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A Guide to World War II Materials Compiled by Mark F. Hall, Digital Reference Specialist

Pearl Harbor naval base aflame after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor naval base aflame after the Japanese attack 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-16555

World War II (1939-1945) was the largest international event of the twentieth century and one of the major turning points in U.S. and world history. In the six years between the invasion of Poland and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world was caught up in the most destructive war in history. Armed forces of more than seventeen million fought on the land, in the air, and on the sea. The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide and diverse selection of materials relating to this period.

This guide gathers in one place links to World War II related resources throughout the Library of Congress Web site.

Library of Congress Web Sites | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography Library of Congress Web Sites

American Memory Historical Collections

After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor

This collection contains approximately twelve hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor from interviews with more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the United States.

America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945

The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced. Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In its early years, the project emphasized rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II.

Map Collections: 1500-2004

Contains a series of maps of the Battle of the Bulge.

"Suffering under a Great Injustice": Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar

In 1943, Ansel Adams (1902-1984), one of America's best-known photographers, documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese Americans interned there during World War II.

American Folklife Center

Finding Aid for World War II Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture

The Archive of Folk Culture mainly consists of the collections of the American Folklife Center. Today the Archive includes over three million photographs, manuscripts, audio recordings, and moving images, consisting of documentation of traditional culture from all around the world. It is America's first national archive of traditional life, and one of the oldest and largest of such repositories in the world.

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress - World War II

This online exhibition contains notable examples of World War II eramaterials from different areas of the Library, including photographs, posters, newspapers, and original documents.

Dresden: Treasures from the Saxon State Library

This exhibition includes photographs of twentieth century Dresden, including View from the Georgen Gate showing the ruins of the Frauenkirche and surrounding buildings, summer 1947 and View of Dresden's Neumarkt and the Frauenkirche, August 1949.

Herblock's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium

This exhibit includes a number of editorial cartoons from the World War II era by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Herbert L. Block (1909-2001).

John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations

The section of this exhibition titled "From Enemy to Ally" contains a variety of World War II materials, including examples of sheet music, photographs, and speeches.

Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers, and Broadcasters During WWII

This exhibition spotlights eight women who succeeded in "coming to the front" during the war--Therese Bonney, Toni Frissell, Marvin Breckinridge Patterson, Clare Boothe Luce, Janet Flanner, Esther Bubley, Dorothea Lange, and May Craig. Their stories--drawn from private papers and photographs primarily in Library of Congress collections--open a window on a generation of women who changed American society forever by securing a place for themselves in the workplace, in the newsroom, and on the battlefield.

Journeys and Crossings

Anne Hoog on Pearl Harbor Oral Histories

Ann Hoog ( Folklife Specialist, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress) discusses After the Day of Infamy: 'Man-on-the-Street' Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sheridan Harvey on Rosie the Riveter

Sheridan Harvey (Women's Studies Specialist, Humanities and Social Sciences Division, Library of Congress) explores the evolution of "Rosie the Riveter"and discusses the lives of real women workers in World War II.

Prints and Photographs Division Guides

Ansel Adams' Manzanar War Relocation Center Photographs

The same images as presented on the Library of Congress American Memory site. This site contains background information, and a few selected images are included here as a quick sample of the collection.

Farm Security Administation/Office of War Information Collection

The photographs of the Farm Security Administration (FSA)-Office of War Information (OWI), transferred to the Library of Congress in 1944, form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1943. As the scope of the project expanded, the photographers turned to recording rural and urban conditions throughout the United States and mobilization efforts for World War II.

Rosie Pictures: Select Images Relating to American Women Workers During World War II

The Prints & Photographs Division holds hundreds of images relating to American women workers in World War II. These selected images were issued by the U.S. government or by commercial sources during World War II, often to encourage women to join the work force or to highlight other aspects of the war effort.

Today in History

February 4

The United Service Organizations, popularly known as the USO, was chartered on February 4, 1941, in order to provide recreation for on-leave members of the U.S. armed forces and their families.

June 6

D-Day: Operation Overlord, The Allies invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944.

June 13

On June 13, 1942, seven months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Office of War Information (OWI) was created. An important U.S. government propaganda agency during World War II, the OWI supported American mobilization for the war effort by recording the nation's activities.

June 21

On June 21, 1945, Japanese troops surrendered the Pacific Island of Okinawa to the United States after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II.

August 13

On August 13, 1942, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin drafted a memorandum to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt opposing their decision not to invade Western Europe at that time.

September 29

In 1942, John F. Kennedy entered the United States Navy to join American forces fighting in World War II. Prior to his departure, playwright Clare Boothe Luce, a close friend of the Kennedy family, sent the young naval officer a good luck coin that once belonged to her mother. On September 29, 1942, Kennedy wrote to Luce thanking her for sharing such an important token with him.

October 23

The Senate passed the $5.98 billion supplemental Lend-Lease Bill on October 23, 1941, bringing the United States one step closer to direct involvement in World War II.

October 24

The United Nations was established by charter on October 24, 1945. Initially, the United Nations included only the twenty-six countries that had signed the 1942 Declaration by United Nations, a statement of war against the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) in World War II.

November 26

Rick's Place: World War II military code for the city of Casablanca. The film Casablanca premiered in New York City on November 26, 1942, as Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF) secured their hold on North Africa during World War II.

December 2

At 3:25 P.M. on December 2, 1942, the Atomic Age began inside an enormous tent on a squash court under the stands of the University of Chicago's Stagg Field.

December 7

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory killing more than 2,300 Americans.

Veterans History Project

Veterans History Project home page

Provides information about this oral history project, as will as links to information about how to participate, a database of participating veterans, and digitized materials from the collection.

Veterans History Project Guide to other oral history sites (predominantly WWII) and bibliography.

Link disclaimerExternal Web Sites

National World War II Museum

Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as the country's official World War II Museum, this remarkable attraction illuminates the American experience during the WWII era with moving personal stories, historic artifacts and powerful interactive displays.

Powers of Persuasion: Poster Art from World War II

Collection of 33 posters the U.S. government used to mobilize public opinion during World War II. Provided by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II

Transcripts of interviews with more than 200 people who were young adults during World War II.

Women and the Homefront During World War II

Teacher Tracey Oz presents an extensive set of links on women's roles in World War II.

World War II: Documents

Primary source documents on World War II. Maintained by the Avalon Project at Yale University.

World War II Poster Collection

More than 300 posters issued by government agencies during the war years. From Northwestern University Library.

Selected Bibliography

Churchill, Winston. The Second World War. 6 vols. London: Cassell, 1948-1954. [Catalog Record]

Keegan, John. The Second World War. New York: Viking, 1990. [Catalog Record]

Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War : A Complete History. New York: H. Holt, c1989. [Catalog Record]

World War II: A Selected List of References (research guide)

A lengthy annotated bibliography from 1992, compiled by Jon Simon, Congressional Research Service and Albert E. Smith, Jr., Humanities and Social Sciences Division.

Younger Readers

Ambrose, Stephen. The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won. New York: Atheneum, 2001. [Catalog Record]

O'Neill, William L. World War II: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. [Catalog Record] A Guide to World War I Materials Compiled by Kenneth Drexler, Digital Reference Specialist

I want you for the U.S. Army nearest recruiting station / James Montgomery Flagg I want you for the U.S. Army nearest recruiting station. James Montgomery Flagg. 1 print (poster) : lithograph, color. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-3859

The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material related to World War I, including photographs, documents, newspapers, films, sheet music, and sound recordings. This guide compiles links to World War I resources throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, this guide provides links to external Web sites focusing on World War I and a bibliography containing selections for both general and younger readers.

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

American Memory Historical Collections

The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920

This selection of manuscript and printed text and images drawn from the collections of the Ohio Historical Society illuminates the history of black Ohio from 1850 to 1920, including many items related to African American soldiers serving in World War I.

American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election

The Nation's Forum Collection from the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division consists of fifty-nine sound recordings of speeches by American leaders at the turn of the century. The speeches focus on issues and events surrounding the First World War and the subsequent presidential election of 1920.

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940

These life histories were written by staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. The Library of Congress Manuscript Division collection includes 2,900 documents representing the work of over 300 writers from 24 states. Search on the phrase "World War" in order to locate life histories that mention World War I.

Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920

The Historic American Sheet Music collection presents 3,042 pieces of sheet music drawn from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University, including a large selection of songs from World War I.

Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures, 1914-1919

This collection displays the variety and diversity of Sunday pictorial sections published in two prominent U.S. newspapers: the New York Times and New York Tribune. It also includes a book, The War of the Nations: Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings. The images in the collection document events of World War I and popular American culture of that era.

Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933

This collection comprises over 55,000 images of urban life captured on glass plate negatives between 1902 and 1933 by photographers employed by the Chicago Daily News, then one of Chicago's leading newspapers. The Chicago Daily News collection contains many photographs related to World War I, including Liberty Loan campaigns, military training, recruiting, parades, and victory celebrations.

The Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919

This collection presents the complete seventy-one-week run of the World War I edition of the newspaper The Stars and Stripes. Published in France by the United States Army from February 8, 1918, to June 13, 1919, the eight-page weekly featured news, poetry, cartoons, and sports coverage, with a staff that included journalists Alexander Woollcott, Harold Wallace Ross and Grantland Rice. Written by and for the American soldiers at the war front, the paper offers a unique perspective from which to examine the wartime experience.

Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991

The Panoramic Photograph collection contains approximately four thousand images featuring American cityscapes, landscapes, and group portraits. Subject strengths of this collection include military and naval activities, especially during World War I.

Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film

This collection features 104 films that record events in Theodore Roosevelt's life from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919. Contains films of Roosevelt performing various public functions in support of the war effort during World War I. Also, includes a film of Roosevelt's sons' regiments in France during the war.

America's Library

Jump Back in Time: U.S. Entered World War I, April 6, 1917.

Jump Back in Time: American Forces under General Pershing Launched First Major Offensive in WWI, September 12, 1918.

Jump Back in Time: The Paris Peace Conference, January 18, 1919

Jump Back in Time: World War I Ended With the Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919.

Digital Collections & Services

Chronicling America

This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1860-1922 from the following states: Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Search this collection to find newspaper articles about World War I.

A selection of articles on World War I includes:

"Heir to the Austrian Throne Assassinated," New-York Tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), June 29, 1914 "Liner Lusitania Sunk by a German Submarine," Evening Public Ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), May 07, 1915 "U.S. Officially at War," The Daily Missourian. (Columbia, Mo.), April 06, 1917 "Germany Has Surrendered; World War Ended at 6 A.M.," New-York Tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), November 11, 1918 "War Officially Ends," The Washington Times. (Washington [D.C.]), June 28, 1919

Exhibitions

American Treasures of the Library of Congress - World War I

This exhibition highlights material available at the Library of Congress related to       World War I, including photographs, posters, newspapers, and original documents.

From the Home Front and the Front Lines

This exhibition consists of original materials and oral histories drawn from the Veterans History Project collections at the Library of Congress, including World War I.

Main Reading Room

World War I: An Annotated Bibliography of Books in the Main Reading Room Reference Collection and World War I Military Newspapers in the General and Microform Collections

Prints and Photographs Division

Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Search PPOC using the phrase World War 1914 1918 to find additional images from World War I such as photographs, prints, cartoons and posters.

The Teachers Page

American Memory Timeline: U.S. Participation in the Great War (World War One)

Contains a short essay on U.S. involvement in World War I and links to related documents found within American Memory.

On the Homefront: America During World War I and World War II

This activity showcases a sampling of American Memory resources that illustrate homefront contributions during World War I and World War II.

What Are We Fighting For Over There? Perspectives on the Great War

A lesson plan designed for grades 10 through 12, in which students create World War I era newspapers with different perspectives on American involvement in the war.

Today in History

June 28, 1914

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia were assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, setting off a chain of events that would culminate in a world war by August.

May 7, 1915

On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank the British ocean liner Lusitania, drowning 1,198 civilians.

April 6, 1917

The United States formally declared war against Germany and entered the conflict in Europe on April 6, 1917.

September 12, 1918

On September 12, 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces under commander in chief General John J. Pershing launched their first major offensive in Europe as an independent army.

November 11, 1918

The Allied powers signed a cease-fire agreement with Germany at Rethondes, France on November 11, 1918, bringing World War I to a close.

July 28, 1932

On July 28, 1932, the protesters known as the "Bonus Army" gathered in the nation's capital to demand immediate payment of benefits for their military service during World War I.

July 15, 1948

John J. Pershing, military commander whose brilliant career earned him the title General of the Armies of the United States, died on July 15, 1948. General Pershing was the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe in World War I.

Veterans History Project

Veterans History Project Home Page

The Veterans History Project collects and preserves stories of wartime service from World War I to the present. This site provides information about how to participate in the project, a database of participating veterans, and digitized materials from the collection. It also contains a selected bibliography of print and online resources related to World War I.

Link disclaimerExternal Web Sites

The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century

This PBS site on World War I contains a timeline, glossary, maps, educational resources, and commentary from historians.

Military Resources: World War I

A compilation of resources on World War I from the National Archives and Records Administration, including links to external sites.

Online Bookshelves: World War I

The U.S. Army Center of Military History provides the full-text of online books related to American involvement in World War I.

Wars and Conflicts: World War One

This BBC site contains a wide variety of material on World War I, including a timeline, essays, films, audio, and photographs.

World War I Document Archive

An archive of primary source documents from World War I compiled by volunteers of the World War I Military History discussion group.

Selected Bibliography

Eisenhower, John S.D., and Joanne Thompson Eisenhower. Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I. New York: Free Press, 2001. [Catalog Record]

Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. [Catalog Record]

Gilbert, Martin. The First World War: A Complete History. New York: H. Holt, 1994. [Catalog Record]

Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: A. Knopf; Distributed by Random House, 1999. [Catalog Record]

Strachan, Hew. The First World War. New York: Viking, 2004. [Catalog Record]

Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim. The Guns of August. New York: Macmillan, 1962. [Catalog Record]

Younger Readers

Adams, Simon. World War I. Rev. ed. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2004. [Catalog Record]

Clare, John D., ed. First World War. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1995. [Catalog Record]

Dolan, Edward F. America in World War I. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 1996. [Catalog Record]

Kent, Zachary. World War I: The War to End Wars. Hillside, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, 1994. [Catalog Record]