Great Lakes Living History Company

We had a wonderful time this weekend at the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum in Dennison, OH for the Buckeye 250 Train event!!!

Happy International Women’s Day 2026!

GLLHC is looking forward to another successful season of celebrating women’s history and ensuring their contributions are never forgotten.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all those who have served both past and present! We’ve had the absolute honor to meet many veterans of World War II and to hear their stories and thank them for their service. Today, we want to say thank you to every single man and woman who served in the US Armed Services. We salute you.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who attended Lauer Farms last weekend!! I meant to post something earlier but alas life kept me busy. I had such a great time and I’m so glad I got to see you all! I hope you guys had fun too. Thank you for all your hard work!

If anyone got some good photos that they wouldn’t mind sharing please post them here or email them to me and/or Lacey. Not only would I loooooove to see them, but I’d love to post some stuff on our social media pages as well. If you're comfortable with your photos being shared (with credit of course!) please indicate that in your post or email. Thanks!!

This weekend we hung out at Fort Fest and a good time was had by all! Here's a small photo dump of the weekend. But what a hot weekend it was. We didn't get many photos of us all in uniform because it was just too hot to stay in uniform for too long.

If you're like us and spend lots of weekends in 90°F weather, here's some tips that kept us safe and healthy this weekend:

1) Communal coolers
2) Fill coolers with ice, water bottles, and Gatorades or other drinks high in electrolytes.
3) Bring rags and dunk them in the ice water kept in the coolers and lay them on the back of your neck to cool down
4) Don't be afraid to get out of uniform. Wools are intense. It's better to hang out in camp and talk to the public in lighter modern clothing than it is to go down with heat exhaustion or sun stroke
5) Stay in the shade and out of direct sunlight as much as possible
6) DRINK WATER
7) Bring electrolytes like Liquid IV
8) Keep an eye on your fellow reenactors and take care of one another. Make sure everyone is drinking and sitting in the shade and not pushing themselves too much
9) Wear sunscreen and reapply every hour.

Today is VJ Day.

Eighty years ago today, President Truman announced the surrender of Japan, finally ending World War II.

Come see us this weekend as we try our hand at a new WAC impression: Motor Transport Corps!!

We'll be at Fort Fest in Fort Jennings, Ohio so be sure to stop by, say hello, and learn all about the work the WACs did while stationed at the various U.S. Ports of Embarkation.

See you then!

It was a busy weekend for the GLLHC!

Captain Opdycke and several members of both the GLLHC and the 128th EVAC attended Troops in Town where they showcased the various roles women had during WWII. A good time was had by all despite the crazy weather of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Lt. Nickols and her family traveled to the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan to check out the "Our War Too: Women in Service" exhibit, an amazing exhibit about women's military service during WWII designed by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Keep an eye out on our pages for more photos of both!

📷: and

On this day 81 years ago, 14 July 1944, the first contingent of WACs landed on Normandy, 38 days after the initial D-Day landings. This group consisted of 49 enlisted women and 6 officers and were led by Captain Isabel Kane. Clad in field uniforms consisting of trousers, combat jackets, boots and leggings to protect them against the cold and mud of France, and carrying full packs, a shelter half, a gas mask, and several days worth of K-rations, these women disembarked their landing crafts and set up camp near Valognes, France in an apple orchard on the grounds of Chateau du Pont-Rilly. They were assigned to the Forward Echelon, Communications Zone and immediately went to work as telephone operators, typists, and clerks in cellars, tents, and prefabricated huts. They lived in shelter halves or pyramidal tents, ate from field rations or the field mess, and washed themselves and their clothes in a days rations of water carried inside their helmet. Though faced with the hardships of field living, the women proved themselves to be strong and resilient women.

Helen Denton wrote about her experiences landing on the beaches of Normandy in this excerpt from her book “World War II WAC”:

“After an uneventful trip across the English Channel, we arrived off the shore around midnight. Told to shoulder our packs, we were then told to disembark by climbing onto a rope ladder, down the side of the ship, to a landing craft that bounced in the water below us. Having never dreamed we would be doing that, it was with quite a bit of trepidation that we climbed over the side, holding on for dear life to the rope ladder, and welcoming the sailor who grabbed our leg to guide us down the final short jump into the landing craft.

Once we were all safely in the landing craft, it pulled away from the mother ship and headed toward the beach, just as it had done many times since the original landings on June 6...Just like the men before us, we had to wade ashore through waist deep water and wait until morning so we could be picked up and carried to our holding area. Inland from the beach, an enclosed holding area was awaiting us. Small tents had two cots, without mattresses, and a special tent was marked as a female bathing facility. "

We had such a great time today at Stearns Homestead for WWII on the Homefront!! Thank you to all who came out today in the rain and the heat! We had fun talking with you all and hope to see you again next time!