World War II forever remains a fascinating period in world history. With the tendrils of that war stretching out and touching every part of this planet, leaving us to still live with the repercussions of that war. It was a truly momentous time that changed much of society.
As more and more time passes between the end of the war and present day, slowly more and more materials from World War II are being made available to the public. While the overwhelming bulk of official war records (orders, dispatches, reports, etc.) remain tucked away at various National Archives around the world and have not been digitized. They probably will never be digitized due the shear amount of paperwork created during the war.
It was a massive operation. From the warfront to the home front, all of America was mobilized. And while most records can only be accessed through visiting a physical archive, there is still a considerable amount of digital records available around the internet. To help find those resources dealing with America’s involvement in the war, we have put together this helpful guide.
Presidential Records
The Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower presidential libraries contain important records that cover a wide breadth of American war activities. FDR's library includes correspondence between him and Winston Churchill prior to the United States' official involvement in the war in 1941, and contains digital records throughout the war. Truman's library offers collections on the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, the internment of Japanese-Americans, and records related to the Nuremberg Trial. In the Eisenhower Library, there are digital collections related to the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day.
Combat Resources
A great general resource for finding information on combat operations during WWII is the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library. They have an expansive selection of digital materials on World War II Operational Documents that covers maps, operational reports, lessons learned reports, and many more that cover the different branches of the American Armed Forces and the many operations they were involved in. The National Archives also has a small number of operational reports available.
After Action Reports are official reports of a military operation drafted by the officers and non-commissioned officers who partook in the action shortly after the operation. They give valuable insight into who was involved, the planning and execution of the action, and their thoughts on what happened and why. There is no one place out there that pulls together these reports, but you can find many of them available online. Before searching, it helps to know a military unit involved in the action and the theater of operations where the action took place in, with that information then you can go searching for the actual reports. Here are some examples:
Battle of Normandy – After Action Reports
90th Infantry Division - After Action Reports
Texas Based Units – After Action Reports
82nd Airborne – After Action Report
3rd Army – After Action Report
8th Armored Division – After Action Reports
Home Front
The Home Front during WWII consisted of a diverse swath of topics from women's massive contribution to the workforce to the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans. There is a lot to research about what was going on in America during the war.
For researching the internment of Japanese Americans, there are many online repositories making available important documents related to their experiences. The University of California-Berkeley's The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement: A Digital Archive provides papers, maps, photographs and artwork that preserves the experiences of Japanese Americans. Washington State University's Japanese American Incarceration Collection pulls together multiple collections of materials from people who lived in the Relocation Centers.
Women served in important roles from manufacturing to military service throughout the war effort. This included the iconic Rosie the Riveter where over six million women joined the wartime workforce. In addition, hundreds of thousands more joined the military serving in the Women's Auxiliary Corps (WAC), Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), and the Women Accepted for Volunteer Military Services (WAVES). Texas Woman's University has a digital collection covering WASP history. And the Dwight D. Eisenhower library has a collection of material related to Jacqueline Cochran and the WASPs. The Women Veterans Historical Project also makes available material related to women's involvement in the miltary.
There are plenty of other resources available out there, but it requires some searching for specific topics such as War Food Administration publications, war ration coupons, films produced during the war for the public, or FBI files. If you have a particular topic in mind, a good starting point to search for that topic and add “primary sources” to your search.
Oral Histories
Oral Histories are a great way to hear directly from those who lived during the events around and during World War II. These provide first-hand information about their lived experiences, and offer up details that you often cannot find in documents. There have been several great initiatives to capture these experiences.
Veterans History Project – Library of Congress
The Real Rosie the Riveter Project
Rosie the Riveter Oral Histories
Rutgers Oral History Archives
World War II Oral Histories – University of Tennessee
Oral Histories – National Museum of the Pacific War
World War II Oral Histories – Voces Oral History Center
World War II: The African American Experience
These are but a few of the resources that are available online for primary resources about America's involvement during World War II. If you are needing help with your research, please reach out to the University Archives, and I would love to help you track down primary sources.
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