Profiles of Honor Tour Comes to Martinsville

The Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission is bringing the Profiles of Honor Tour to Martinsville on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, 2019. The Profiles of Honor Tour vehicle is a 36-foot trailer that houses a museum-quality exhibition that brings to life the state’s integral role in both wars, highlighting stories of Virginians who served in both conflicts.  The tour vehicle will be located in the parking lot of the Virginia Museum of Natural History at 21 Starling Avenue, Martinsville, Virginia, and the free-admission exhibit will be open to the public from 9 am to 5 pm each day.  The event is being sponsored by both the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Martinsville Henry County Veterans Service Organization. life te state's integral role in both wars, highlighting stories of Virginians who served in both conflicts

Also on those dates and located inside the museum will be the WWI and WWII Commemoration Commission Project “Operation Digitization – Profiles of Honor Scanning Program.”  The program focuses on scanning manuscript materials that reflect social, political, military, business, and religious life in Virginia during the periods of the World Wars.  The project is a collaboration between the Commission and the Library of Virginia and visitors may bring family letters, postcards, diaries, photographs, and other manuscripts related to the World Wars and have those materials scanned to preserve the intellectual and historical content.  Many of these privately held documents are deteriorating with the passing of time and the scanning project is an effort to capture as much of this valuable information as possible before it is lost. The digital images will be stored by the Library of Virginia and available through both the Commission and Library of Virginia websites.