Twenty years ago this month, a conference was held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, to facilitate peace between Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, and end the Bosnian War.
An agreement, often referred to as the Dayton Peace Accords, was reached on November 21, 1995, and formally signed in Paris on December 14, 1995. The Accords ended the more than 3-year-long war in Bosnia, in which over 250,000 died and approximately 2 million fled their homes.
Special Collections & Archives recently installed a new exhibit, “When the World Watched Dayton: Dayton Daily News Coverage of the Dayton Peace Accords,” on the second floor of Dunbar Library.
Dayton Peace Accords exhibit “When the World Watched Dayton” (1 of 2 panels on the second floor of Dunbar Library), August 2015.
The Dayton Daily News was front and center in reporting the historic events taking place in “Dayton’s Back Yard.” In addition to covering the latest developments, the newspaper provided its readers with historical background on the conflict leading up to the peace talks, the major players in the negotiations, and viewpoints from former natives of the war-torn regions. Also included in the paper were messages of encouragement and hope from area colleges and universities, businesses, and organizations.
The following is just a selection of the images and news articles that can be seen in the full exhibit, which will be on display through the end of the year. (Click on an image to enlarge it.)
“World to Talk Peace in Dayton’s Back Yard,” Dayton Daily News, October 19, 1995, page 1, from MS-411
“The Balkans: Changing the Custom of Conflict,” Dayton Daily News, November 1, 1995, page 6AA, from MS-411
“U.S. Brokers Accord, Now Must Enforce It,” Dayton Daily News, November 21, 1995, page 11, from MS-411
“When the World Watched Dayton,” Dayton Daily News, November 21, 1995, page 7A, from MS-411
All of the newspaper clippings in the exhibit are from MS-411, Dayton: A Peace Process Papers (PDF finding aid).
For more information about the Dayton Peace Accords and local events commemorating its 20th anniversary, please check out these additional resources:
- Dayton Peace Accords at 20 conference, University of Dayton
- Dayton Peace Accords 20th Anniversary conference, Miami University
- “Wright State playing major role in commemorating 20th anniversary of Dayton Peace Accords,” Wright State News Room, 10 Nov. 2015
- “Wright State will celebrate Dayton’s legacy of peace,” Wright State News Room, 6 Oct. 2015
- “Dayton Peace Accords,” Ohio History Central, Ohio History Connection
- “Dayton Accords,” Encyclopedia Britannica
- “Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia” (text of agreement documents), Human Rights Library, University of Minnesota
- “Dayton Accords,” U.S. Department of State
- “Dayton Agreement,” Wikipedia