Forced apart by war, newlyweds and expectant parents Richard and Jean Porritt celebrated Valentine’s Day the only way they could: through greeting cards and love letters.

The First Washington Conference, code-named ARCADIA, from December 22, 1941 to January 14, 1942, set the strategic direction for the Anglo-American war effort and established the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
 

On January 10, 1942, the United States launched one of its most important and also most memorable domestic initiatives of the entire war: the “Salvage For Victory” campaign.

Civilian workers struggle to keep their cars running amid strict wartime restrictions.

On January 1, 1942, 26 countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations and 21 more countries formally joined the alliance prior to the end of World War II.

Many American servicemen and women expressed hopes for the next year in wartime New Year’s mail.

The vestige of a peculiar tradition, short snorters served as both wartime souvenir and membership certificate to a special club.

Must-reads of 2021 picked by historians and scholars in the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. 

An interview with Anthony Tucker-Jones, author of the newly released Churchill: Master and Commander.

The surveillance and detention of Italian Americans after Pearl Harbor is a little-known piece of WWII history.

Star Shirley Temple had a special relationship with the Hawaiian Islands. In the prewar years, she made several tours of Hawaii, delighting local and military audiences.

World War II shaped conversations on the future of service including universal military training and conscription.