WWI Horse Heroes | Coal in WW1 | Halifax Explosion | Gold Star Mothers | Speaking "Chatting" | 100C/100M Portland, Maine | WWrite Blog | Buzz & more..

Highlights

The Role of Coal in WWI America - Dr. Sean Adams | @ 03:00

Coming Attractions - Preview of podcasts | @ 09:50

The Halifax Explosion - Mike Shuster | @ 11:10   

Commissioner Zoe Dunning is sworn in | @ 16 :00

Gold Star Mothers special tour - Candy Martin | @ 16:55

Speaking WWI - Chatting - A lousy deal | @ 23:50

New issue “Understanding The Great War” education Newsletter | @ 25:00

100C/100M - Portland, Maine - Brandon Mazer | @ 25:50

Sgt. Stubby new trailer | @ 30:40

Horse Heroes - BrookeUSA - Jo Ellen Hayden | @ 32:25

WWrite Blog - What if there had been no Balfour Declaration | @ 39:30

Buzz - Signal Corp & Drip Rifles - Katherine Akey | @ 40:15

& More....

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Opening

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is December 15th, 2017. This is episode #50 and our guests this week include:

Dr. Sean Adams, on the role of coal in America during WW1

Mike Shuster with the story of the disastrous Halifax explosion  

Candy Martin from Gold Star Mothers telling us about an upcoming European tour

Brandon Mazer from the 100 Cities/100 Memorials project in Portland, Maine

Jo Ellen Hayden introducing our newest site at ww1cc.org, Horse Heroes from Brooke USA

And Katherine Akey, with the Buzz - The centennial commemoration in social media

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

[MUSIC]

Preface

The Official Bulletin is the government daily War Gazette - which you can read yourself on our website like a daily paper at ww1cc.org/bulletin - with each issue being re-published on the centennial of its original publication date…. It is an awesome primary information resource for you nerds, history buffs and teachers… and of course for us at WW1 Centennial news!

Well ever since it started publishing in May, we have been seeing nearly daily and certainly weekly articles about COAL… Yes.. COAL.

The availability, the industry, the pricing, the mining, the transportation, the application… Coal keeps coming up in our editorial meetings.

Our instinct says that this is a strategically important WWI subject - like airplanes, suffrage, the draft and food - but as we attack the subject, we keep feeling that the articles we are reading don't really get down to the strategic issues about Coal in WWI.

We just keep seeing hints and snippets.. Like the related nationalization of the railroads and the effect on coal mining, or the nationalization of shipbuilding which leads to the decision to build a vast fleet of coal burning instead of oil burning merchant ships… and on and on…

What we need… we reasoned… is a coal historian! Well, it turns out the world is NOT full of coal historians!

But Katherine, bless her, has found Dr. Sean Adams who is joining us today - as soon as we jump into our wayback machine and roll back to the second week of December, 1917 to see how coal plays into the war that changed the world!

[SOUND EFFECT]

World War One THEN

100 Year Ago This Week

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

It's the second week of December 1917 - and it’s REALLY cold! This winter of 1917 is still considered one of the coldest on record for most of the Eastern seaboard and beyond.

A giant blizzard is whipping through the North East - and as you’ll learn later - it has some pretty harsh effects on the Halifax Harbor explosion.

One of the main sources for staying warm in this bitterly cold winter is….

Well - COAL! And it is being rationed.

We are being joined here in 1917 by Dr. Sean Adams, Professor of History and Chair at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Welcome Dr. Adams!

[exchange greetings]

Dr. Adams - as we mentioned in our setup - it seems like coal, it’s mining, transportation and use in this momen