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Category: Veterans and Military History

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Native Americans in the First World War and the Fight for Citizenship

Posted by: Danna Bell

While searching through our collections for maps to use for display in the exhibition Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I, I found one among our uncatalogued holdings that caught my attention. As the title states, it is a map presenting the role of North American Indians in the World War.

Picture of Ann Caracristi

Mathematics and Primary Sources: Historic Codes, Ciphers, and Computational Thinking, Part II – the Women Codebreakers of WWII

Posted by: Danna Bell

Sending and cracking secret messages dates back to the foundation and exploration of the country. But did you know that much of the cryptographic work that helped the United States win World War II was accomplished by female codebreakers?

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Stalingrad: Understanding the Global Impact of the Eastern Front in WWII

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Many historians consider the defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad the turning point in World War II, yet this battle is given little attention in most U.S. classrooms. Typically, lessons focus on the major American experiences like Pearl Harbor, D-day, and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

A Civil War Nurse’s Memoir: Discerning Women’s Experiences

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Primary sources such as the letters and diaries of Civil War Nurse Mary Ann Bickerdyke offer rich insights into the lives of real people. The fragmented, personal nature of these sources requires careful reading in context and comparison across multiple accounts to glean information and construct understanding.