the Civil War, World War I and World War II. J.

J. Kim Tucci, founder of the Pasta House, and Karen Goering, the history museum's managing director of operations, will also detail the history of the Soldiers Memorial and the work that went into raising more than $30 million for its renovation.

Thomas Hoff, the newly appointed curator of the Jefferson Barracks historic site, will speak about the barrack's role in the country's wars. It will be his first public appearance since being appointed to the position.

Food historian and author Suzanne Corbett will discuss what the troops ate while in the trenches and foxholes of the Civil War and both World Wars. St. Louis was known during the Civil War for the manufacture of hardtack, a type of cracker, for the Union Army. In fact, the Chouteau Avenue home of the owner of the hardtack factory was known as the "Cracker Castle" until it was destroyed by a tornado in 1896.

(For more stories like this, subscribe to Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. You can also download the free Patch app for iPhone and Android.)

Historian and writer Chris Nafzinger will give a presentation about St. Louis' Civil War-era fortifications, and Susan Favazza will talk about the Daughters of the American Revolution, a service and historic preservation group, and a little-known World War I monument in Webster Groves constructed by the D.A.R. in 1919.

Carl Vogt, a tour guide at the Fox Theatre, will show a World War II-era film called "Preparedness" that was made at the Fox.

"It's about what would happen at the Fox Theatre if there was an air attack," Elz said Saturday on the KMOX morning show. "If the Nazis or somebody are going to go after us. And it is actually a funny film today. I'm sure it was very serious then."

Finally, civic leader Bob Fulstone will conclude the program with a discussion of the daily lives of troops in Vietnam.

The program is free and open to the public. Find more information here.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch