The Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum will host historian and author Cheryl O’Brien in October. She will present a program based on her book about World War II-era Prisoner of War camps in Wyoming. The program will be at the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. The program is free to the public.
Wyoming was home to several POW camps during World War II. The most prominent was Camp Douglas in Douglas, Wyoming. However, there were small camps scattered across the state. O’Brien’s presentation will share information, photographs, and stories by former POWs, U.S. Army personnel, and residents about the POWs’ work and what life was like in the Wyoming POW camps.
About the Presenter:
Cheryl O’Brien lives in Dubois, Wyoming, with her husband, Bill. Her book, World War II POW Camps of Wyoming, was published in 2019 and selected as Wyoming’s 2020 Great Read by the Wyoming State Library.
O’Brien worked as an environmental educator and analyst for a State Conservation agency for over 20 years before relocating to Wyoming in 2002. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Arts in social sciences, emphasizing history and archaeology.
O’Brien has published several articles on environmental and historical topics, including her article “Camp Dubois, WY: A Legacy of Literature,” published in the Autumn 2015 issue of the Annals of Wyoming, and “Nineteen Camps: World War II POWs in Wyoming,” published Nov. 29, 2021, on WyoHistory.org.