Fort Caspar Museum Announces Casper Army Air Base Program

Casper, Wyoming -Fort Caspar Museum is pleased to announce a two-part program by Eric Wimmer, Curator at the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum. The programs complement Fort Caspar Museum’s National Endowment for the Humanities “On the Road” traveling exhibit titled Our Lives, Our Stories: America’s Greatest Generation.

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, Mr. Wimmer will present Connecting Communities: The Story of the Casper Army Air Base Murals in the Classroom at Fort Caspar Museum at 2:00 p.m. In the 1940s Casper was home to the Casper Army Air Base. Roughly 3,000 locals worked on the base and countless others welcomed the soldiers into their homes.

In 1944, to show their gratitude to the town of Casper, the Army Air Force invited the local community to the unveiling of a massive set of murals painted in the Servicemen’s Club done by Corporal Leon Tebbetts and three other soldiers. This lecture will discuss the life of Leon Tebbetts, his murals, the Casper Artists Guild and the relationship the military had with Casper during World War II.

On Saturday, April 21, Part two of the program will be held at the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum at 2:00 p.m. The program is titled Painting History: An In-depth Look at the Murals in the Servicemen’s Club. Nearly 16,000 crewmen trained at the Casper Army Air Base between 1942-1945 on B-17 and B-24 bombers.

One of the most popular places to visit was the Servicemen’s Club (now the Wyoming Veterans’ Memorial Museum) where the original WWII murals still stand. This lecture will discuss the history of the Casper Army Air Base, the Servicemen’s Club and a close examination of the actual artwork on site within the old Servicemen’s Club.

The program at Fort Caspar Museum is free with admission.

The exhibit, Our Lives, Our Stories; America’s Greatest Generation, will be at Fort Caspar Museum from April 6 through May 28, 2012. In April, Fort Caspar Museum is open Tues – Sat, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with admission of $1.50 adult, $1.00 youth, and children 12 & under free.

For information call 307-235-8462 or visit our web site at www.fortcasparwyoming.com

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