Presenter: Ann Bausum

The topic of the second lecture will be on one of the more unusual sergeants in the history of the army: a short-tailed brindle bull terrier mutt named Sergeant Stubby. Stubby was befriended by Private James Robert Conroy at the Connecticut National Guard training camp at Yale in 1917.  Adopted by Conroy and smuggled onto a transport ship to Europe, Stubby won Conroy’s commanding officer over and eventually served with the 102nd Infantry of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was purported to have sniffed out poison gas, warned soldiers of doughboys in the trenches, and allegedly captured a German soldier. During his service on the front, Stubby earned one wound stripe and three service stripes. His story is one of bravery, heroism, and loyalty.

The author of twelve children’s titles and one adult book, Bausum has received many prestigious awards for her writing including a Sibert Honor, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, the Golden Kite Award, and the Carter G. Woodson Award. In the spring of 2017, her body of work for young readers will be recognized by the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C., with its venerable nonfiction award. Bausum is currently on a national publicity tour promoting her most recent title, The March Against Fear, the story of James Meredith’s 1966 march in Mississippi. His protest for voter registration became one of the most important demonstrations of the civil rights movement.