Browse Items (23 total)
- Collection: The Great Depression and World War II
Pres. Truman presents Congressional Medal of Honor to Cpl. Desmond T. Doss, Photograph, 1945
Lynchburg native Desmond T. Doss (1919-2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. A conscientious objector is one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral…
John L. Wilkes of Bedford County, Personal War Service Record Photograph, 1944
On June 6, 1944, soldiers of the Allied Expeditionary Force stormed the beaches of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, often referred to as D-Day. Approximately 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile…
This is the Enemy (No. 44), War Poster, Artists for Victory, 1943
Based in New York, N.Y., 1942-1946. Artists for Victory, Inc. was a non-profit organization of more than ten thousand artists was formed to assist in the war effort by using their artistic abilities to inform the public about the war effort and to…
View of Girls Processing a Hydraulic Bridge Erecting Crane, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, 1944
American society underwent changes during both WWI and WWII. The roles of women shifted from domestic roles as caretakers and home makers to working in male- dominated fields like agriculture and manufacturing in factories. Many factories shifted…
Remember Dec. 7th!, WWII Poster, 1942
From September 1939 - December 1941, the United States was not officially at war with any of the Axis powers. While support was given to the Allies through programs such as Lend-Lease, there was a strong isolationist sentiment following World War I…
Proclamation in recognition and honor of our beloved president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, J.L. Bland, 1945
On April 14, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was buried in Hyde Park, New York following funeral services at the White House. Roosevelt had been elected four times to the office of President, a feat never matched, and now…
Pitch in and help!: Join the Women's Land Army of the U.S. Crop Corps, WWII Poster, 1944
After the United States entered WW I in 1917, young men who worked in agriculture left to join the military or find better jobs working for the government and the burgeoning defense industry. The departure of them men left farms without enough people…
Hurricane Recovery in Tidewater Virginia: A Partial Report on Red Cross Relief and Rehabilitation in the Area Damaged by Wind and Tidal Wave, 1933
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1 and ends November 30, with the season’s peak occurring between August and October. During the very active hurricane season of 1933, the Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane hit coastal Virginia on…
Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps Work near Blue Ridge Parkway, Photograph, ca. 1939
Touted as the largest and most magnificent exposition of all time, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows in April 1939. In the Court of States, one exhibition was strikingly different from the rest: the Virginia Room, “an island of…
Can all you can. It's a real war job! WWII Poster, 1943
During World War II the American government asked civilians to participate in the war effort. A common way for the government to communicate with civilians was through posters hung in public places. Inspirational, informative, and instructive, the…