Zeppelin L49 Fabric Fragment

A recent addition to the Museum and Memorial’s collection is a small fragment of fabric from the skin of the mighty Zeppelin L49, one of only two items from a Zeppelin in the Museum’s collection.

French Bomber Tail Assembly

National World War I Museum Board of Trustee Brad Bergman recently acquired an insignia-decorated section from a tail assembly fin of a French Breguet XVI B2 bomber and donated the object to the

From the Philippines to Siberia

Corporal George Andrew Jensen went into service from Hastings, Neb., on Oct. 13, 1917. The recent donation of his service materials from Jensen’s relatives contains a wide variety of materials.

French Mascots - Orphans of the War

American soldiers provided aid to children left behind by the war. Through the army newspaper Stars and Stripes and the American Red Cross, they would symbolically adopt French orphans. These children

A Little Birdie Told Me

Arthur Standing was a conscientious objector and did not fight during World War I. Instead, he participated in alternate service with the American Friends Service Committee. In this role, he rebuilt

Camouflage Violin Case

Second Lieutenant Harry Hinman Sisson, Company E, 309th Engineers, 84th Division, carried a violin with him in France throughout his service in the American Expeditionary Forces. Waiting to be shipped

Memorial Day 1918

A recently processed Y.M.C.A. newsletter, The Daily Rumor, highlights how one group of soldiers observed Memorial Day 1918 “Somewhere in France.”

Religious Icons in Art and War

Calling upon classical Christian imagery, Saint Javelin became an online phenomenon in March 2022, mostly thanks to social media. Use of Christian saint and Virgin Mary imagery to inspire action and

Black Soldiers in WWI

Oral history provides rich support to the written records that fill the Museum and Memorial’s collection. In these interviews recorded in 1980, Columbus Morris, Robert Sweeney and Clay Ryan give voice

Coffee and WWI

While there were no coffee shops on every corner in Europe during WWI, American soldiers and sailors could still get that hot cup of coffee.

Ersatz

By 1915, the great demand for material resources to support the war effort caused supplies that German civilians and soldiers commonly used to dwindle, increasing their costs and value. As deliveries

Ruth Law

At age 21, Ruth Law bought her first airplane from Orville Wright, who refused to train her since he believed women did not have the mechanical aptitude for flight. She subsequently made a name for