Subject and Course Guides: U.S. History After 1865: World War II

Online Resources

After the Day of Infamy: "Man on the Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor
After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor presents approximately twelve hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the United States.
The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II
Primary sources from the National Security Archive
The Cabinet Papers: The National Archive (UK)
Primary source documents from Britain including the War years
German History in Documents and Images
Collection of primary source documents on Nazi Germany
Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942-1946
Produced by the Japanese-Americans interned at assembly centers and relocation centers around the country during World War II, these newspapers provide a unique look into the daily lives of the people who were held in these camps. They include articles written in English and Japanese, typed, handwritten and drawn. They advertise community events, provide logistical information about the camps and relocation, report on news from the community, and include editorials.
Military Battles and Campaigns
This category contains maps showing campaigns of major military conflicts including troop movements, defensive structures and groundworks, roads to and from sites of military engagements, campsites, and local buildings, topography and vegetation
Military Resources: World War II
National Archives and Records Administration materials related to World War II
Wars and Conflicts of the United States Navy
Overviews of Naval History
World War II Operational Documents
During WW II the Command and General Staff Colleges primary mission was to train large numbers of captains and majors to be staff officers in battalions, brigades, divisions, and corps. To that end, the Army provided copies of documents produced by field units to the College. Operations orders, after action reports, intelligence analyses, logistics appraisals, and similar documents are in the CARL documents collection. Primary focus will be on documenting operations at the tactical and operational levels of warfare.
World War II Records - National Archives
Military Records Research, World War II

Databases

African American Newspapers in the South, 1870-1926 This link opens in a new window
This database's content has been migrated to the History Commons platform. Access to African American Newspapers in the South, 1870-1926 via Accessible Archives is still accessible here until a redirection to History Commons begins on Sept. 1, 2024.

Accessible Archives’ new African American Newspapers in the South, 1870-1926 documents the African American press in the South from Reconstruction through the Jim Crow period. Written by African Americans for African Americans, the first-hand reporting, editorials, and features kept readers abreast of current domestic and international events, often focusing on racial issues. The editors didn’t shy away from exposing racial discrimination and violence, including the emotionally laden topic of lynching. Yet, the newspapers also covered lighter fare, reporting on civic and religious events, politics, foreign affairs, local gossip, and more.
America: History and Life (Full-Text) This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing, abstracts, and full-text for U.S. and Canadian historical and cultural literature, from prehistory to present. NOTE: Only 6 simultaneous users allowed.
America: History and Life is a comprehensive source for U.S. and Canadian history and culture, from prehistoric times to the present. The database contains indexing, abstracts, and full-text for over 1,700 journals as well as books, book reviews, theses/dissertations, and film project reviews. A strong English-language journal coverage is balanced by an international perspective on topics and events, including English abstracts of articles published in more than 40 languages. This database is an excellent bibliographic reference tool for students and scholars of American history, Canadian history, popular culture, American studies, literature/folklore, genealogy, women's studies/gender studies, multicultural studies, anthropology, sociology, and the history of science. The database corresponds to the print America: History and Life, which is produced by ABC-CLIO. Updated regularly.

NOTE: Only 6 simultaneous users allowed.
Gale OneFile: War and Terrorism This link opens in a new window
Researchers accessing the more than 1.7 million articles in Gale OneFile: War and Terrorism will gain valuable insight into conflicts and their causes, impact, and perception on a global scale. This definitive collection for analysts, risk management professionals, and students of military science, history, and social science is comprised of more than 200 subject-appropriate, full-text periodicals that are updated daily.
JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
JSTOR (Journal Storage) is an archive collection of over 620 full-text scholarly journals primarily from university presses and professional society publishers. Additional titles are added to the collection as back files are digitized. Subject areas include: African American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Botany, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, Folklore, History, History of Science Technology, Language Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Public Policy Administration, Science, Slavic Studies, Sociology, Statistics.
Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Focused on current military affairs, covering areas of engineering, public affairs, public policy, and international affairs
This database is focused on current military affairs, covering areas of engineering, public affairs, public policy, and international affairs. Includes full text for nearly 300 journals, 245 pamphlets, and CountryWatch country reports. Indexing and abstracting is provided for nearly 400 titles.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
This collection includes 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information, so providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950.
Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, the series provides a rich source for scholars in a wide range of disciplines. In selected cases, users will be able to hear the actual audio voices of the immigrants. The collection will be particularly useful to researchers, because much of the original material is difficult to find, poorly indexed, and unpublished; most bibliographies of the immigrant focus on secondary research; and few oral histories have been published.
This work in progress is composed of the personal narratives of immigrants to North America, including Canada
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
This database includes diaries, journals, and letters written by women visiting or living in North America between the years 1700 and 1950.
This work in progress, when completed, will be the largest collection of women's diaries and correspondence ever assembled and include the personal experiences of 1,500 women from all social classes.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851 - 2019) This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2019) Historical Papers: The New York Times (1851-2019) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue
ProQuest Historical Newspapers---The New York Times is a full-image archive that brings the entire historical run of The New York Times, the definitive voice of American journalism since 1851.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Wall Street Journal (1889 - 2011) This link opens in a new window
A full-image archive that includes the entire historical run of the newspaper from 1889 - 2011. See also The Wall Street Journal archive (1984 - Current).
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Wall Street Journal (1889 - 2002): In 1889, Dow Jones & Company first published The Wall Street Journal (formerly known as the Customers' Afternoon Letter) as a markets-focused newspaper for the country's then-fewer than 200,000 shareholders. Today, it focuses not only on the stock market, but on all aspects of global business, economics, consumer affairs, and trends and issues. Online researchers have access to more than 100 years of The Journal's accurate reporting, exclusive analysis, agenda setting, editorials, and controversial opinions. In addition to the printed stories, researchers also can study the charts, stock tables, graphics, and illustrations featured in the publication. With this resource, users can study the development of industries and companies across decades, monitor the implementation and effects of fiscal policies on the global economy, study opposing viewpoints at critical times in the world's history, and more. This title is especially appealing to those interested in business, finance, economics, and journalism.

Secondary Research - In our Collection

The African American Experience During World War II by Neil A. Wynn; Jacqueline M. Moore (Series edited by); Nina Mjagkij (Series edited by)
ISBN: 9781442200166
Publication Date: 2010-06-16
World War II was crucial in the development of the emerging Civil Rights movement, whether through the economic and social impact of the war, or through demands for equality in the military. This period was characterized by an intense transformation of black hopes and expectations, encouraged by real socio-economic shifts and departures in federal policy. During the war, black self consciousness found powerful expression in new movements such as the "Double V" campaign that linked the fight for democracy at home for the fight for democracy abroad.
Angels of the Underground by Theresa Kaminski
ISBN: 9780199928248
Publication Date: 2015-12-14
Theresa Kaminski's Angels of the Underground tells the story of four American women who were part of this little-known resistance movement: Gladys Savary, Claire Phillips, Yay Panlilio, and Peggy Utinsky - all incredibly adept at skirting occupation authorities to support the Allied war effort.
The Battle for Los Angeles by Kevin Allen Leonard
ISBN: 9780826340474
Publication Date: 2006-09-01
World War II prompted many Americans to join an ongoing debate about the meaning of "race." Some argued that the United States was fighting against Hitler's racial ideology. Others insisted that a "white" America was fighting a "grasping, cruel and insanely ambitious race," as the Los Angeles Examiner referred to the Japanese. This debate was especially notable in Los Angeles, home to the nation's largest Japanese American and Mexican American communities and to a large and growing African American population.
Creating G. I. Jane by Leisa Meyer
ISBN: 9780231101455
Publication Date: 1998-04-07
A compelling indictment of the social issues surrounding the Women's Army Corps in the 1940s.
Double Victory: A Multicultural History of Americans in World War II by Ronald Takaki
Call Number: D769.T42 2000
ISBN: 9780316831567
Publication Date: 2001-07-30
A powerful multicultural history of Americans in World War II is a history of America in World War II as told through the lives of an ethnically diverse group of ordinary Americans struggling for equality at home and fighting for freedom overseas. Takaki's revealing book shows that there were more struggles -- and more victories -- during WWII than most people ever imagined.
Freedom from Fear by David M. Kennedy
ISBN: 9780195038347
Publication Date: 1999-05-06
Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book written in 1999 by the American historian David M. Kennedy. It is part of the Oxford History of the United States. The book covers America's coping with the Great Depression and World War II.
A New Deal for the World by Elizabeth Borgwardt
ISBN: 9780674025363
Publication Date: 2007-09-30
In a work of sweeping scope and luminous detail, Elizabeth Borgwardt describes how a cadre of World War II American planners inaugurated the ideas and institutions that underlie our modern international human rights regime.Borgwardt finds the key in the 1941 Atlantic Charter and its Anglo-American vision of “war and peace aims.” In attempting to globalize what U.S. planners heralded as domestic New Deal ideas about security, the ideology of the Atlantic Charter—buttressed by FDR’s “Four Freedoms” and the legacies of World War I—redefined human rights and America’s vision for the world.
Warfare State: World War II Americans and the Age of Big Government by Sparrow, James
ISBN: 9786613147905
Publication Date: 2011
Warfare State shows how the federal government vastly expanded its influence over American society during World War II. Equally important, it looks at how and why Americans adapted to this expansion of authority.
War Without Mercy by John Dower
ISBN: 9780394751726
Publication Date: 1987-02-12
Drawing on American and Japanese songs, slogans, cartoons, propaganda films, secret reports, and a wealth of other documents of the time, Dower opens up a whole new way of looking at that bitter struggle of four and a half decades ago and its ramifications in our lives today.