Re: Response of Americans to Pearl Harbor and WWII....LOTS!
ibiblio.org
Incredible WWII site linking nearly anything one can imagine
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Over 2000 Dead: America Enters War
plasma.nationalgeographic.com
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Timeline with American History Links...
ott.educ.msu.edu
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American Memory - Library of Congress
memory.loc.gov
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loc.gov
About the Interviews
Sixty years ago, in 1941, the Library of Congress was conducting a Radio Research Project, making documentary recordings of Americans from around the country describing their experiences, singing their songs, and telling the stories of their own regions. The staff of the project believed that most commercial radio broadcasts of the day were dominated by programs created in the great urban centers, and that these programs failed to reflect regional culture, local talent, and, in particular, the voices of the people speaking in their own words. Included in the project were farmers, merchants, day laborers, and bankers from the Eastern Shore of Maryland; a traveling carnival that happened to set up near Washington, D.C.; an Okie migrant labor camp in southern California; and a folk festival in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Collectors
Biographies of four of the collectors of the "man on the street" interviews are available online in other Library of Congress presentations of American Folklife Center collections. Select the links below to read about these collectors:
John Lomax
Lewis Jones
Charles Todd
Robert Sonkin
Alan Lomax, head of the Library's Archive of American Folk Song, was serving as folklore consultant for the project, and on December 8, 1941, he sent a telegram to folklorists in ten different localities around the United States, asking them to collect "man on the street" reactions to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by the United States. Among those who responded were distinguished folklore collectors such as John Lomax, John Henry Faulk, Lewis Jones, Fletcher Collins, Charles Todd, and Robert Sonkin. They conducted interviews with salesmen, electricians, janitors, oilmen, cab drivers, housewives, students, soldiers, and physicians. Young and old, men and women, black and white, long-time residents and recent immigrants are represented in the recordings, expressing their opinions on the social, political, and military aspects of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Nearly everyone interviewed was passionate. Some thought the war would end quickly, now that the United States had entered; others thought it would drag on. Some praised President Roosevelt; others criticized his handling of the situation. But the dominant response was one of patriotism, pride in being an American, belief in the superiority of American forces, and determination to do what needed to be done. (Select on the link in each of the following quotes to go to the complete citation and to listen to the interview.)
When asked what he would be fighting for, one young draftee said, "for democracy, I reckon, or something like that. Our forefathers fought for us, so we'll fight for them."
A Polish veteran was passionate: "I am an American, not by birth but by choice, and I am mighty damn proud of it. . . . the United States never lost a war yet, and never gonna lose it."
William Clark, a sixteen-year-old counter boy in Washington, D.C., said, "We are many Negroes that are proud of the United States, and they will fight until the last man goes down. And after this war, I hope the negroes will have much more freedom than they have now."
1942 poster honoring Dorie Miller, who was decorated for bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor. A messman on the USS Arizona, Miller attempted to save his captain and shot down four enemy planes. In 1941 African Americans could only serve on Navy ships as messmen. Miller's heroism helped change attitudes about blacks in combat. This poster is part of the Library's online exhibit, African American Odyssey. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-2328 (8-10)
An eighty-year-old woman from California, visiting her children in Dallas, was eloquent: "What a great pity that another nation should be added to those aggressors who chose to limit our freedom. . . . I find myself at the age of eighty an old woman, hanging on to the tail of the world, trying to keep up. One thing that I am very sure of is that hatred is death, but love is light. . . . And when I look at the holocaust that is happening in the world today, I'm almost ready to let go. . . ."
The recordings were sent to the Library of Congress for the Radio Research Project, and they were used to create a program that was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System. The "December 8, 1941" portion of the Radio Research Project Collection consists of four and a half hours of interviews. Featured in this online presentation are twelve selections, in MP3, recorded in Washington, D.C.; New York City; Burlington, North Carolina; and Dallas, Texas. They range in time from thirty seconds to seven and a half minutes. "Nothing replaces the recorded voice," says Center reference specialist Ann Hoog. "When you listen to those voices from 1941, along with the street noises in the background, you are better able to imagine the whole context of that particular time and place."
"Since 1928, when the Archive of American Folk Song was established in the Music Division, the Library of Congress has collected the voices of ordinary Americans as an essential component of our national history," said Diane Kresh, director of Public Service Collections at the Library. The American Folklife Center is currently engaged in a major effort to raise private funds to preserve this precious heritage. The Save Our Sounds project, being conducted jointly with the Smithsonian Institution, seeks funds to match a grant awarded by the National Park Service, as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Save America's Treasures" Program. The complete "man on the street" interviews from December 8, 1941, are part of the Save Our Sounds project. The American Folklife Center would be grateful to have contact information from anyone who recognizes the voices in this online presentation.
USS Arizona on fire during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. US Navy photograph. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-104778 (b&w film copy neg.)
Continuing the Tradition
Sixty years after Pearl Harbor, the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has once again called upon folklorists across the nation to document on audiotape the thoughts and feelings expressed by average citizens following a great national tragedy, the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. "Audio field recordings are invaluable elements of our historical record," says Peggy Bulger, director of the American Folklife Center. "And telling our own stories in times of crisis helps us to manage our feelings."
The U.S. Congress has also acknowledged the importance of capturing the voices of Americans telling their stories by establishing the Veterans History Project through legislation sponsored by Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and passed in October 2000. The legislation instructs the American Folklife Center to collect the recorded oral histories of American war veterans, in order to preserve their memories in the national library and make them available for future generations.
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The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive to some readers. |
