Items woman collected from POWs on display

Employee at a camp in West Texas befriended the Italian soldiers and continued friendships with them after World War II

CANYON — A new exhibit at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum features items collected by an employee at a prisoner-of-war camp south of Hereford throughout World War II.

“Paradox in a P.O.W. Camp” displays items cherished by a woman named Ann Cockrell Osburn.

“She collected this material throughout her lifetime. She was very fond of these objects and remembered her time at the camp very positively,” said Renea Dauntes, archivist and research assistant of the PPHM Research Center. “That’s really what we are able to show with this exhibit is that paradox, that idea of really positive and close friendships coming out of a very unusual and unfriendly environment, and we hope that people will be able to see that as well.”

The POW camp was created in 1943, and the first prisoners were Italian soldiers captured in North Africa, who arrived at the camp in April of that year. By August, the camp reached capacity, with almost 4,000 prisoners, some of whom Cockrell Osburn befriended.

The museum received Cockrell Osburn’s collection of her time working at the camp, as well as continued friendships after the war, from one of her children after her death.

The collection includes a variety of items, from photographs to handwritten letters of the POWs learning English, to art pieces such as drawings, sculptures and rings created by the solders and given as gifts to Cockrell Osburn.

“They (the POWs) regarded her as someone they liked and as someone who was able to help them with some of the difficulties they encountered, and she in return received gifts from them, mementos that obviously meant enough to her that she kept them for the remainder of her life,” said Warren Stricker, research director of PPHM.

Many of the drawings and sculptures were originally displayed in an art gallery created by the Italian POW soldiers from a spare bunker they transformed into a makeshift exhibit.

One of the most interesting items is a letter of appreciation written to Cockrell Osburn by a soldier to thank her after helping him find and contact his brother across the world in the midst of the war.

“The main message that can easily be seen through the letters and the exchanges is that through this really negative situation of this POW camp that was housing war prisoners brought to the United States to work, through all this, Ann’s kindness and friendship and genuinely sweet personality made sure that they were still seen and treated kindly, even though they were

potentially seen as the enemy,” Dauntes said.

The exhibit opened Jan. 15 in the Alexander Gallery of the PPHM, located in Canyon. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Tickets can be purchased in person or online at panhandleplains.org.

Staff file photo The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon is showing “Paradox in a P.O.W. Camp,” which offers items cherished by a woman who worked at a prisoner-of-war camp south of Hereford.

Courtesy Panhandle Plains Historical Museum The collection from the woman, Ann Cockrell Osburn, includes items ranging from photos to letters to art pieces.