Reminder–tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. in the Classrooms of the Kansas Museum of History, Topeka:

Jonathan R. Casey, archivist and Edward Jones Research Center manager, The National World War I Museum and Memorial presents “J.R.R. Tolkien and the Battle of the Somme.” This overview of Tolkien’s war service focuses particularly on the Somme, July through October 1916, and how his war experience may have influenced his literary work, namely The Hobbit and the Lord Of The Rings. The presentation includes images from the World War I Museum’s collections that match passages from the books.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.