In 2018, Perry’s Hometown Heritage will be hosting a programming series devoted to World War I, and they recently got help from a Bock Family Foundation Grant.

The Fullhart/Carnegie Charitable Trust was awarded $1,500 towards the program, which Hometown Heritage Research Assistant Alissa Whitmore says will start sometime between late spring and early fall of next year. The series will include a genealogy workshop, a lecture series, kids programming, and a photo and object exhibit. In particular, Whitmore is looking forward to the genealogy series, which will be led by Leo Landis, the State Curator of Iowa. He will guide people through finding what their ancestors were doing during the war.

The program and the grant to support it are both coming at an appropriate time, as Whitmore explains, “So the timing is going to be really nice, because next year is going to be the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. So it’s kind of coming at a nice time. But yeah, we’re so honored to get it (the grant). The competition was indeed fierce, and we’re just over the moon!”

Hometown Heritage is still seeking additional funding for the program, including a possible grant from Humanities Iowa.