Providence, R.I.--The Special and Archival Collections Department at Providence College's Phillips Memorial Library has unveiled a display commemorating the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) that was hosted by the College during World War II.

The exhibit features photographs, personal accounts, correspondence, and other memorabilia relating to the ASTP.

The program was established in 1942 to identify, train, and educate enlisted men as a specialized corps of Army officers during the war. Following the program's inception in July 1943, PC had as many as 380 members of the ASTP on campus.

The men lived in Aquinas and Guzman halls, took classes in Harkins Hall, conducted drills on Hendricken Field, and exercised in the Harkins gym and on the campus training field, where the Slavin Center sits today.

When the program was disbanded in May 1944, the ASTP officers from PC were assigned to the 328th Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division, fighting in northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and central Europe.

On October 17, 1998, the surviving members of the College's ASTP unit gathered for a reunion on campus and dedicated a plaque to 37 of their men who were killed in action during the war.

The exhibit is located in the display cases of the main reading room of the library until August 31. It is open to the public during library hours.

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