Newspapers Depiction of Life at Camp Shelby during WWII focus of Oct. 24 Lecture

University Libraries' Special Collections at The University of Southern Mississippi will present the second lecture in the fall series “Lectures, Lore and Lessons: Mississippi at the Bicentennial” on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Hattiesburg Public Library. Dr. Willie R. Tubbs will discuss Camp Shelby during World War II as seen through The Reveille, the base's newspaper.

In his talk, “Stars, Bars and FDR: Media and Moments at Camp Shelby,” Tubbs will explore the rich insight the newspaper provides into life on the base during the war. Encounters with the nation's political elite, top brass, celebrities, and famed fighting units awaited the many thousands of soldiers who passed through Shelby on their way to or from the war.

However, among all the positives, The Reveille reminds us that deprivation, illicit activities, and racial tension also factored into the story of Shelby in the early 1940s. The base newspaper allows us to relive everything from President Franklin Roosevelt's visit to the arrival of Japanese American fighting men, and to Shelby officers' crackdown on soldiers visiting the long list of off-limits bars and businesses in Hattiesburg. 

Tubbs is an assistant professor of communication at the University of West Florida. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Louisiana College, a master's degree in interactive media from Quinnipiac University, and a doctorate in mass communication from Southern Miss. His dissertation, Forward Myth, focused on domestic military base newspapers from 1941-1981.

This event is co-sponsored with the Hattiesburg Public Library. The lecture is made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through support from the Mississippi Development Authority.

For more information, contact Jennifer Brannock at Jennifer.BrannockFREEMississippi or 601.266.4347.