SUBMITTED BY MAGGIE LOHMANN

 

Recently, some students at Bridgeport High School took a break from a world that emphasizes social media and the newest fashion trends to visit a time when ration books, gas masks, and war bonds were a part of everyday conversations and life.                 

 

Juniors in Mrs. Letitia Yeater’s 20-21st Century U.S. History class had an opportunity to acquire a better understanding of life during the fighting of the Second World War through the National World War II Museum’s Operation Footlocker Program.

 

The program sends traveling trunks loaded with artifacts from World War II to schools around the country for use in classrooms for a total of one week.  During this time, students can study the artifacts and stories behind them, and complete projects and assignments centered around the objects. Each trunk comes with about 15 artifacts, white cotton gloves for handling, and a teacher’s manual that describes the history of the artifacts.

 

Yeater stumbled across this program while preparing for a unit about the Second World War. “I’m always on the Internet looking for trivia or new facts to use in my lessons. I was doing this and landed on the National World War II Museum website and saw information about the project.”

 

Yeater’s students were very interested in learning about the artifacts’ uses and where they came from.  Some of the artifacts they were able to examine included ration books and tokens, a personal effects bag, a high school yearbook from the early 1940s, a gas mask, wartime advertisements, sand from Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima, a German language guide, a V-mail letter and stationary, pieces of uniforms, and letters home from soldiers. Many students voiced that they enjoyed how hands-on the experience was.

 

“This is interesting because you actually get to interact with pieces of World War II instead of seeing them in a book or in pictures on the Internet,” said Ashley Roop.

 

Shae Tomasik found it interesting that, “The history [came] to life” for her and her classmates because they were able to “see and touch everything” and “[had] a visual right there.”

 

At the same time, some students, like Farzaan Salman, found the personal aspect of the study to be the most rewarding part. “It’s cool that we’re touching things from 70 years ago that were so special and important to someone else.”

 

Autumn Fleming shared similar thoughts after listening to a serviceman’s vinyl record, that many of the students said was one of their favorite artifacts. The record was made from an opportunity offered by Pepsi-Cola to soldiers to record a short message to send home to friends and family. Fleming said “It was neat to hear someone’s recording of themselves to their parents, telling them that he had received their letters and how much he missed them.”

 

Maddy Singleton said she thought it was interesting to see the differences between the 1940s and now after looking at the yearbook.

 

Another exciting advantage of the project was having Chinese exchange student Niniane Liu in the class. She said, “I learned some new things about World War II that I didn’t know before.”

 

Yeater’s favorite part of utilizing the program was seeing that her students were truly involved in learning about the artifacts. “I always say ‘History’s boring unless you put a face on it.’ When you hear about people’s stories and experiences-not just facts and statistics- it becomes more personal.”

 

Poet Robert Penn Warren once said, “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.”

 

Editor’s Note: The above story and photos, taken by Montana Martin, were submitted to Connect-Bridgeport as part of the efforts of the BHS Journalism Department headed by Mrs. Alice Rowe. Connect-Bridgeport did not assign the story or the photography.