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New Year and New Lectures

Lunchbox LectureWhat does Archery, music, China, and Newcomb College  have in common?

Give up? They are featured topics of Lunchbox Lectures! 2016 is already here and that means a new lineup of Lunchbox Lectures at The National WWII Museum. This year, we have a wild mix of social, local, and military history that is sure to peak your curiosity.

Hear experts and enthusiasts discuss the little known battle code named “Operation Archery” that forced Hitler to divert 30,000 troops away from the European Atlantic Coast. Also learn of the efforts of the United China Relief organization whose mission was to promote sympathy and support for war-torn China within the United States. In April, join Dr. Charles Chamberlain as he explores the era’s jazz, pop, and Latin music that rallied the U.S. home front. While March boasts a presentation of the graduate work of Kay Manuel from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who explores life in New Orleans for women at Newcomb College. All of these topics and more can be found with the online calendar.

Lunchbox Lectures are casual and fun opportunities to hear the latest on the study of World War II. Lunchbox Lectures are always free and open to the public on every first and third Wednesday of the month at 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Feel free to bring your lunch or order from Jeri Nims Soda Shop here at the Museum. For more information please call 504-528-1944 x 463.

 

What’s Scheduled through April 2016:

January 6, 2016
Winston Ho, Rutgers University
“United China Relief:  U.S. Humanitarian Aid to Wartime China.”

United China Relief was founded in February of 1941 by six non-government charitable organizations in the U.S. to raise money for their operations in China.  Its original mission was to assist the Chinese nation in its war against the Japanese invasion, and to promote sympathy for China in a neutral United States.  After Pearl Harbor, China became America’s fighting ally in the Pacific. While federal lend-lease programs supported the Nationalist Chinese military, UCR supported the Chinese people. United China Relief provided medical supplies, assisted in rebuilding the civilian economy, and supported universities and medical training centers.

January 20, 2016
Dr. Sarah Cramsey, Tulane University
“Most Significant Spot in Europe: How the “Ethnic Revolution” came to Nachod, Czechoslovakia”

Between September 1945 and December 1946, nearly 130,000 Polish citizens of Jewish descent migrated through Czechoslovakia after failed attempts at repatriation to western Poland. Many migrants found financial, social, and humanitarian support from the Czech government, who supported their migration to their ethnic homelands of Palestine. The road to Palestine began for many Polish Jews at Náchod and their benefactors hailed, in part, from Czechoslovakia.

February 3, 2016
Walter Stern, PhD., The National WWII Museum
“World War II and the Civil Rights Movement”

When the fighting was finished, what did World War II mean for African Americans? Did the war give birth to the Civil Rights Movement, or did it stifle and delay black protest? Dr. Walter Stern brings the war’s legacy for African Americans to life through vivid stories of veterans’ experiences in the postwar world.

February 17, 2016
Walt Burgoyne, The National WWII Museum
“Operation Archery”

Operation Archery was a British raid on German occupied Norway on December 27,1941. Assistant Director of Education, Walt Burgoyne, will discuss how British commandos and Norwegian resistance fighters captured a full copy of the German Naval Code book and persuaded Hitler to divert 30,000 troops to Norway away from the European Atlantic coast.

March 2, 2016
Kay Manuel, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
“Perspective on World War II: The Newcomb War Experience”

Women in higher education experienced the war differently from other civilians on the home front. It changed their environment, culture, and the lives of friends and family. Learn how World War II affected students at Newcomb College through the unique perspective of one individual, Coralie Guarino, both during and after the war. Explore how Guarino and her colleagues navigated difficult gender and social barriers because of their positions at Newcomb while still thriving within the successful arts programs.

March 16, 2016
Herman “Dutch” Prager, WWII Veteran of the USS Kingfish
“USS Kingfish:  Submariner ‘Dutch’ Prager”

During his service in World War II, Dutch Prager was on four patrols aboard the USS Kingfish in the Pacific Theater of operations. Join us as Prager shares his stories and experiences of being a submariner deep below the ocean surface.  This talk is especially important as it is the 70th anniversary of the decommissioning of the USS Kingfish.

April 6, 2016
Charles Chamberlain, PhD, Historia LLC
“Music and WWII: Mobilizing the Masses”

Explore the central role that music played in mobilizing the American public to support the Allied Cause during World War II.  Dr. Chamberlain will show a large variety of World War II-era music videos to illustrate how the Office of War Information used jazz, pop, Latin, and country music to rally the home front.

 

 

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A Summer at the Museum

Participants in a Museum teacher workshop chat with WII veteran Forrest Villarrubia.
The Double Victory icon that appeared in the pages of the Pittsburgh Courier during World War II. Pittsburgh Courier Archives.
A teacher workshop participant examines WWII artifacts from the Museum's collection.


This month’s Calling All Teachers e-newsletter highlights two ways to spend a week at the Museum this summer – for FREE.

For middle school science teachers, the Museum offers Real World Science, a FREE week-long professional-development seminar exploring how the urgent needs of World War II spurred tremendous scientific and technological innovations. Twenty-eight selected teachers will spend the week of July 17–23, 2016, at the Museum and at the University of New Orleans’s Advanced Materials Research Institute, experiencing and exploring STEM innovations firsthand.

High school social studies teachers, meanwhile, can apply for our FREE immersive sixteen-month Summer Teacher Institute, which takes place over two summers. Thirty selected teachers will spend July 10–15, 2016 at the Museum in New Orleans and July 9–14, 2017 at Pearl Harbor or another WWII historical site, learning alongside Museum educators, each other, and renowned WWII expert Richard B. Frank.

The January Calling All Teachers e-newsletter also introduces the Museum’s 2016 essay contest, which asks middle and high school students to consider the availability of liberty and justice for all Americans seven decades after World War II, and it highlights two FREE opportunities for you to explore African American experiences in WWII: a professional development webinar on January 28 and a live webinar for students with Corretta Scott King Award-winning author Tanita Davis.

Last but not least, this month’s Calling All Teachers e-newsletter shines a spotlight on Guadalcanal, the battle at the center of the brand new Richard C. Adkerson & Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries. All teachers can find Guadalcanal-related artifacts, oral histories, and more here, and local teachers can receive VIP access to Road to Tokyo during our Teacher Appreciation Happy Hour, which takes place from 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13 in the atrium of The American Sector Restaurant + Bar. Register today!

Learn more about our educational programming and get more classroom resources and ideas by signing up for our free monthly e-newsletter Calling All Teachers and following us on Twitter @wwiieducation.

Post by Dr. Walter Stern, K-12 Curriculum Coordinator at The National WWII Museum. 

 

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SciTech Tuesday: The NWWII Museum’s 2016 Robotics Challenge

Robotics wasn’t a big part of WWII, but the foundations of the field were there:

-In Operations Aphrodite and Anvil, older bombers were packed with explosives, piloted into the air, and then controlled from the ground by radio control and remote video to be aimed at bunkers and military installations in German territory. The operations were not particularly successful and soon discontinued. Many of the planes were lost to flak, or control problems. Joseph Kennedy Jr, future President John F Kennedy’s brother, was killed piloting a plan in one of these missions.

-Japanese engineers designed fire bombs carried by large weather balloons that carried them across the Pacific Ocean. They had pressure regulators that inflated or deflated the balloons according to altitude. The bombs were mostly not successful at causing anything other than a few small forest fires.

-The Norden Bomb Sight controlled the flight of bomber to keep it on course to hit the target selected by the bombardier. The Norden had a poor practical accuracy (it hit within about 2,400 feet of its target) because the values the crew had to put into its computer for airspeed and altitude and wind direction were often inaccurate.

-Both the Army and the Navy used target drones produced by a company owned by actor Reginald Denny. These radio-controlled aircraft were originally designed by Walter Righter, and were launched by catapult. The radio controller was manufactured by Bendix, and the planes were made at a plant on the Van Nuys CA airport. A photographer visiting the plant made one of it’s woman workers (Norma Jeane Dougherty) famous. These were very successful drones, but that’s because they were made for target practice.

So why does the National WWII Museum have a Robotics Challenge?

Today drones are in the news daily, as are autonomous cars and all sorts of other robots. By targeting robotics, we hope to encourage a new generation of technology innovators. They learn practical skills like building and coding and troubleshooting, and the principles of teamwork, creativity, and persistence that are as important today as they were for the STEM professionals who worked for victory in WWII.

Our Robotics Challenge highlights parts of the history of WWII, while challenging today’s students to apply the values and characteristics that helped us win the war to problems today.

Learn more about the 2016 Robotics Challenge here.

Robotics Video

Posted by Rob Wallace, STEM Education Coordinator at The National WWII Museum.

Get in the Scrap: The perfect New Year’s resolution!

Teachers– looking for the perfect New Year’s resolution for your students?

Sign up your class to Get in the Scrap! with The National WWII Museum. Inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II, Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project for students in grades 4-8 all about recycling and energy conservation. Your students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students played a positive role on the Home Front in securing victory in WWII.

Find out how easy it is to participate by watching this video:

Choose from a variety of activities part of the project toolkit, that inspire good habits and environmental stewardship, and encourage teamwork, creativity and decision-making.  The activities are designed to supplement your curriculum and can be completed throughout the school year. The Museum will send you a poster to keep track of the activities you complete. Share your progress and the Museum will send your students cool prizes! Whether your students are interested in history, math, writing, or art, there is an activity for them.

Your students can also explore what life was like for students on the Home Front. Browse images of children scrapping, a nation-wide salvage plan for schools, propaganda posters, and even a scrapbook from a student who won a state-wide scrapping competition.  As a class, you can also tune in and watch, We’re All in this Together: How Students Like You Helped Win WWII, a fun and fast-paced Electronic Field Trip all about how students supported the war effort.

An elementary school students from Washington DC, happily scrapping old newspaper at her school.
Kids in chilly Chicago, Illinois gather scrap and deliver it to the Civilian Defense Headquarters.
Sort and Weigh-in: Elementary school children from Washington, D.C. weigh their scrap paper haul.

KTo get all of the country’s schools on board with scrapping, the government released this pamphlet- Get in the Scrap! It took a lot of planning and preparation to start a salvage program at schools and this guide helped teachers, school administrators, and students along the way.
Some of the most famous characters, from Disney, the Looney Tunes, and even super heroes straight out of the comic books participated in World War II. Short cartoons starring Bugs Bunny as an aviator, or comic book pages showing Superman deliver supplies to troops were commonplace. Here, Mickey Mouse and Pluto are encouraging everyone to Get in the Scrap and save critical materials.
Get in the Scrap! A service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation

Join students and teachers around the nation and pledge to make a difference in your home, school, community, and even the planet! The Museum will recognize and share your efforts in a big way. Sign up your class today!

Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator

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Worker Wednesday: Santa at Higgins

Seventy two years ago, on December 23, 1943, the Christmas issue of The Higgins Worker featured a Santa fattened by a kapok life jacket. Santa is seen here visiting with workers at the Higgins Industries St. Charles Avenue plant, one of eight facilities in which over 20,000 were employed by Higgins.

Higgins Worker

Gift in Memory of Arnold Schaefer, 2012.359.001

See more from our Worker Wednesday series devoted to war production employee publications, in particular those of Higgins Industries.

Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.

Courage, Strength, and Sacrifice: War in the Land of the Rising Sun

Road to Tokyo Infographic
 

The National WWII Museum Presents Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries

The National WWII Museum’s Richard C. Adkerson & Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries retraces US involvement in the World War II’s Pacific Theater from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. Through artifacts, oral histories, short films, and recreated environments, the exhibit brings the war to life, telling the story of the Americans who forged a road to Tokyo through courage, ingenuity, and great sacrifice, ending the war at last.

Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries, now open at The National WWII Museum, is the latest addition to the Campaigns of Courage pavilion. This $6 million exhibit includes more than 400 artifacts from the battles of the Pacific campaign. Approximately 7.3 million American soldiers supported the fight for freedom. Ultimately, the war that changed the world wounded more than 25 million and cost 15 million lives.

Road to Tokyo

Facing the Rising Sun

On the heels of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy have declared war on the United States. America is headed to war. Facing the Rising Sun takes visitors into this daunting moment in history, introducing the key leaders whose loyalties and ambitions define the moment, and the logistical challenges of a two-front war that will shape the years to come. Made possible through a gift from The Starr Foundation.

Briefing Room: Japanese Onslaught

A recreated bridge of the USS Enterprise places visitors at the center of US strategy, aboard the carrier fleet that would be so critical to the success or failure of Allied efforts in the Pacific. Here, visitors take in an overview of US strategy and meet military leaders from both sides, while newsreels report Japanese victories and brutal treatment of American POWs. The Enterprise is steaming into hostile waters, and the odds for its survival—and the survival of the sailors, pilots, and mechanics on board—look grim indeed. Made possible through a gift from Madlyn and Paul Hilliard.

The New Naval Warfare: First Blood

In this two-part gallery, a ship’s interior presents the quieter side of life aboard ship; “outside” on the ship’s deck, story panels introduce key naval actions, and the Midway theater dives deeper into the Pacific’s most pivotal battle. Actual footage of planes in action on the Enterprise flight deck completes the illusion of being onboard ship as visitors take in themes of the new naval warfare, including submarine fatalities, code-breaking work, and the dramatic speed with which the tides of war can shift. Made possible through a gift from Lt. Commander Alden J. “Doc” Laborde, USN. Additional funding provided by the Strake Foundation, Houston, TX and Grace and Tom Benson.

Guadalcanal: Green Hell

The setting shifts from sea to land at Guadalcanal, the site of World War II’s first major amphibious landing and the first ground assault by US forces. Vividly rendered and viscerally impactful, this experiential gallery features an immersive environmental narrative that draws the visitor into a towering palm jungle, following in the footsteps of American GIs as they battled heat, mosquitoes, disease, dense vegetation, and unfamiliar terrain along with a ferocious enemy in an all-consuming, round-the-clock battle. Made possible through a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tucker Hayes. Additional funding provided by Devon and Jackson Anderson and Gustaf W. McIlhenny Foundation.

Pacific Theater Challenges: Fighting in the Tropics

In addition to a merciless enemy, US troops in the Pacific Theater were faced with non-existent infrastructure and rampant disease. Under assault to body and mind, Americans needed superior engineering and ingenuity just to survive. This gallery tells the story of those who answered that call: Seabees who built roads and airfields, nurses and medics who treated new diseases with new vaccines, and chaplains who helped lift spirits wearied by the relentlessly brutal nature of the Pacific war. Made possible through a gift from the Estate of Patrick F. Taylor. Additional funding provided by Jones Walker, LLC.

Island Hopping: Footholds Across the Pacific

The “island hopping” strategy targeted key islands to capture and equip with airstrips, bringing B-29 bombers gradually within range of the enemy homeland. In this serpentine gallery, a realistic beachscape recreates a landing site on the island of Tarawa. Other exhibits describe the integrated effort between sea, land, and air, as well as successes in intelligence (Native American code talkers), technology (the long-range B-29 Bomber), and carrier warfare (the Marianas Turkey Shoot) in the fight for control of the skies.

China-Burma-India: The Pacific War’s Second Front

“CBI” held critical strategic importance for US forces: while 11 Japanese army divisions battled US forces on the islands and at sea, a staggering 40 more were tied up in the Sino-Japanese War in China—and the Allies were determined to keep them there. Doing so meant supplying the Chinese with essential materiel, overcoming a maze of logistical challenges. A contoured topographical map helps illustrate the geographical obstacles American troops faced as they defended supply lines, rescued downed pilots, and engaged in covert operations in support of this critical ally.

Philippines: Returning to the Philippines

As an American Commonwealth, the Philippines held special meaning for US forces: this was American territory in enemy hands—and a people to whom the United States had promised independence. Its liberation, which MacArthur saw as a moral imperative, was a strategic necessity: the Philippines were perfectly positioned to control shipments of oil and other supplies. The fight would be costly and vast: it included the war’s largest naval battle, McArthur’s return, kamikaze attacks, and a daring rescue operation by the US Rangers. Manila, a city once known as “the pearl of the Orient,” was decimated by the conflict, resulting in the urban ruins depicted in this immersive gallery.

Death at Japan’s Doorstep: First Assault onto Japanese Soil

Desperate fighting underscored the implacable fervor of the enemy—Japanese soldiers willing to resist to the last man. The enemy also had a logistical advantage: an underground defensive network of caves and tunnels, realistically depicted in this environmental gallery. Exhibits discuss the lifesaving impact of Navajo code talkers; the headline-grabbing losses of General Simon B. Buckner, journalist Ernie Pyle, and nearly 20,000 others; and the extraordinary valor that earned US Marines a total of 27 Medals of Honor in Iwo Jima—more than in any other battle in US history.

Downfall: Endgame Against Japan

This haunting gallery surrounds the visitor with scenes from the aftermath of the atomic bombs, presented on oversize screens and accompanied by a musical soundtrack that is both somber and contemplative—an invitation to reflect on a moment that has spurred debate ever since, and a moment when Japan at last saw the hopelessness of its cause. Visitors pass through to a final room in the gallery to witness the surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, which marked, at last, an end to the war that changed the world.

Visitors can learn more by visiting this interactive exhibit at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

 

Share this Image On Your Site


Sources:

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/personnel/seabees/seabee1.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-returns

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Home Front Friday: The “Victory Speed” Limit

Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about oil, conserving fuel, and saving the planet in the news. People are beginning to buy more energy efficient cars, not only because they want to save fossil fuels, but also because it is much less expensive to conserve gasoline. Back during WWII, people conserved gasoline, but for different reasons.

Gasoline was necessary for our military to function properly during the War, so in May of 1942, 17 States began rationing gasoline in order to help the war effort. In December of 1942, President Roosevelt ordered that gasoline rationing be set in all 50 states. Gasoline rationing during WWII wasn’t all about gasoline, though. Rubber was perhaps the hottest commodity at the time, and the rationale behind gasoline rationing was to prevent Americans from needing more rubber tires—the less they drove, the less likely they would need new tires!

Beginning in May of 1942 and ending in August of 1945, a nationwide speed limit of 35 miles per hour was instated. The “Victory Speed” limit was instated in order to reduce gasoline and rubber consumption. The slower people drove, the less gas and rubber they would need. This nationwide speed limit was called “Victory Speed” in order to make Americans more accepting of a lower speed limit, as this speed limit was instated everywhere from big city streets to rural highways.

Dr. Seuss Cartoon from 1942.

Dr. Seuss Cartoon from 1942.

In the cartoon (1942), Theodor Geisel depicts an American man driving carelessly and quickly, with a happy Hitler and Tojo in the back. The cartoon is critical of those who drive like this man. It implies that those who drive quickly have “gas and rubber to burn,” as if they were directly taking away from the American military’s supply and damaging the American war effort. This, in turn, would make the Germans and Japanese happy, as it gives them an advantage over the Americans.

Posted by Catherine Perrone, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.

SciTech Tuesday: The 71st Anniversary of Halsey’s Typhoon

On December 16 of 1944, 71 years ago, a Typhoon formed near the Caroline Islands, which are east of the Philippines. The Navy’s Weather Central was monitoring the storm, and predicted it would move North. At the same time the 3rd Fleet, a collection of 7 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 8 battleships, 15 cruisers, and 50 destroyers under the command of Admiral Halsey, was about 300 miles off of Luzon. They were providing air support for the invasion of the Philippines. Halsey’s own meteorologist, using reports from pilots, predicted the storm would move northeast. Both predictions had the track a few hundred miles from the 3rd fleet.

The ships in the fleet burned through fuel at a remarkable rate. They were riding high in the ocean with low tanks on 17 December, and were attempting to refuel. The weather got rough, with high seas, and the tanker lines disconnecting and spilling fuel. Halsey decided to move the fleet due west, and then south, and wait until calm to refuel. If the storm had been moving mostly north this would have been a good plan. Unfortunately the charted path took them straight into the storm’s path. As dawn approached on 18 December, Halsey and his fleet encountered very serious storm conditions, and again turned the fleet south, this time at 15 knots. More meteorological estimations were gathered, and at dawn they attempted to refuel again. High winds and seas forced them to stop the attempt.

The storm strengthened, and Halsey ordered ships to hold their positions and let the storm pass. In the early afternoon Halsey issued a typhoon warning. By that time he had lost 3 destroyers (Hull, Monaghan, and Spence), and the rest of his ships were scattered over 3,000 square miles of the Pacific. The carrier Monterey was in flames from planes that crashed into bulkheads and set fuel on fire. 790 men were dead or missing, and another 80 injured. 150 aircraft were lost or destroyed. Seas reached 50-60 feet, and winds were at least 115 knots.

On 26 December a court of inquiry was held at Ulithi Lagoon (very close to where the storm formed). The court ruled there was no negligence, but that Admiral Halsey had made errors of judgment. This event led to changes in ship construction, improvements in weather reporting, and the use of naval aircraft to gather storm data. The typhoon was named Cobra naval meteorologists, and has come to be called Halsey’s Typhoon.

NOAA has archived the original weather maps from WWII–you can find the map for 18, December 1944 here

Posted by Rob Wallace, STEM Education Coordinator at The National WWII Museum.

Oil tankers attempted to refuel ships, but the weather was too rough.
The USS Iowa in dry dock in San Francisco,
The fleet's ships, like the USS Cowpens shown here, rolled and pitched, causing them to take on water, and for planes aboard to be lost or damaged.

One of the ships caught the storm on its radar. It was only the second ever image of a typhoon on radar, so they didn't really know how to make use of it.

All images from Wikimedia Commons

 

December 9-11, 2015: Museum Hours and Closures

Campaigns-2013

On Saturday, December 12, 2015, The National WWII Museum will open the public Richard C. Adkerson and Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Road to Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries, Ralph E. Crump, LTJG, USNR, US Merchant Marine Gallery, and the American Spirit Bridge. In preparation for this unveiling, we will have limited hours and partial closures throughout the Museum between Wednesday, December 9, and Friday, December 11.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause during your visit. Please view the list of closures below so you can plan your trip to the Museum accordingly.

 

MUSEUM HOURS AND CLOSURES

Wednesday, December 9 –
The Museum will be open 9:00 a.m. − 5:00 p.m. Please find the following exceptions on the attractions below:

 

Thursday, December 10 –
The Museum will be open 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. with the following exceptions on the attractions below:

 

Friday, December 11 –
The Museum will be open to the public 12:30 p.m. − 5:00 p.m. Although there will be limited hours and closures on some exhibits at the Museum, visitors will still be able to view all of the galleries in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, Road to Berlin: European Theater Galleries, and our current special exhibit Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in WWII. Please note the limited hours and closures on the following Museum experiences:

 

The Jeri Nims Soda Shop will maintain its regular hours (7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) throughout the week.

All Museum venues and experiences will return to standard hours of operation on Saturday, December 12, 2015 with the exception of D-Days of the Pacific galleries, which will close permanently on that Saturday. For more information on planning your visit to The National WWII Museum, please visit us here.

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Students Give a Salute to Courage

The USS Arizona in flames, December 7, 1941. Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-104778.
Learn more at http://salutetocourage.org/home/.


This month’s Calling All Teachers e-newsletter highlights outstanding student essays based upon the oral histories in our Digital Collections, upcoming professional development opportunities at the Museum and online, and a special webinar to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The student essays are part of our upcoming celebration of the grand opening of Richard C. Adkerson & Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Road To Tokyo: Pacific Theater Galleries, LTJG Ralph E. Crump Merchant Marine Gallery, and the American Spirit Bridge. In partnership with National History Day (NHD), the Museum is bringing middle and high school students to New Orleans from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia to take part in the ceremonies. In advance of the trip, these NHD students studied the oral history of a veteran or service member from their home state or district and wrote essays describing why these men and women were outstanding examples of courage during World War II. You can read the essays – and crib ideas for your own classroom – at A Salute to Courage.

In this month’s Calling All Teachers e-newsletter, you can also learn more about our December 9 online and December 10 in-person character education workshop with the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation as well as our January 6 in-person Echoes and Reflections Holocaust Teacher Workshop.

The December Calling All Teachers also spotlights a special Pearl Harbor webinar with The National WWII Museum and the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument. Register by December 4 so your students can watch the recording of this event on the Pearl Harbor anniversary.

Learn more and get more classroom resources and ideas by signing up for our free monthly e-newsletter Calling All Teachers and following us on Twitter @wwiieducation.

Post by Dr. Walter Stern, K-12 Curriculum Coordinator at The National WWII Museum. 

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