Secret Weapons of World War II: Women, Books & Music has begun its second act at Lockport City Hall and the Niagara County Courthouse.
Twelve framed pages from the Union-Sun & Journal’s wartime editions (1941-1945) have been hung in the lobby outside Lockport City Court in advance of a special presentation to the city at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
A 20-by-15-inch bronze plaque memorializing nine young men from Lowertown who died in service during the war — the plaque that was recovered from the former DeWitt Clinton elementary school through an effort led by Secret Weapons co-curator Mary Brennan-Taylor — will be presented for temporary display at city hall. The presenters are family members of the listed soldiers and sailors.
At the county courthouse, in the rotunda, eight life-size posters featuring women of the Resistance are on show, along with three pages from the Union-Sun & Journal’s May 1945 Victory in Europe commemorative edition listing the names of all Niagara County residents who had served since the United States entered the war in December 1941, and a mannequin sporting ski trooper Carl Newton’s 10th Mountain Division uniform that’s stationed at the entrance to the legislature chambers. The display in the rotunda was solicited by county legislature chair Becky Wydysh.
All of the ephemera except the plaque was included in the three-month Secret Weapons exhibit at Kenan House Gallery that ended last week. Sponsored by the Lockport Public Arts Council, the exhibit was timed to commemorate the 80th year since the end of World War II and high community interest is keeping it going awhile longer, according to Brennan-Taylor.
“It’s continuing in just a few different areas. … At least people can still see parts of it,” she said.
Post-exhibit, Lockport Memorial Hospital is getting in on the act, with an upcoming display honoring nurses who served during the war. Brennan-Taylor has donated to the hospital two vintage nurse recruiting posters from her personal collection as well as three life-size cutout nurse figures that sat on the piano near those posters at Kenan House. Catholic Health System’s president and CEO, Joyce Markiewicz, is a nurse by training, Brennan-Taylor noted.
The plaque memorializing the Lowertown nine will remain at city hall, in a secure display case, until its new, permanent location is determined. The families collectively are the owners of the plaque, which was funded privately and installed at the now-closed Clinton elementary school in 1947, and they have agreed to its relocation to public space where it can be seen any time.