“A Life of Service,” an exhibit chronicling the story of World War II veteran and longtime Columbia activist Vivian C. “Millie” Bailey, is on display at the Columbia Art Center until Feb. 28.

Visitors can view military medals, newspaper clippings, photographs and other artifacts related to Bailey, who moved to Columbia in 1970 and died last year at age 104.

“I was absolutely blown away by her background, her service to country and her story,” said Howard County Veterans Foundation Vice President Wanda Riddle, a 30-year Navy veteran who first met Bailey in 2013. “Her star just shines so bright.”

Bailey’s estate transferred her personal papers to the Columbia Maryland Archives, which curated the exhibit in honor of Black History Month to showcase Bailey’s legacy to the community. Her military records are housed in the Library of Congress.

“As everybody will say, Ms. Bailey was very inspiring,” said archivist Erin Berry. “It’s overwhelming how much this woman was able to do. ... I want this exhibit to at least showcase even just a part of what she did and to inspire others.”

Bailey was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was high school valedictorian. She entered the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps at the onset of World War II, was commissioned as a lieutenant and in 1944 was one of only two Black women in her class to attend the Adjutant General School, Officers’ Administration Course, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

“The only time that I wasn’t segregated when I was in the Army was when I was in the adjutant school. It was a couple of weeks,” Bailey told the Howard County Times in 2020. “The commander at the school said there would be no segregation under [his] command.”

After the war she worked for the Veterans Administration and Social Security Administration before retiring in 1975. Bailey gave back to the community in numerous ways, organizing care packages for soldiers known as “Bailey’s Bundles” and volunteering at Howard County General Hospital, Howard Community College Food Pantry and various other local groups.

In October 2020, Bailey was present at the dedication of a lakefront park in Columbia named in her honor. Once fundraising is complete, Bailey Park will house the Howard County Veterans Monument, recognizing all service men and women and their families.

“It’s quite an honor, and I never had expected to receive an honor quite that prestigious,” Bailey said in an interview after the park’s opening. “I feel honored to have had that done for me in my name.”

Berry wanted to ensure the exhibit also captured Bailey’s adventurous side. Two of her favorite items are a photograph of Bailey sky diving at age 102 and a “holiday note” from one of Bailey’s many travels abroad.

A digital replica of the exhibit will be published in March.

Admission to the gallery is free but the archives asks attendees to bring a donation to the HCC Food Pantry in honor of Bailey’s dedication to service. Priority items include cooking oils, spices, condiments, shelf-stable dairy alternatives, cleaning supplies and full-size personal care items.

“Wherever she served, she was serving others and giving to others,” Riddle said. “You want to be around people like that.”

The Bailey exhibit sits adjacent to “Beyond the Blues,” a visual arts exhibit celebrating Black music, dance and culture that also runs until Feb. 28.

The Columbia Art Center’s gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Monday through Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon.

To learn more, visit: https://www.columbiaassociation.org/event.