Browse Exhibits (3 total)

The Japanese attack of the U.S. Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 plunged the formerly isolationist America into World War II, impacting not only the lives of those who fought in the European and Pacific theaters, but the everyday lives of people at home.  Pictures taken as mementos and evidence of the hope of a nation were carried and kept throughtout the wars in Europe and the Pacific.  This collection of artifacts details the contributions and sacrifices of communities and individuals across America.  These items give us greater insight into the realities beyond the myth of one of America's most romanticized eras.

For America, World War II began and ended in the Pacific. On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a Joint Address to Congress stating, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date that will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”^[1]  Although conflict in the Pacific was well under way between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, the events on December 7th thrust the US into war. Furthermore, with the multiple attacks on British possessions in Southeast Asia, Japan forced the United Kingdom as well and the Allied Forces of World War II—Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Soviet Union—into what was known as the official beginning of the Pacific Theater War.