Commemorating the Great War

April 6, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. As the largest repository of American World War I records, the National Archives holds a wealth of content and information documenting the U.S. experience in this conflict, including photographs, documents, audiovisual recordings, educational resources, articles, blog posts, lectures, and exhibits.

In commemoration of this event, we’ve launched a World War I research portal with the goal of creating a central space for all National Archives resources and content related to World War I for use by researchers, students and educators, and those curious about the War.

Here you will find World War I records organized by subject and topic area, including newly digitized photographs and films, references, subject guides and finding aids. Throughout the portal you can find links to more information such as articles, blog posts, genealogy resources and online exhibits from the National Archives and Presidential Libraries.

Learn more about the news, events, and exhibits happening at the National Archives related to World War I, and browse our interactive timeline of World War I events.

Educators can find World War I documents and lesson plans using our DocsTeach tool, and we invite you to engage with our extensive collection of World War I moving and still images using our Remembering WWI app.

The app allows people nationwide to contribute their own stories and play a part in the centennial commemoration of the First World War. Building on an amazing moving image and photographic archive being digitized and preserved as part of a larger Wartime Films Project, the app features thousands of rarely seen public domain images and films to encourage discovery and creative reuse.

The National Archives is leading this national collaborative effort with participation from the Library of Congress and National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, the WWI Centennial Commission, the American Association for State and Local History, and the National WWI Museum and Memorial. This mobile app project was made possible through a generous gift from an anonymous donor.

Would you like to help make records more discoverable? We’ve created special tagging and transcription missions and challenges using World War I content for our citizen archivists.

While many resources are available online for research, there are many more records to discover in National Archives research rooms across the country. We will be updating our research portal as new resources become available online. You can also consult our Catalog to browse more records, and contact the Reference Unit listed in each description for more information.

From April 4 through May 3, 2017, the National Archives is commemorating the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I with a featured document display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building. Learn more about the U.S. entry into World War I on our Prologue blog.