SILENT WINGS MUSEUM: Newsletter The Legacy of the World War II Glider Pilots Vol. 19 No. 4 Summer 2020 General Information IN THIS ISSUE 6202 N. I- 27 Lubbock, Texas 79403 - 9710 Around the Museum The Work Went On! 2-4 Direct Line 806.775.3049 Museum From Home 5-7 Information 806.775.3796 Fax 806.775.3337 National WWII Glider Pilots Committee Web www.silentwingsmuseum.com Research & News 8-12 Directions Driving: North Lubbock, I-27 at Exit 9. The Articles: museum is located in the historic old airport terminal building just two blocks east of I-27. A Young Boy’s Experience 13-14 Look for the silver “G” wings on the tower Adventures of 96th Squadron 15-17 above the entrance. Mark Your Calendar 18 Flying: The museum is accessible by car from In Memoriam 18 the airport terminal. The museum is adjacent to and within easy walking distance of Can’t visit the Silent Wings Museum right now? Lubbock Aero, FBO at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. GPS Coordinates for the museum are: N 33” 39.467’ W101”49.911’ Admission Fees General Admission $8.00 Senior Citizens (60+) $6.00 Children (ages 7-17) $5.00 Students (w/ college id) $5.00 Children (6 & under w/ family) Free Museum Members Free Active Duty Military Free Museum Hours Tuesday - Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM Sunday 1 PM - 5 PM SWM Collection 2018-11-040 Check out our website and social media Call For Holiday Hours channels for Digital Learning Resources. 1 AROUND THE MUSEUM Our Education Coordinator, Dorothy Svgdik, spearheaded our social media effort. A variety of content, including photos, videos, and puzzles kept social media followers engaged in the history and significance of the WWII Glider Program. We plan to keep up this content going forward. Flight Officer Bear became the mascot of the Silent Silent Wings Museum Staff Wings Museum, giving us a focal point for new social media content and a way to engage our virtual Director of the Municipal Museums audience. Jacqueline Bober Our talented Graduate Intern, Eric Richard, went Assistant Municipal Museums Manager to work photographing the little guy all over the Eddy Grigsby museum, highlighting exhibits and providing a little comic relief from the stressful situation. Museum Curator Sharon McCullar We filmed a number of videos for social media. Eric combined footage of exhibits and artifacts with Education and Volunteer Coordinator narration filmed in the galleries into several terrific Dorothy Svgdik videos highlighting artifacts and exhibit themes. Museums Store Manager You can find these videos in the Museum From Home David Seitz section of our website at www.silentwingsmuseum. com. The Work Went On! Sharon McCullar, Curator On March 21, 2020, the Silent Wings Museum closed to the public as part of the City of Lubbock effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Staff immediately re-focused efforts on improving social media content to keep our supporters informed and engaged during the closure, accomplishing exhibit inventory and updates, and upgrading the supports for the aircraft and vehicles in the Silent Wings Museum collection. The Silent Wings Museum has Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts featuring regular posts about the history of the WWII Military Glider Program, educational programming, and special events. See page 6. We took this opportunity to think creatively about new content and different formats on these platforms. Flight Officer Bear Helped Us Through 2 AROUND THE MUSEUM A major inventory, photography, marking, and cleaning project began in the exhibit galleries just two days into the closure. Curator Sharon McCullar and Graduate Intern Eric Richard set up workspaces in the gallery areas. The absence of visitors allowed us to leave these work stations set up overnight and pick up each day right where we had left off. Over the next six weeks, more than 300 artifacts were photographed, inspected for signs of deterioration, and received updated records. We marked artifacts with their tracking numbers, increasing the ability of curatorial staff to reference the correct records. This work ensures that we are fulfilling our mandate to care for the collection as resources allow. Eric Re-Assembles a Mannequin This work also improved the interpretive value of We evaluated the content of current exhibits, existing exhibits and laid the groundwork for future updated content and artifacts for two exhibit areas, content. and brainstormed about future exhibit topics. Some changes are subtle, an artifact or two to bring out a new aspect, or a whole exhibit featuring a large number of artifacts, scanned images, and information on a larger theme. Quality time invested into closely inspecting each artifact is time well spent in terms of future exhibit and program development. Other projects included making a variety of artifact supports, writing and installing new exhibit content, and refreshing the paint on several walls to improve the appearance of the museum. Sewing Tags Into Artifacts Aids Tracking and Record Keeping 3 AROUND THE MUSEUM Eddy Grigsby, Silent Wings Museum Assistant The Silent Wings Museum re-opened on May 9, Museums Manager, exercised his woodworking and 2020 and we were happy to welcome a steady fabrication skills to upgrade the support structures stream of visitors to enjoy our updated exhibits. for several artifacts. Programs and events may look a little different for He used a combination of custom cradles and a while yet. purchased stands for the CG-4A Glider, Aeronca L-3 Aircraft, Jeeps, Jeep Trailer, Howitzer, and However, our commitment to preserving the legacy Nebelwerfer Rocket Launcher. of the WWII Military Glider Program remains the same. The stands greatly improved the care of these artifacts, relieving pressure on tires and wheel assemblies. The stands will extend the life of the Flight Officer Bear Got Here as Soon as artifacts by many years. He Could! Improved Vehicle and Aircraft Supports Remember Your Membership entitles you to: • One year of free admission to the Silent Wings Museum • 10% discount on select merchandise in the Museum gift shop • Discounts on Museum camps, classes, and programs 4 AROUND THE MUSEUM Silent Wings Museum From Home • Color Our Collection. Bring history to life Dorothy Svgdik, Education and Volunteer with our Silent Wings Museum Coloring book. Coordinator • Wings of War Podcast. Dig into past In this time of uncertainty, the Silent Wings Museum episodes of the Silent Wings Museum’s podcast continues to stand by our mission of preserving and to learn about World War II, the American promoting the history of the World War II military Military Glider Program, and our collection at glider program by creating an environment for the museum. collecting, documenting, interpreting and exhibiting artifacts and information for public education and And so much more to come! enjoyment. We hope that you will explore our new Museum From Staff at the Silent Wings Museum have been doubling Home webpage to see what new digital resources we our efforts to stay connected with our supporters have to offer. through our social media channels and our website. In order to do this, we’re going digital with our educational resources and programs! We’ve launched a new page on our website – Museum From Home. The Silent Wings Museum’s Museum From Home webpage is a one-stop repository where we have compiled all of our digital learning resources. Explore the Silent Wings Museum from the comfort of your own home! On the web page, you’ll find: • Make-at-Home Tutorials. We’ll guide you through easy and fun at-home activities using mostly supplies you have already around the Dorothy Demonstrates How to Make house. and Launch a Straw Rocket • Interactive Quizzes. Test your knowledge of the military glider program, World War II, and so much more with our themed quizzes. • Artifact Spotlights. Go behind the scenes and into the collections vault for exclusive sneak peaks on our amazing artifacts that help tell the story of the World War II military glider program. • Word Games. Play along with our word searches, crossword puzzles, and word scrambles to make learning fun. 5 AROUND THE MUSEUM Silent Wings Museum on Social Media • From the Collection posts, where we use artifacts from our collection to facilitate The Silent Wings Museum has been inspired to build learning about an aspects of World War II up our existing social media presence as a result of our and the military glider program. For example, recent closure and the COVID-19 pandemic. We are we’ve explored the concepts of snatch pick-ups focusing our energies on developing fresh content to through photographs. share daily across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. (If you don’t already, please consider following us • Follow Flight Officer Bear’s shenanigans as on any or all of those platforms!) As a staff, we’ve he meanders the museum. He’s been a great stretched ourselves to put together a slate of creative friend to museum staff as we’ve been missing and engaging social media content, including our visitors! everyone’s favorite bear – Flight Officer Bear! We hope to continue to build our social media We are pleased to have now joined Twitter! presence and offerings to keep our supporters from We’ve enjoyed interacting with other museums afar connected and in the know to our goings on at the and participating in social media campaigns like Museum. Find and follow us on social media! #MuseumSunshine where museums around the world post images of collections that are yellow and exude Facebook @SilentWingsMuseum cheerfulness. It’s been wonderful connecting with a Instagram at @silentwingsmuseum brand new audience and make new museum friends in Twitter @MuseumWings the Twittersphere! YouTube @ Buddy Holly Center / Silent Wings Museum Across our social media channels, you can expect to Website silentwingsmuseum.com find content like: • Our Monday Madness quizzes, which test quiz-takers’ knowledge of topics related to World War II and the military glider program, such as “Propaganda and Victory Gardens,” “Gliders and Medics,” and “Date Those Glider Operations.” • Short videos that give our online followers a sneak peek into behind the scenes tasks at the Silent Wings Museum.