The Iowa Masonic Library opens a new temporary exhibition on July 9, 2018 entitled “The Aftermath of World War I: Postcards of Iowa Mason Jesse A. Danielson.” The exhibit is composed of postcard photographs that Danielson either took or purchased during his tour of duty in France, Belgium and Germany at the end of World War I. Many show the complete devastation of places such as Ypres, Zeebrugge and Ostend in Belgium, Rheims in northeast France and Cologne in Germany.
Jesse Danielson took and collected the postcards during his tour of duty with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1918 and 1919. He was assigned as an equipment operator since he had completed a course in auto mechanics at the University of Wisconsin in 1918. He and his buddy, a Sergeant McCarthy, took most of the photographs. Danielson was a member of Acanthus Lodge No. 632 in Des Moines.
The collection is made up of both “real photo” postcards and commercial postcards. The “real photo” postcards were taken using a No. 3A Folding Pocket Kodak camera. This camera allowed the user to take a picture and then print a postcard sized negative complete with a divided back and a place for postage.
Included with the postcards are several original World War I posters that had been donated to the Iowa Masonic Library after the War by British Freemason William Crofts-Bullen and the United States War Department. Other materials, including original books, pamphlets and artifacts that were collected by the Iowa Masonic Library during World War I will also be on exhibit.
The exhibit will be open during regular hours of operation, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. The exhibit will run through Friday, December 28, 2018. For more information, please call 319-365-1438.
