Archives of World War II
Please click on the title for a direct link to the archive website.
The National Archives and Records Administration is created as part of an independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch and serves to maintain a diversity of digital records. World War II falls under the military record category; however, the National Archives include topics such as America's Founding Documents, genealogy, landmarks, the U.S. government, technological advancements, and more. They do not present information about other countries if there is no relation to the U.S. and the material is presented through a categorization of topics and links. Anyone who has access to the internet is able to view this archive freely and can explore the page for specific information with the search bar.
The military records are organized by branch or by war/conflict.
The anchors of the archive
The participation of African Americans, the casualties of veterans from World War II, and information on D-Day are the first three topics one would find on the WWII page. Within each sub-link from topics are links to texts, correspondence, reports, maps, and statistics of each specific event in World War II. The website emphasizes a multi-modality approach to presenting these archives with additional videos, related records that are not on the WWII page, and other resources from NARA and other U.S. Government Agencies for anyone on the internet researching information.
D-Day and Homefront Records
Most of the links provided are records of texts; for D-Day, the viewers are able to see the files and correspondence communicated between General Dwight Eisenhower and other personnel. In addition to files for preparing D-Day and operation reports by the Department of War and Navy, there are audio recordings of speeches and images covering a wider range of time and events than just D-Day and the Normandy Invasion. Images and files are identified by a series of numbers in order to track them in the catalog; Records relating to D-Day included sections for Invasion Planning, Naval Operations, Reports, Communications, Correspondence Files, Battle Participation Awards, American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Cemeteries and Memorials, and Anniversary Commemorations.
This image was taken from the archive under "Records Relating to D-Day". It shows General Eisenhower giving the orders to the troops before they board their airplanes "to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe, June 5, 1944".
The Homefront records slightly differ from the D-Day records with contrasts in content and categorization. Much of the records focus on women and it detailed how their roles were shifted with men fighting in the war. The 4 broad themes were rationing and controlling prices, defending the homefront, wartime research and development, and war work and the employment of women. These categories included audio transcripts of the Office of Price Administration, photographs of wartime research, and most memorably, news clippings of women at work to fill the manpower gap.
On the left is a newspaper clipping dating back to December 13, 1942 and written by Katherine Donovan, showing images of women working in factories and shops. This article tells the story of these inspiring young women working despite gender disparities for the sake of the country, increasing patriotism and women representation in the workforce.
REFLECTION ON THE ARCHIVE:
Curated spaces have a wide range of freedom with what to publish and where to place pieces of information thanks to advancements in website technology. The bolded titles of each subsection on the page draw my attention to the links and images attached below it and it guides me through the understanding of this historical event. While both an in-person exhibition and digital archive websites give the viewers a sense of liberty with what they choose to view and linger on for a longer period of time, a digital experience is ultimately more convenient with a single click of the mouse and a scroll through the different PDFs. If one were to find useful or interesting information on the archive, they are able to copy or download it onto their computers for future reference. Valuable primary source artifacts would include original documents of correspondence, audio recordings of speeches, and real images of the event. The newspaper clippings under the "Homefront" records would belong under "creative" curational work as these attached articles of working women construe a narrative of patriotism in the United States during the war and does not touch on potential mistreatment of women and the continued misogyny towards them.