On this day in 1919…

Welcome Home Parade, 1919
Welcome Home Parade walking down Green Street, 1919

October 18, 1919 was a known as “Welcome Home Day” in Kingston in honor of its servicemen and nurses returning from World War I. The “Welcome Home Committee” presented each with a bronze token of appreciation for service to the town and country, and sponsored festivities that included the parade seen here, as well as band concerts, decorations, speeches and a turkey supper in the Town House.

Welcome Home Parade

There is now a monument to the 132 men and women who “entered the service” during the war. Constructed in 1926, it is located at the intersection of Summer and Green streets.

Welcome Home Parade, 1919

Source: Images from the Emily Fuller Drew Collection (MC16).

New Exhibit: A Salute to our Veterans

November’s Local History Room exhibit honors veterans with a display of artifacts and documents that give a small glimpse of the soldier’s life and return home.

Postcard from Captain Joseph Finney, AEF, to Mary Fries, 1919
Postcard from Captain Joseph Finney, AEF, to Mary Fries, 1919