WWI anniversary events scheduled

New exhibits and three plantings of World War I memorial trees highlight May events sanctioned by the Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee.

The sanctioned observances are in commemoration of the the 100th anniversary of the United States’ involvement in World War I. A complete listing of events throughout the state is available online at wwiarkansas.com/calendar-events.

“Over Here and There: The Sons and Daughters of Arkansas’s Delta at War,” a display at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena-West Helena, begins May 5.

Memorial tree dedications will take place in Greene County on May 27 and in Chicot and Lonoke counties May 28. A committee goal, since achieved, was to have a memorial tree approved for each of the state’s 75 counties by the end of this year, sponsored through a partnership of the Centennial Committee and the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

An exhibit focusing on the World War I naval service of renowned composer William Grant Still will be on display at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock in May.

Still, who grew up in Little Rock, was the first black composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra. That occurred in 1931 when the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performed the Afro-American Symphony.