WWII Links

World War II was the watershed event of the 20th century. It affected everything from science, women, racism, politics, war veterans, education, diplomacy, to art, music, business, and technology. It changed life as Americans–and the world–knew it.

This collection of websites–ranging from food to fashion, art to comic books–provides a look back at life during the War Years.

Please Use the LEAVE A REPLY box to add your favorite sites to the list!

Explore stories, photos and videos from the Mass. Memories World War II Memories Road Show, featuring the personal recollections of Massachusetts residents.

World War II posters inspired a nation and became a form of art all their own.

Not just for kids: the Library of Congress puts you back on the Homefront.

The world wide web virtual library American history 1940-1950 offers an easy to navigate look at a decade that did not just shape world history, but influenced nearly every aspect of today’s social, political, and economic culture.

1.1 million African Americans served in World War II, in a segregated military that did not offer blacks the same opportunities and responsibilities it offered whites. A must see site on the Web is the Museum of Black WWII History “created not to glorify war but to document it — in particular to honor the long-ignored role of African-Americans in the largest worldwide conflict of human history.”

Check out the fads of the 40s, from the Jitterbug to frozen dinners to Tupperware and the introduction of the Slinky.

Fashion of the 40s. Look at everything from wedding pictures to sewing patterns. See how the “make do and mend” of the war years gave way to the silhouette line called the look.

History of, by and for the people. Check out this easy-to-browse website and read first person accounts of what life was like then, and what life is like now for Americans of all ages and backgrounds.

You think graphic novels are new? Think again. Today’s lushly illustrated and sophisticated picture books for adults go back to the 1940s — the Golden Age of comic books. Click here to see a new view of history through the pages of True Life Comics.

Music! Dance! Film! Theater! Click the radio to see and hear the arts scene in the 1940s.

Do you miss the hard boiled detectives and femme fatales who turned the world of film upside down during and after World War II? Check out this film noir website to visit old favorites or see what you missed.

Treat yourself to a 1940s picnic, complete with deviled eggs, sardine sandwiches, olives, spreading cheese and green pepper sandwiches, hot water gingerbread, and a vacuum bottle of coffee.

United we stand! How the American Flag helped us win the war.

The Perilous Fight. Brought to you in living color: “The federal government seized all color film in the U.S. for the war effort. War-related activities both abroad and at home were documented in color, including war production and the building of the Alaska railroad.”

Japanese Americans were interred by the thousands during World War II. On display at the Library of Congress website is this not-to-be-missed digital gallery of pictures by great American photographer Ansel Adams, ‘Suffering under a Great Injustice‘: Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar.