Classroom Materials

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...

In this lesson orginally created by Dr. Pellom McDaniels, III, Students will examine the conditions for African Americans living in the United States during the time of the Great War (1914-1918),...

14 18 NOW, a project from the Imperial War Museums, worked with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson to restore, and then colorize, footage from the First World War. The ensuing award-winning...

This article published in 1919 in the American Legion Weekly describes the actions of carrier pigeons during the War, including the heroic flights of pigeons Cher Ami, Big Tom, President Wilson, and...

As history becomes tangible, WWI will come alive in the classroom when students work with artifacts. Using their senses, observations, past knowledge and critical thinking skills students will learn...