KENNEBUNK — With the same patriotic fervor as Maine’s response to a call for troops in the Civil War, more than 35,000 men and women across Maine joined the armed forces in 1917-18 to fight in aid of America’s European allies against the Germans as well as to redress German destruction of American vessels in the North Atlantic.

The Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk invites the public to its inaugural Member-Guest Day June 30, which, among other features, will include a free lecture by Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth, focusing on Maine’s part in World War I. The lecture is the keynote address and will begin at 3 p.m.

Member-Guest Day, which is free, which will show off museum collections and programs form noon to to 5 pm. Admission to the day’s activities is free to all ages, and is supported by Mann Memorial Vet, The Village, and Sharper Event Rentals said museum director Cynthia Walker.

As well as answering the call for troops, Mainers also provided vital support to the United States and the Allies through war-related industries, like shipbuilding, munitions, textiles, and agriculture, while purchasing more than $100 million in war bonds and donating bandages, books, and other comforts of home to the troops, Walker noted.

This illustrated lecture by Shettleworth presents many newly discovered historic photographs,  including real photo post cards of the period, to tell the story of recruitment, bond drives, shipbuilding, war-related industries, and knitting socks for the soldiers.

This chapter in Maine’s past comes alive in these century old pictures.

RSVP is suggested, but not required. To learn more, please visit www.brickstoremuseum.org/programs or call 985-4802.