“Lest We Forget”

The Army is always looking for a few good men — and women, according to the exhibit “Lest We Forget.” Housed in the lobby of the historic Central Library Julia Ideson Building Texas Room and Archives, the exhibit features a recruitment poster from WWII with a pretty young blond, hard at work as a topographic draftsman. The slogan under her picture reads: “Woman’s Place in War.” Another poster touts the fact that there are exactly 239 kinds of jobs for women in the Army. (We’re guessing that was a lowball figure.) Other pieces in the exhibit include a WWII-vintage photo that shows a smiling mother with her son sitting on one side of her, her daughter on the other, both of them in uniform. The text reads, “I’m proud of my two soldiers.”

Other slogans are “Don’t Wait! The Enemy Didn’t!” and “Avenge the Houston” (the USS Houston was lost during the Battle of Sunda Strait in WWII, where more than 700 sailors died and some 368 were taken prisoners of war by the Japanese). Some posters entice recruits with “Learn — Earn” and “The Service for Travel and Training, age 17 to 35,” while photos show black soldiers at Camp Logan, a woman’s Army unit on parade in England in 1945, and soldiers from WWI. Taken from the vaults of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the memorabilia seen in “Lest We Forget” is a reminder that Houstonians — both men and women — have a long history of proud military service. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Through January 9. 500 McKinney. For information, call 832-393-1313 or visit www.houstonlibrary.org. Free.
Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Starts: Dec. 18. Continues through Jan. 9, 2008