header.php
The answer to the “What is it? Wednesday” question from July 2nd is the drivers hatch release handle inside of our M5A1 Stuart!Stay tuned for the next “What is it? Wednesday” question tomorrow, July 9th at 10:00 am EST!#americanheritagemuseum #whatisitwednesday ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
At the AHM this weekend! WWII Pacific War Re-enactment – Battle of Okinawa, July 12th & 13th, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PMThe American Heritage Museum will host a WWII Pacific Theater re-enactment. Infantry representing Japanese and American forces will clash in this extraordinary living history event. Camps will be set up with authentic gear and appearance. WWII aircraft will fly in the battle (weather permitting).The Battle of Okinawa, fought from April to June 1945, was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific Theater in World War II. The intense combat was marked by kamikaze attacks, brutal ground fighting, and high civilian casualties. The battle was the fiercest in the Pacific Theater, with some 50,000 Allied and 100,000 Japanese casualties, not including the local Okinawans who were conscripted into the Japanese Army. It is estimated that over 149,000 Okinawan people were killed. The Allied victory at Okinawa provided a critical staging ground for a potential invasion of mainland Japan, but the staggering loss of life and the fierce Japanese resistance significantly influenced the U.S. decision to use atomic bombs to end the war swiftly. Okinawa underscored the heavy cost of victory in the Pacific and hastened the final chapter of the war. Pacific war camps and aircraft will be set up and on display throughout the day. The battle re-enactment starts around 1 PM.For tickets see: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/wwii-pacific-re-enactment-saipan-campaign-2025/ ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Starting at 1pm at the AHM: Author George Hayward will talk about his book The Party Dolls. He delves into a dramatic and morally charged episode from the Vietnam War: the daring 1969 escape attempt—code-named “The Party”—by U.S. Air Force Captains John Dramesi and Ed Atterberry from Hanoi’s notorious Annex prison camp. ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Start your 4th of July celebrations with a visit to the American Heritage Museum! We will be open July 4th from 10am to 5pm. ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
What is your favorite military car of all time?Join the conversation and share your thoughts! 💭 Each week, We're posing a question about historical military vehicles, and we want YOU to weigh in. Whether you’re a history buff, or just curious—we want to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment below to cast your vote! 👇#QuestionOfTheWeek ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Speaker Series: Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II

October 22, 2021 @ 1:00 pm, ending 3:00 pm

Join us for a fascinating discussion on the use of plants in the military. A presentation by
botanist Judith Sumner.

We will look at military history from a botanical perspective, from victory gardens and agriculture to timber, rubber, coal, and cotton, the many plant products that supplied the military and the home front during a time of intense need and high demand.  The talk will include a special look at medicinal plants, including their use in the Pacific war, the County herb Committees in England, and the development of penicillin as a critical wartime drug. Join us for a unique view of World War II through a botanical lens. In short, we would not have won the war without plants!

About the speaker:

Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in flowering plants, plant adaptations, garden history, medicinal plants, and ethnobotany. She is a graduate of Vassar College and earned her Ph.D. in botany at the University of Massachusetts.

Judith has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods. She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum, including monographs in several publications. She contributed family revisions to Flora Vitiensis Nova, published by the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Her other projects and areas of interest have included field studies in the Great Smoky Mountains, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education. She has recently completed Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II, which includes victory gardens and agriculture, as well as timber, fibers, rubber, medicinal plants, camouflage, survival practices, and botanical gardens in wartime, which was published by McFarland in August 2019. Her other books include The Natural History of Medicinal Plants and American Household Botany: A History of Useful Plants 1620-1900, both published by Timber Press; the latter title won the American Horticultural Society book award.

Judith is a frequent invited lecturer for botanical and horticultural organizations and symposia, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, Mohonk Mountain Reserve, Cornell University, Kykuit/The Rockefeller Estate, Polly Hill Arboretum, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Old Sturbridge Village, and Strawbery Banke.  Judith has been the lecturer-in-residence at the Star Island Natural History Conference, and she has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program “Cultivating Life” with Sean Conway, and various other PBS and educational programs. Judith is the recipient of the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature by the Herb Society of America.   During the summers, she has served as a visiting scientist in the LEAP program at the Arnold Arboretum and has led workshops for the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science. She has also served as a National Public Radio STEM mentor and is a frequent educational consultant on science writing, inquiry-based learning, and classroom science using plants.

Details

Date:
October 22, 2021
Time:
1:00 pm, ending 3:00 pm
Event Category:
footer.php

OPEN FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY - FRIDAY, JULY 4TH

Come celebrate Independence Day at the American Heritage Museum on Friday, July 4th. The museum will be open during normal business hours, 10:00am to 5:00pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Save $2 by purchasing your tickets online at the link below.