Virginia POW Camps During World War II, with Historian Kathryn Roe Coker
Did you know that there were World War II Prisoners of War in Virginia?
Historian Kathryn Roe Coker, Ph.D. has written two books about POWs on American Soil. Here to talk about her latest book on the subject, Virginia POW Camps in World War II, Dr. Coker will discuss her research and findings, work with co-author Jason Wetzel, and answer questions about what it was like for Virginians to live near POW camps.
From the publisher:
"Tour the camps, learn stories of the daily lives of the POWs, and discover the impact they had on the Old Dominion.
"During World War II, Virginians watched as German and Italian prisoners invaded the Old Dominion. At least 17,000 Germans and countless Italians lived in over twenty camps across the state and worked on five military installations. Farmers hired POWs to pick apples. Fertilizer companies, lumber yards, and hospitals hired them. At first a phenomenon of war in Virginia's backyard, these former enemy combatants became familiar to many--often developing a rapport with their employers. Among them were die-hard Nazis and Fascists, but they benefited from double standards that placed them in better jobs and conditions than African Americans.
Historians Kathryn Coker and Jason Wetzel tell a different story of the Old Dominion at War."
About the Speaker:
Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker received a doctorate in history from the University of South Carolina. For nine years, she was the appraisal archivist at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Dr. Coker then served for thirty years as an historian for the U. S. Department of the Army (DA). Her interest in WWII Prisoners of War (POWs) began at Fort Gordon, a former POW base camp. Dr. Coker has published numerous articles in professional journals and book chapters from her dissertation on Revolutionary War loyalists. While a DA historian, she published books and pamphlets including World War II Prisoners of War in Georgia: Camp Gordon’s POWs; A History of Fort Gordon; Mobilization of the U.S. Army Reserve for the Korean War; and The Indispensable Force: The U.S. Army Reserve (1990-2010). She retired in 2015 from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and now resides in Richmond, Virginia. For two years she worked as a Library Associate at the Richmond Public Library. Her latest book is Virginia POW Camps in World War II.
- Date:
- Tuesday, June 6, 2023
- Time:
- 6:00pm - 7:30pm
- Location:
- Hull Street Meeting Room
- Categories:
- Author Visit Book Discussion Lectures & Talks
Meldon Jenkins-Jones is the Richmond Public Library / Community Services Manager at Hull Street Branch Library.
Meldon also chairs the Get Lit Advisory Committee which supports the Richmond Public Library Get Lit Reading Initiatives including the Black Male Emergent Readers (BMER) program and the Lit Chicks Read book clubs.
Meldon is a graduate of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 2022. She was the first recipient of the Virginia Library Association (VLA) Librarians of Color Forum Award in 2021 and is an active member of VLA. She presented “Libraries Bringing Community Together” at the 2023 VLA Annual Conference.
In 2011, Meldon received her Master of Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law—Newark and practiced law in New Jersey until her retirement in 2003. Meldon received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she studied African American Studies and Russian Civilization.
A Metro Richmond resident, Meldon is the mother of two adult children and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
