MOUNDSVILLE — A truly remarkable West Virginia native will be portrayed by Rebecca Park in a West Virginia Humanities Council History Alive! program at the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library at 6 p.m. today.

This dramatic, entertaining and educational presentation is free and open to the public and is aimed at adults and older students.

When Col. Ruby Bradley retired from the U.S. Army in 1963, she was the most decorated woman in American military history.

A native of Spencer, West Virginia, Bradley was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1941 and was a prisoner of war until 1945. She continued her work as a nurse in the prison camp. She was named chief nurse for the Eighth Army in 1951 and supervised over 500 nurses in Korea. Bradley attained the rank of colonel in 1958.

Park of Charleston, West Virginia, developed her historically accurate portrayal of Bradley for the West Virginia Humanities Council’s History Alive! program. Extensive research and some of the historical figure’s own words are incorporated into the performance.

Bradley is one of numerous character presentations offered through the West Virginia Humanities Council’s History Alive! program as a means of exploring history by interacting with noteworthy historical figures. These programs provide audiences with the opportunity to ask questions of those who have shaped our history. This interaction helps make history more engaging and accessible, and the characters that shaped history much more memorable.

This History Alive! program is coming to the Moundsville Library courtesy of the West Virginia Humanities Council and the Robert Baker Family. The library is located at the corner of Fifth Street and Tomlinson Avenue in Moundsville. Call 304-845-6911 for more information.