"The Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919" collection at the Library of Congress provides access to the newspaper distributed to military personnel during World War I. The news articles reveal what members of the American Expeditionary Force actually read about military battles and campaigns in…

Numerous research and scholarly articles have been written on the Korean War. Yet in many K-12 history classrooms, the war and its legacy are still "forgotten" and are only addressed with a paragraph or two in a textbook. The Korean War Legacy and World History Digital Education foundations are changing this situation by honoring…

From handwritten letters of the American Revolution to typed emails from Iraq and Afghanistan, correspondence from U.S. troops offers students deep insight into the specific conflicts and experiences of soldiers. Over 100,000 correspondences have been donated to the Legacy Project, a national initiative launched in 1998 to preserve war letters by…

In this article, the authors demonstrate how a series of National Archives documents related to professional baseball players and the military draft can launch a lesson on the American home front during World War I, as the 100th anniversary approaches.

Steve Sheinkin's "The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights" recounts the explosion at a U.S. Navy base in the summer of 1944 that claimed 320 lives. It is also a story of African American resistance against prejudice, segregation, and injustice in the armed forces during World War II. The book was a 2015…

For years, when the author taught about World War II, she used primary and secondary source readings, she presented Power Points, and had her students watch newsreels and other video clips. Today, her students interact with actual artifacts from history so that they can draw conclusions and gain understanding about what the soldiers' lives were…

The author asserts that it is time for social studies teachers to engage students in a review of the rift between historical reality and mythology about Viet Nam, especially in light of recent comparisons that many have made between the Viet Nam War and the current situation in Iraq. Few teachers dealt with Viet Nam at the time of the war, and…

Many American high school students from lower socio-economic backgrounds see military service as a vehicle for advancement. Various branches of the Armed Forces have consistently provided underprivileged youths enlisting in the military with a means to escape poverty. Generous benefits, adequate pay, college tuition, and specialized training in…

This article describes how students in an American history class learned about the Civil War through soldiers' letters. Letters from the Civil War era come in a variety of styles and syntax. Some are easy to read while others are extremely difficult to transcribe. But every one of them speaks to the reader, revealing an unknown entity from another…

In this article, the author examines another dimension of human rights--the problem of torture. He looks at U.S. commitments to international conventions prohibiting torture in light of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He shows how a position adopted by the Bush administration that these international conventions did not apply to the war…

Reports on an interview with General Wilma L. Vaught, president of the Board of Directors of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. Discusses a memorial to women in military service to be built in Arlington Cemetery near Washington, DC. (CFR)

Contends that recent historical research has found strong and growing evidence of the presence of women on Civil War battlefields in numbers far beyond what previously had been believed. Discusses women who fought in disguise, those who served as nurses, and women who were given the title "daughters of the regiment." (CFR)

Describes the role of women in the Chinese military during four eras: (1) the ancient period; (2) the post Opium War period; (3) 1949-present; and (4) today's women in the Chinese military. Includes a full-page chart indicating women warriors in ancient China. (CFR)

Contends that, although Joan of Arc is treated as an aberration by history textbooks, this view ignores a medieval military tradition that provided a context for the acceptance of Joan's leadership. Presents a five-part lesson that deals with different aspects of medieval women's' military traditions. (CFR)

Contends that, although the role of women in the U.S. military and on the homefront during World War II has received increased attention, the service of the civilian women pilots has not been adequately recognized. Presents a classroom lesson on the origins and work of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP's) during World War II. (CFR)