Learning from the Source: Personal Perspectives of World War I-Primary Source Nexus

The Teaching with Library of Congress blog provides activity suggestions for using the transcript of World War I veteran oral history to provide students with personal insight into a historical event and help them to value the individuals behind the history of World War I and Armistice Day.

Teachers might also choose to have students compare accounts, looking for similarities and differences in experiences or feelings.

After, teachers might have students compare and contrast the above accounts to these World War I recordings from American leaders.

To help students gain a more in-depth understanding of the “Great War” check out World War I: What Are We Fighting For Over There? This stellar lesson plan chock full of links to fabulous primary sources asks students to consider the following essential questions:

What can be learned about the American character from the manner by which the United States mobilized, prepared, and participated in a world war?
Were the political and military goals of the Great War worth the staggering loss of human life and social disruption?
How does the World War of 1914-1918 validate or contradict our feelings of patriotism and reinforce or tear down our pride and gratitude as Americans?
How does the unfolding of World War I foreshadow the role of the United States as a prominent world power of the twentieth century?

On their own, students could also work collaboratively to mine longer accounts for key insights that relate to the essential questions above or others that surface during their investigations. In addition to Scott’s official history of the American Negro in the World War, check out these World War I resources from the Library’s Veterans History Project.

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