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Posted by: Neely Tucker
David Breger, a successful freelance cartoonist, drafted into the Army in 1941, created the "Private Breger" cartoon during his off-duty hours at Camp Livingston. Once it caught on, the name (but little else) was changed to "G.I. Joe." From there, it became a cultural icon.
Posted in: Comics, LCM, World War II
Posted by: Neely Tucker
In World War II, the U.S. government enlisted American citizens to report what their neighbors, coworkers and classmates were saying about the war in a controversial "rumor control" project.
Posted in: American Folklife Center, World War II
Posted by: Neely Tucker
William Dillard, a former U.S. Army soldier who fought in World War II, won the gold medal in 100 meters in the1948 Olympic Games in London, on his way to becoming of the armed services' greatest Olympic athletes.
Posted in: African American History, Photos, Veterans History Project, World War II
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Medgar Evers, the famed civil rights activist, was born 96 years ago this month in a small town in Mississippi. He was assassinated by a white supremacist in 1963, but his legacy has only grown in the decades since his death.
Posted in: African American History, Civil Rights, World War II
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The photographs of Bernard Gotfryd, now free for anyone to use from the Library's collections, are a remarkable resource of late 20th-century American pop-culture and political life, as he was a Newsweek staff photographer based in New York for three decades. He was also a Holocaust survivor who wrote about the experience with grace and courage.
Posted in: Holocaust, Jewish American History, Photos, World War II, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Roman Totenberg's papers at the Library tell the story of his amazing 101-year life. Born in Poland in 1911, he was a child prodigy on the violin, playing street corners in Russia to help his family survive famine. He returned to Poland, became a star while a teenager, eventually fled the Holocaust and became one of the 20th century's greatest violinists, living the rest of his life in the United States. He was as renowned as a teacher as he was a performer, and his three children -- Nina, Amy, Jill -- each went on to prominent careers.
Posted in: Holocaust, Jewish American History, Music, World War II
Posted by: Neely Tucker
“Dear Bob….Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the GIs of World War II," a new book, draws heavily on the Library's Bob Hope Collection.
Posted in: Performing Arts, World War II