Classroom Materials

In 1914, how did a self-proclaimed modern, civilized world crash into a war that engulfed the globe and consumed millions of lives? Produced by the MacArthur Memorial, this short 13 minute film traces...

Author Caroline Alexander explains the appearance of the "shell shock" condition and its defining symptoms, as well as the diverse range of treatments offered, including a British estate used as a...

Created as part of a U.S. propaganda effort to show the glorious and adventure-filled, but ultimately safe, story of a young everyman in American service. This digitized collection of 25 illustrated...

American women were not able to officially serve in the military until World War I, when a loophole allowed for women to join the Navy as Yeoman (F) - The F stood for female. These women did not fight...

At the turn of the 20th Century, China was no longer the most powerful Asian nation with its influence lost to Russia and Japan as well as European atmospheres of influence. China joined the Allies to...

Historically, a fracture to the femur bone in the leg was very nearly a death sentence. Introduced during WWI, the Thomas splint drastically reduced the rate of mortality from these injuries.

The Winnie the Pooh stories of A.A. Milne have delighted children for decades, but most people don't know that the "willy nilly silly old bear" was inspired by an actual bear. Winnipeg, nicknamed...

Eugene Bullard was one of many Americans who joined the Lafayette Escadrille, a French aerial squadron of mostly American volunteers; however, Bullard was the only African American. He served with...

From Smithsonian Magazine, this article looks at the often-forgotten history of internment, deportation, and property seizure on the home front in the U.S., especially for German-speaking immigrants...

In this 10-minute YouTube video, The Great War Channel explores the political, cultural, and social climate in the United States prior to their entry into World War I on April 6, 1917. Show host Indy...

The digital exhibition The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I examines the stories of the young men and women who transformed the meaning of volunteerism. Prompted by altruism, personal ambition,...

Set against the backdrop of the February Revolution in Russia, this short article by Carolyn Harris for Smithsonian Magazine describes the creation of the Women's Battalion of Death. Under the command...

Volunteer knitters - men and women of various ages and races - dedicated two million hours, nearly 230 years' worth of labor, in the eighteen months the United States was at war. By its end, 45...

The purpose of this blog is to expand and modernize this complex space of memory by featuring today's writers and scholars inspired by writing or events of WWI. As such contributions are such an...

In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to...