Movies, WWI program at historical society

“Doing Your Bit: Movie-Going During the Great War” will be presented at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan 17, at Waupaca’s Holly History and Genealogy Center.

The Waupaca Historical Society will host University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point professor emerita Dr. Leslie Midkiff DeBauche for the presentation.

The event will be free and open to the public.

In 1917, movies were a popular pastime in the United States and were seen as patriotic during World War I.

Early actors endorsed and helped to raise money for the war effort by selling Liberty Bonds, and movie theaters charged a 1-cent war tax for each ticket.

DeBauche will discuss the ways movies and theaters enlisted in the war effort while simultaneously trying to make profits.

The program and popcorn are sponsored by Rosa Theatre, of Waupaca.