Ed and Libby Klekowski World War I Postcard Collection, 1917-1919

or

A professor of Biology at UMass Amherst with and interest in the mangrove ecosystems of the Caribbean and the deep water environments of the Connecticut River, Ed Klekowski has become well known as a videographer and writer. He has produced documentary for PBS station WGBY on the Quabbin reservoir and the great flood on the Connecticut River in 1936, and on the Yankee Division during the First World War. He and his wife Libby have co-written two books on the First World War, Eyewitness to the Great War (McFarland Press, 2012) and Americans in Occupied Belgium (McFarland Press, 2014).This small collection of postcards consists primarily of images of American military involvement during the First World War. The scenes depicted range from the first contingent of American soldiers to arrive in 1917 to gas attacks, tanks, and American soldiers and Marines in the trenches and combat during the summer and fall 1918. Among the more unusual form postcards are two cartoon images intended for use by soldiers on their return home, one each from the Knights of Columbus and the Jewish Welfare Board. The postcards were collected by the Klekowskis during preparations for their documentary on the Yankee Division.