Drawn from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, an exhibit focused on the War in the Pacific during World War II is traveling through Slovakia, making three stops that include presentations and viewings.

Last year, the U.S. Embassy contacted Peter Harrington, curator of the collection, to ask if he could curate an art exhibition on this topic for the people of Slovakia. Peter was delighted to create the exhibit, but surprised that Slovakia wanted to focus on the War in the Pacific. The Embassy explained that there is a great deal of information available about the war in Europe, but very little about the Pacific. Also, interestingly, one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima was Slovakian! The Embassy is also interested in showing the American involvement in the liberation of Slovakia, which occurred during the war.

The exhibition includes 40 drawings and watercolors. It has visited the State Scientific Library in Kosice, at which a presentation was made to high school students. Photos from the event can be viewed here.

The exhibit will open in Bratislava at the University Library on June 3 and will conclude its travels at the State Scientific Library in Banská Bystrica in September.

The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering and is one of the world’s largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. It contains approximately 20,000 printed books, numerous albums, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and portfolios, and over 15,000 individual prints, drawings, paintings and watercolors as well as a collection of 5,000 miniature lead soldiers. To learn more about the collection, please visit its webpage at http://library.brown.edu/collections/askb.