News

New Interactive Display Sheds Light on Boxcar Exhibit

3/10/09

KENNESAW, Ga. – A young French girl explains why she gave away her favorite toy to Americans in a new, interactive display at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History.

“A Gift to our Greatest Generation: The French Gratitude Train” audio-visual display allows visitors to hear personal stories from World Wars I and II survivors and soldiers using original film, music, documents, letters, and photographs.

“The new display transports our visitors back to the time when these boxcars were used,” explained Assistant Curator and Registrar Ava Wilkey.

When the French were starving after World War II, American citizens came to their aid, sending food and other urgently needed items. In 1949, the people of France thanked the Americans for their help by sending 49 boxcars, dubbed the French Gratitude Train, or “Merci Train”, loaded with over 9,000 gifts. The young French girl expressed her thankfulness by parting with her favorite toy.

The Georgia Merci Boxcar arrived in Atlanta February 11, 1949, bearing many gifts, some of which are on display within the exhibition.

“I particularly like the intricately carved conch shell that was included in Georgia’s boxcar,” Wilkey said. Other items include a painting and medals.

“We are delighted that La Societe Des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux chose the Southern Museum as the new home for the Merci Boxcar,” said Wilkey.

The boxcars were originally built to transport 40 men or eight horses, which is the English translation of the name of the society that serves as trustees of the boxcars.

The “40 & 8,” as the organization is known in English, was first begun after World War I as an honor society for American Legion members. The organization was named after the boxcars because many veterans had been transported around Europe in them. The Fulton County branch, or voiture, of the 40 & 8 group carefully preserved and protected the boxcar in several locations before finding a new home in Kennesaw at the Southern Museum.

The audio-visual display was created by Assistant Curator and Registrar Ava Wilkey and then was constructed and produced by Entertainment Design Group in Austell, GA, and local talent was used when possible for the video voiceovers. Deborah Richards of Georgia Public Television serves as the film’s narrator.

Part of the museum’s French Gratitude Train exhibition, “A Gift to our Greatest Generation” in the new Jolley Education Center, the display was made possible in part through a grant from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, as well as donations from the Kennesaw Development Authority, the Cobb County Development Authority, and the Kennesaw Museum Foundation.

The Southern Museum, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, is located 20 miles north of Atlanta, off I-75 at exit 273. For more information, visit www.southernmuseum.org or call (770) 427-2117. For more information on the French Gratitude Boxcars, visit www.rypn.org/Merci/ or on the 40 & 8, visit www.fortyandeight.org.