A Dedication
I dedicate this site to the Fallen and Lost of the Great War - may their sacred stories, songs, and deeds not fade away but be renewed and remembered by our collective attention.
Acknowledgements
A multi-year, multi-institution, highly experimental enterprise such as Home Before The Leaves Fall: A Centennial Exhibition has many collaborators, beyond the invidividual curators authoring scholarly articles and writing blog posts, and as this we are just commencing I hope that our group of individual collaborators and organizational contributers continues to grow with each passing day.
The opportunity to experiment in developing new models of collaborative outreach for archives, libraries, museums and in thinking about new ways of preserving and providing access to cultural heritage materials, broadly considered, can only happen in an community where innovation and service to the public aren't just platitudes in a mission statement, but acts repeatedly demonstrated by practice. At Villanova University, the electronic host to the Exhibition and organizational home to some of the curators, that community is dedicated to a broad service mission of giving back and helping others while fostering a climate of entrepreneurial experimentation. I would like to express my very great appreciation to Father Peter Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D. and Father Kail C. Ellis, O.S.A., Ph.D. for tirelessly working to create such a community where projects like Home Before The Leaves Fall: A Centennial Exhibition aren't merely permitted but actively encouraged. Advice, practical and passionate, given by Darren Poley and Joseph Lucia has been invaluable. Thank you to the Villanova University Special Collections and Digital Library Team, always willing to "Go over the Top" without a moment's hesitation: Laura Bang, Dave Lacy, Dave Burke, Dave Uspal, Stephen Spatz, Demian Katz, Taras Ortensky, Sue Ottignon, Raamaan McBride, Laura Hutelmyer, Joanne Quinn, and Chris Hallberg.
I extend my thanks also to the Falvey Memorial Library Business and Administration Team especially to Margaret Duffy, for her continued support and assistance; to Alice Bampton for providing media coverage and expert advise on photography; to Nikolaus Fogle, Ph.D. for consultation and Digital Humanities assistance.
My colleagues are co-creators of this site and the Exhibition and without them this endeavor wouldn't be possible and much that was lost to memory would pass away. My hearty thanks to: Charles Greifenstein, Nicole Joniec, Sarah Weatherwax, Hillary Kativa, Michelle DiMeo, Ph.D., Iren L. Snavely, Robert Hicks, Bob Cozzolino, Heather Paroubek, Joyce Homan, Claire Pingel, Annie Anderson, Nick Okrent, Jill LeMin Lee, Margery Sly, Janet Evans, Kevin D. Impellizeri, Chrissy Bellizzi, Karl Smith, Erica Harman, James G. Mundy, Jr., Beth A. Twiss Houting, Wendy E. Chmielewski, Ph.D., Matthew Shoemaker, Annie Brogan, Karie Youngdahl, Matt Herbison, Jack McCarthy, Sandra L. Tatman, Ph.D., Eric Pumroy, and Matthew Lyons.
Advice and support has been generously given by Adele Lindenmeyr, Ph.D., Jeffrey Johnson, Ph.D., Joseph Lennon, Ph.D., Craig Bailey, Ph.D., and Judith Giesberg, Ph.D.
For his inspirational legacy of professionalism and artistic sensibility, I would like to offer my special thanks to Chris Barr. For her outstanding image editing and continued excellence in any wildly improbable venture, I would also like to specially thank Lisa Kruczek. For language assistance and consultation, above the call of duty, as well as continuing guidance and research aid, I would like to thank both Jutta Seibert and Barbara Quintiliano and a second time - Taras Ortensky.
I would like to express my great appreciation to John Baky for suggestions on locating Great War resources and to Charlene Mires, Ph.D. for support in collaboration.
Many individuals have volunteered time, at many institutions, in a variety of tasks including: scanning, transcribing, editing, researching, networking, planning, and writing. I would like to express my very great appreciation to them for the hard work and passion that continues to be brought to this enterprise. I am constantly astounded by the good will and energy of the public to pitch in and help when asked. Public support and the participation of independent and affiliated scholars is the lifeblood of this project. A most special thank you to: Ruth Martin, Ph.D., Brian McDonald, Ph.D., William Robinson, Becca Solnit, Rachel Yerger, Susan Riley Stevens, John Ricciutti, Daniel Michel, Frances (Mimi) DiLenge, Nick Mumenthaler, and Louise and Rick Doll.
And a personal word of the greatest thanks to Chrissy Czestochowa for all of her support.
[MPF]
