Fall Exhibition to Commemorate WWI is August 29 – December 19, 2014.

A century has passed since the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the premiership of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in an alleyway in Sarajevo by elements of the Serbian nationalist “Black Hand” organization.

The murder set in motion the first great conflict of the twentieth century.  Millions would die, and millions more would be injured and displaced.  100 years later, it retains the quality of a senseless slaughter.

This exhibition will explore primary source materials held by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library that echo the rhetoric and illustrate the consequences of the conflict.  It is part of a larger, campus-wide initiative called “The Great War at Illinois.”

Thanks to Dennis Sears of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library for this information item.