Browse Items (23 total)
- Collection: The Great Depression and World War II
Drawing of Shellfield, Westmoreland Co., Edward A. Darby, 1932-37
In the 1930s, the Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development’s Division of History and Archaeology received funds from the Works Progress Administration’s (later known as the Work Projects Administration) Federal Art Project to…
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 formed to assist in the war effort. Their activities included a British-American goodwill exhibition, sponsorship of…
View of Girls Processing a Hydraulic Bridge Erecting Crane, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, 1944
World War II fundamentally altered the workforce of the United States as the nation shifted from a peacetime consumer-focused economy to one centered on war production. While industries shifted their production lines to munitions and supplies for the…
Remember Dec. 7th!, World War II Poster, 1942
From September 1939 to December 1941, the United States was not officially at war with any of the Axis powers. While the government provided to the Allies through programs such as Lend-Lease, Americans generally held a strong isolationist sentiment…
Proclamation in recognition and honor of our beloved president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945
On April 14, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 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 one that is now…
Pitch in and help! Join the Women's Land Army of the U.S. Crop Corps, WWII Poster, 1944
During the First World War, the United States government created the Women's Land Army of America (WLAA) to provide essential labor to American farms and farmers while young men who had worked in agriculture left to serve in the military or find…
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…
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…