UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State All-Sports Museum’s current special exhibit, titled, “I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II,” has been named one of eight statewide Institutional Award of Merit winners by PA Museums.
The exhibit is located in the museum’s second-floor special exhibition gallery and runs through June 1, 2025.
PA Museums is Pennsylvania’s statewide museum association, with 350 members across the commonwealth, including museums and historical organizations of many types and sizes. In addition to providing professional development opportunities for museum professionals, the organization also leads advocacy campaigns on behalf of the museum community. Since the 1980s, PA Museums has invited award nominations from its membership and chosen institutions, projects and individuals to recognize.
This is the All-Sports Museum’s second Award of Merit; it was first recognized in 2019 for the special exhibit “Field to Front: Nittany Lions at War, 1917-1919.”
“PA Museums’ annual awards are meant to inspire the museum field and impress visitors to museums,” said Rusty Baker, executive director of PA Museums. “Pennsylvania’s museums and historical organizations are star performers, and we are proud to recognize the great work being done throughout the commonwealth.”
Timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of World War II, “I Am a Penn Stater” chronicles the contributions of Nittany Lion varsity lettermen and Women’s Recreation Association athletes during the conflict and follows their service from training in the United States to fighting on battlefields around the globe, to postwar occupation duties. Utilizing photographs, letters, diaries and artifacts, “I Am a Penn Stater” offers visitors a firsthand understanding of the service provided by more than 1,200 former Nittany Lions who entered the military and American Red Cross — including 27 who made the supreme sacrifice, among them Navy Cross recipient W. Garfield Thomas, killed in action while commanding a turret aboard the USS Boise; and boxer and Tuskegee Airman James W. Wright, lost in 1944 when his transport crashed off the South Carolina coast.
The title is taken from a letter written by Sergeant Max S. Peters, a 1941 graduate who lettered in track and skiing, in which he detailed his reasons for fighting. After listing a variety of democratic ideals, he concluded by stating that it was simpler for him to tell himself, “I Am a Penn Stater,” as the phrase encapsulated everything he believed.
Since its opening in June 2022, “I Am a Penn Stater” has introduced museum visitors to a multitude of extraordinary stories, including those of State College native Emma Jane Foster, a civilian nurse with the Flying Tigers in China, and wrestler Frank A. Gleason, who served with the Office of Strategic Services and was later portrayed by Pennsylvania-born actor and WWII veteran Jimmy Stewart in a cinematic adaption of his adventures.
Opened in 2002, the Penn State All-Sports Museum is located at the southwest corner of Beaver Stadium and honors the achievements of the men and women who have built the tradition of Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is by suggested donation of $5 for adults and $3 for children, seniors and students.
