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Hanging lanterns fill the darkness with their flickering warm light and the sounds of distant explosions drown out the quiet — setting the mood for a dangerous night in a World War I trench.
Though it seems like a scene from the Western Front, the trench’s occupants are actually out of harm’s way in present-day Mountain View. The mock-trench is the centerpiece of a current exhibit at the Moffett Field Museum. Filled with mementos and relics, museum staff built the space in collaboration with the Eagle Field Foundation to immerse visitors in the history of the Great War.
Experts took about a month to design and erect the display, using photos from that era as inspiration, said Tyler Nelson, a docent who helped create it.
“People are less and less interested in things behind glass and sterile displays,” Nelson told the Voice. “We want people to be able to climb into things. We want them to touch them. We want to be able to grab attention and educate on a different level.”
The museum sits at Moffett Field, in the shadow of Hangar One, the recently renovated mammoth steel structure that was originally built in 1933 as a West Coast base for the Navy’s “lighter-than-air” aviation program. Hangar One previously housed the USS Macon, an airship that’s history is described in the museum.
The mission of the museum, according to Executive Director Jeff Wasel, is to educate people on Moffett Field’s long-standing local presence and impact on Silicon Valley, from the time it was a naval air station to it now being managed by NASA.
“I like to think of us as being a center for heritage and innovation,” Wasel said. “We’re a place where you can come and see where we’ve been, where we are, but more importantly, where we can go.”
The World War I exhibit is slated to stay up until early June. It mainly focuses on the experiences of American soldiers, who came from all across the United States to the Western Front in 1917.
Real artifacts from the war, including helmets, guns, shell casings and gas masks, can be seen throughout the display. Many of the preserved historical pieces are from private collections, Nelson said, and help tell the story of what life was like during trench warfare.
A mannequin dressed in a WWI uniform – originally worn by Glenn Wilson, a soldier from Mountain View – greets visitors at the entrance of the museum, introducing the exhibit. The outfit is on loan from the city’s historical society. Alongside it sits a poster with excerpts from Wilson’s memoir about his time in France, as well as his experience coming back to the Bay Area after the war to build a home and start a business.
Wilson’s story is one of many local perspectives found in the Moffett Field Museum. In addition to the WWI exhibit, the museum features displays on the histories of aviation, space exploration and national defense.
For volunteer Melanie Kaye, the museum is a hidden gem. Though she has lived in Mountain View since the 1980s, Kaye never thought much about the history of Moffett Field until she visited the museum for the first time last summer, she told the Voice. She started volunteering soon after and said she learns something new every time she walks through the doors.
“I have never had so much fun in retirement,” Kaye said.
Moffett Field Museum eyes potential new, bigger location
The museum may be moving to a new spot in the next couple of years, according to Wasel. Its current lease with NASA ends in mid-2027, and management is working on a deal to rent a bigger building somewhere else on Moffett Field.
The museum has more than 35,000 artifacts in its possession, Wasel said, noting that “space is always [at] a premium for museums.” With a larger footprint, the museum could put on more exhibits and create additional permanent galleries.
With that in mind, Nelson said he hopes that when the WWI display gets taken down in a few months, staff can preserve most of it so that it can possibly be resurrected – and maybe expanded – at the new location.
“Stasis kills museums,” Wasel said, adding that he expects this transition will push the Moffett Field Museum toward a reinvention.
“History is not static,” Wasel said. “We’re looking at this move to help us evolve into the next evolution, the next wave of stories.”
The Moffett Field Museum, located at 126 Severyns Ave., is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Museum visitors must show ID at the entrance of Moffett Field.
Tickets for regular museum admission, which can be bought at the door, are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-17 and $8 for seniors. People currently serving in the military enter for free, according to the museum website. Tickets for the WWI exhibit range from free to $25, depending on age and whether the visitor is a museum member. These tickets include the cost of admission to the museum and can be purchased online or at the door.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing and experiencing this new exhibit. Definitely a creative way to engage we visitors! For anyone new to this museum, get on the email list — when they bring in speakers, they are amazing storytellers very much worth listening to!