Remembrance
Friends of Fort Vancouver’s annual 1940s-style Sweetheart Dance
In the style of a World War II-era dance, the annual Sweetheart Dance on February 9, 2019, is a grand fundraiser sponsored by the Friends of Fort Vancouver, a local nonprofit organization that supports the educational mission of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Proceeds from this event contribute to educational outreach programs offered year-round at the national park.
The dance features “big band” music played live by the VanPort Jazz Band, providing the perfect atmosphere for dancing, socializing, and fun! Many attendees enjoy wearing vintage 1940s styles, or vintage US military uniforms. The event also features a no-host bar.
In addition to serving as a fundraiser for the Friends of Fort Vancouver, this event evokes the World War II history of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. During the war, soldiers passed through Vancouver Barracks on their way overseas, thousands of workers constructed aircraft carriers and Liberty ships at the Kaiser Shipyards, and the city’s population boomed. Learn more about Vancouver Barracks during World War II here.
Tickets for this event sell out quickly. Tickets can be purchased online at friendsfortvancouver.org, or at the Friends of Fort Vancouver’s bookstore, located inside the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center.
What: The annual Sweetheart Dance, hosted by the Friends of Fort Vancouver
Where: The Historic Hangar at Pearson Air Museum, 1115 East Fifth Street, Vancouver, WA 98661
When: February 9, 2019, 7 pm to 10 pm
Cost: $30 per person. Purchase tickets here.
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS IN THE VANCOUVER BARRACKS DISTRICT
When most people think about the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, they imagine thousands of young men carrying shovels, axes, and saws throughout the woodlands of the United States.
While much of the CCC’s work was done in the woods, organizing, training, and supplying the woodland camps was done from locations with access to paved roads, railroads, and rivers. Places like the Vancouver Barracks, where soldiers played the part of mentors and trainers for the new CCC recruits. Mr. Matt Mawhirter will talk about the part the Vancouver Barracks and its soldiers played in organizing the CCC in the Pacific Northwest.
BUFFALO SOLDIERS AT THE VANCOUVER BARRACKS
In the late 1890s, and in World War II, African American soldiers, sometimes called Buffalo Soldiers served at the Vancouver Barracks.
Mr. Wilson Keller, who is working on his Boy Scout Eagle project will talk about an interpretive sign about the Buffalo Soldiers, he is helping design and have installed at the Vancouver Barracks.
Retired U.S. Army Non-Commission Officer Frazier Raymond, will speak about Cathay Williams, the only female Buffalo Soldiers. Cathay Williams joined the U.S. Army in 1866, posing as a man, named William Cathay. She and her unit were eventually assigned to New Mexico, where her health declined. Doctors discovered she was a woman, and discharged her in 1868. Her story appeared in newspapers in the 1870s, and in 1891, Cathay Williams applied for a disability pension based upon her military service. Unfortunately, it was denied, and she died shortly afterward.