AFB goes to Versailles
/The American Friends of Blérancourt (AFB) was honored to be a part of a special evening at Versailles on June 28th, 2019, to commemorate the Treaty of Versailles and to celebrate American philanthropy in the regions devastated during and after World War I.
In the words of Catherine Pégard, President of the Palace of Versailles:
”It is rare for a single place to embody the ties between two nations (France and the U.S.A.) over such a long period of time and Versailles is just such an exceptional place.”
AFB supported this commemoration of peace as an American friend and represented for Anne Morgan’s legacy in revitalizing the lives of towns affected by the war in Blérancourt, France. It was Anne Morgan’s leadership of the fundraising campaigns in the United States through 373 chapters in cities across the country that catapulted her to the height of public visibility - not as a daughter of a legendary financier but as a humanitarian. Today, AFB continues to promote in Anne Morgan’s footsteps the French American friendship she epitomized throughout her life.
June 18, 2019 was a commemoration of the centennial of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, but more importantly a celebration of American philanthropy during and after World War I. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, between Germany and the principal Allied powers in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, formally ended World War I, but was problematic from its very beginning. At the time, observers read the Treaty through competing lenses: a desire for peace after five years of disastrous war, demands for vengeance against Germany, the uncertain future of colonialism, and, most alarmingly, the emerging threat of Bolshevism. For this reason, the evening was a commemoration of the efforts of our predecessors to search for a lasting peace, rather than a celebration of the outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles.
