Leadership and Legacy in
History: Exploring World
War I from Multiple
Perspectives
T
Kim Gilmore
HISTORY®
eaching about World War I can be both a challenge and an opportunity for educators in the U.S. On the one hand, the
Great War transformed American society. The sharpening of nationalist conflict exploded into war in July 1914, lasting
for four long years. Some 9 million soldiers lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands of civilians were affected by the
conflict. Yet the United States did not enter the war until 1917, and in many ways its memory has been eclipsed by World War II.
The story of the war is intricate and confusing at times, and it can be difficult to make it engaging for students. This year marks
the 100th Anniversary of the start of the war, and gives educators the opportunity to revisit World War I and take advantage of
some of the excellent new educational resources developed for the commemoration.
The 2015 National History Day theme, Leadership and Legacy in
History, offers a valuable lens through which to explore World
War I. When we consider leadership during World War I from a
U.S. perspective, we may think first of President Woodrow Wilson
and his path from neutrality to leading a nation at war to his
14-point program for world peace and failed efforts to convince
U.S. leaders to join the League of Nations. Wilson was a layered
and complex president, and his tenure in office offers numerous
avenues for exploring themes of leadership and legacy, including
his record on civil rights. Students can also reflect on the ways
national leaders like Wilson have inspired opposition and about
the many ways everyday citizens exercised their own leadership
skills in response to Wilson’s policies.
One of our taglines at HISTORY is “Making History Everyday.”
Looking at the roles of everyday people during World War I is
also important from multiple perspectives. Students can research
how the war unfolded in the many other countries involved in the
conflict, and examine the ways people shaped and were shaped
70
by the war in many parts of the world as well as in the U.S.
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2015
Aileen Cole, for example, became the first African-American woman
in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I. While both the Red
Cross and the U.S. Army prevented black nurses from joining, women
like Cole were eager to join the effort and make a contribution. After
the massive influenza outbreak took its toll in 1918, the Red Cross
decided to accept black nurses for service. Cole was sent by the
Red Cross to West Virginia to help treat miners who were critical to
providing coal for the war; she also helped establish a field hospital
there. As the flu epidemic intensified, the Army Surgeon General
called for nurses nationwide to join the effort. Cole officially joined
the Reserve Nurse Corps as a first lieutenant and served with other
&