Featured Articles
The Williams Show: Courage, Creativity, and Innovation in World War I Aviation
(Note: This article was originally written during the Spring 2024 University of Wisconsin-Madison’s “World War I Wisconsin” course, taught by Dr. Leslie Bellais.) In the evening strike on August 23, 1918, aviator Rodney D. Williams [...]
Indigenous WWI veterans get long awaited Medal of Honor review
“I’m so thankful that his blood runs in our veins,” said Tewanna Anderson-Edwards of her great uncle Otis W. Leader, a World War I Choctaw code talker. Leader, a corporal in the Army’s 16th [...]
Doughboy MIA For December 2024: PFC Leslie Warren Darling
PFC Leslie Warren Darling was born on August 23, 1895, in Chicago, Illinois. He later relocated to Shenandoah, Iowa, where he worked as a reporter for a local newspaper and served as secretary for [...]
My Grandfather Was A Polar Bear: A North Dakota Dentist In World War I
After learning that my grandfather, Dr. Nines Simmons, fought in World War, I became very interested in learning more. I found original documents and pictures that were packed away after my mom died. Then [...]
To Be as Young (or as Old) as You Feel
In studying the Hello Girls – the American telephone operators who supported the U.S. soldiers in France during World War I – determining who the oldest and youngest Hello Girls were should be easy. [...]
Congressman Cleaver’s Bill to Honor WWI “Hello Girls” Passed by House of Representatives
The bipartisan legislation would award a Congressional Gold Medal to more than 220 “Hello Girls,” the first female soldiers to be officially deployed to a combat zone in American history (Washington, D.C.) – This week, [...]
The 110th Anniversary Of The 1914 Christmas Truce
In August 1914, many of the soldiers on frontline service had expected that after achieving a quick and decisive victory on the battlefield they would be home in time for Christmas. As autumn turned to winter, [...]
Letters Home: From William E. Olsen to his wife, Gertrude Christine Sudor, During World War I
In 1918, Will Olsen went off to the Great War, leaving behind his pregnant wife, Gertrude. Fortunately, his letters home were saved. In the early 1990s, I stumbled upon those worn, yellowing letters in [...]
Authors, historians, playwrights, and filmmaker urge House Leadership to vote on Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation
Letters call on Speaker, Majority Leader to being Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal bill to a House vote. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Well-known American historians, authors, playwrights, and filmmakers who have published works about the [...]
