Like America itself, The Floating Hospital’s 1940s experiences were shaped by the Great Depression being suddenly transformed into a full-on war effort, marked by both expansion and continued deprivation. After the war ended In 1945, a new optimism and economic boom took over, even as a nation mourned its fallen, and not everyone who came home could be made whole again.

It is rare these days to find love stories that have endured for years and even decades. So we were excited to hear about a couple celebrating 44 years of marriage whose romance sparked on our last ship, the Lila Acheson Wallace. The couple, Bruce and Pati Richards, will join us at our annual gala on June 10 at the Edison Ballroom.

One consequence of being an organization more than a century-and-a-half old is a large accumulation of records and documents—including archival photos and letters from dignitaries like Ronald Reagan and Hillary Clinton—with a responsibility to preserve and maintain them.