"WWII Prisoners of War in Virginia: Enemies Without and Within" - a Law Library Lunch and Learn Social Justice Discussion
At this LIVE online Law Library Lunch and Learn Social Justice Discussion, Kathryn Roe Coker, Ph.D., will present a talk entitled "WWII Prisoners of War in Virginia: Enemies Without and Within", touching on the racial discrimination in the Armed Forces during the Second World War, and especially the difference in treatment between military personnel and the POWs. Dr. Coker is the author of Georgia POW Camps in World War II (with Jason Wetzel) and other publications like The Indispensable Force: The Post-Cold War Operational Army Reserve, 1990-2010. A former historian and archivist with the U.S. Armed Forces, Kathy is currently a Library Associate with RPL's Richmond Public Law Library. A Question and Answer period will follow the presentation.
- Date:
- Monday, June 14, 2021
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm
- Categories:
- Author Visit Law Virtual
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. She then served for thirty years as a historian for the Department of the Army (DA). Dr. Coker's interest in World War II POWs began at Fort Gordon while serving as the deputy command historian. She has published many articles in professional journals like the Georgia Historical Quarterly and chapters from her dissertation in books. While a DA historian, she published numerous books and pamphlets, including A History of Fort Gordon, A Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, World War II Prisoners of War in Georgia: Camp Gordon's POWs, Mobilization of the U.S. Army Reserve for the Korean War, U.S. Army Reserve Recipients of the Medal of Honor 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, with her two dogs.
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.
