Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "The Scott Family: Life on the WWII Homefront"

Go Back in Time

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:39:30 GMT

In this interactive game, students will match primary source materials and museum artifacts to the appropriate time period in order to learn about the everyday lives of Americans from different eras of our nation's history. This activity is one of the educational resources included in the online exhibition entitled Within These Walls.

World War II

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:24:47 GMT

Students will learn how Americans joined the Allies to defeat Axis militarism and nationalist expansion. Sixteen million Americans donned uniforms in this section of the online exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War. The millions more who stayed home comprised a vast civilian army, mobilized by the government to support the war effort. The world-wide conflict that led to the emergence of the United States as an economic and military superpower is divided into sections that allow students to focus either on a specific aspect of the war, or the conflict as a whole. The sections included are titled: Axis Aggression, America Enters the War, Mobilizing for War, "You're in the Army Now", Battle of the Atlantic, The Mediterranean Theater, Storming Fortress Europe, The Pacific Theater; So Others Might Fight; Morale Boosters and Victory and Peace. A non-flash version of the site is available: World War II.

Produce For Victory: Posters on the American Home Front (1941-45)

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:03:38 GMT

Students will learn how posters connected the home front with the military front through the use of art intended to advertise the nation's war aims and represent the American ideals of the time. This online resource discusses the images created for and the messages conveyed by famous World War II propaganda posters, as well as the debate over their design. World War II posters helped to mobilize a nation. Inexpensive, accessible, and ever-present, the poster was an ideal agent for making war aims the personal mission of every citizen.

United We Stand Homepage

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:16:23 GMT

In this online exhibition, students will analyze authentic magazine covers from July 1942, along with a timeline and brief video news clips in order to understand the importance of the home front during the Second World War. The resource includes a searchable collection of magazine covers from the era and is part of an online exhibition, titled: July 1942: United We Stand. The site explores a campaign during World War II by the nation's magazines to promote national unity, rally support for the war, and celebrate Independence Day.

Within These Walls Homepage

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:26:59 GMT

Students will learn how the Smithsonian acquired the house at 16 Elm Street Ipswich, Massachusetts and saved more than a dozen family stories and 200 years of American social history. They will also learn some of the methods historians and curators used to learn about this house's past, the ways that it changed over time, and the people who lived in it.