September 22, 2017 Veterans History Project Launches Final Installment of WWI Web Series

The Veterans History Project (VHP) today launched “A World Overturned,” the final chapter in a three-part, online website series titled “Experiencing War,” dedicated to U.S. veterans of the First World War. “A World Overturned” highlights eight digitized veterans’ stories about how World War I forever changed their lives, shared through original photographs, letters, diaries, memoirs and other materials. This series has been presented as a companion site to the Library of Congress exhibit “Echoes of the Great War.”

One of several profiles featured in the series, Roland Neel survived the dangerous early days of aviation as an aerial observer, but his brother, Joseph, was killed in action at the Battle of St. Mihiel.

Before enlisting, Reese Russell was accustomed to the quiet rhythms of rural life. He was gassed during combat and was never the same. Reese’s daughter, who donated his diary posthumously, said her father slept too little and drank too much after the war. He died impoverished at the age of 61.

During his service with the 89th Division in France and Germany, Hubert Wesselman expressed concerns about the long-term impact of his wartime experiences, but professional support for service members returning from battle was largely unavailable at the time. He struggled to cope with the horrors he suffered. Tragically, after enduring war, the Great Depression and years of strenuous work as a farmer, Hubert took his own life.

Go to loc.gov/vets/stories/wwi-part3.html to access these and other veterans’ collections included in “A World Overturned.”

With the most comprehensive collection of multi-format World War I holdings in the nation, the Library of Congress is a unique resource for primary-source materials, education plans, public programs and on-site visitor experiences about The Great War, including exhibits, symposia and book talks.

Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 to collect, preserve and make accessible the firsthand remembrances of America’s war veterans from WWI through the more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. For more information, visit loc.gov/vets/ or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848. Subscribe to the VHP RSS to receive periodic updates of VHP news. Follow VHP on Facebook @vetshistoryproject.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.