Originally known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day occurs on November 11 in honor of the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 that marked the end of World War I. In 1954, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Online Exhibition
Spotlight on a Primary Source
- Recruiting posters for African American soldiers, 1918
- World War II: Commemorating Pearl Harbor, 1941
- A soldier’s reasons for enlisting, 1942
- Cadet Nurse Corps, 1943
- D-Day correspondence between a soldier and his wife, 1944
Essay
- “From These Honored Dead: Memorial Day and Veterans Day in American History” by Kenneth Jackson, History Now 4: American National Holidays (Summer 2005)
Veterans Legacy Program
In partnership with the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program, we offered free professional development sessions, beginning in 2022 that focus on America’s Unseen Soldiers, including African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinas/os, and women who served. As part of this series, we are now offering a lesson unit from the 2022 program and Veterans Legacy Program On Demand videos from our previous program, “The Soldier’s Experience.”
- America’s Unseen Soldiers: A downloadable five-lesson unit
- Veterans Legacy Program On Demand: The Soldier’s Experience
Inside the Vault