'Friends of the Library' Fall Lecture - 'Aggies in the Great War'
Jeffrey Bateman and E.B. Wheeler are the featured speakers at the fall 2016 Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library lecture. The pair speaks Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m., Merrill-Cazier Library, Room 101.
Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library, a support group for University Libraries at Utah State University, presents two lectures annually, one in the fall and one in the spring. This year, the fall 2016 lecture takes a look at a topic and individuals close to home — Cache Valley during what is described as the “Great War.”
Authors E.B. Wheeler and Jeffery Bateman’s lecture is drawn from their novel No Peace with the Dawn. They will present “Aggies in the Great War” Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in Merrill-Cazier Library, Room 101. The lecture is free and the public is invited.
April 6, 2017, marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ involvement in World War I. According to the speakers, an interesting aspect of this period are the military enlistment “frenzies” that swept American universities — including the Utah Agricultural College. Many young men, and a few women, left the safe and privileged confines of college life for the war-torn fields of France to “do their bit.”
Why did they go? How were their lives changed? How did life in Cache Valley change?
Those are among the questions the speakers will pursue in their lecture and more extensively in their novel which is forthcoming from Cedar Fort Press in November 2016. The novel weaves real-life and compelling fictional characters into a tale of war, romance, self-discovery and sacrifice.
The speakers have connections to Utah State.
Bateman served in the U.S. Air Force for 32 years, retiring as a colonel in 2010. A graduate of the University of Washington, he also holds a master’s in history from USU and a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Wheeler attended Brigham Young University, majoring in history with an English minor, and earned graduate degrees in history and landscape architecture from USU. She’s the award-winning author of The Haunting of Springett Hall, as well as Born to Treason, several short stories, magazine articles and scripts for educational software programs.
The Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library is a community-based support group that promotes awareness of the library’s resources, facilities and personnel. Its mission is to enrich library resources and sponsor outreach activities throughout the year via its fall and spring lectures. It often supports exhibits that are shown at the library.
Those interested in supporting University Libraries at Utah State University by joining Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library may contact Trina Shelton, (435) 797-2631. Members receive a card that allows circulation privileges for one year at Merrill-Cazier Library.
Related links:
Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library
Contact: Brad Cole, (435) 797-8268, brad.come@usu.edu
Writer: Patrick Williams, 435-797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
E. B. Wheeler.
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