Still Learning A Lot About WWI: Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections

When I was in high school, I found teachers has a tendency to breeze right through WWI and move right on to WWII. I don’t know why this is. Maybe because our teachers did not have a father or grandfather or someone they knew in the war. Maybe because preservation efforts were less than stellar in 1917. Whatever the reason, I don’t remember spending a great deal of time on WWI. WWII, however, was a different story. My grandfather fought in WWII and the Korean War, so he was always telling me stories. We always had such great speakers in class. We talked about Hitler, bombs, the Holocaust…you name it. But I have to admit, I feel a little shorted that I did not learn more about WWI. The Polar Bear Digital Archives, an online collection of letters, newspapers, songs, cartoons and more about the American intervention in Russia in 1918, is an excellent resource for anyone who feels shorted like I did. The Bentley Historical Library and the University of Michigan have worked extensively to make information regarding the War and the “Polar Bear Expedition” more accessible to the general public. I loved that I could search the archives, browse by region and even look at different cartoons from the area. The website, however, is certainly a work in progress, and it is not particularly visually stimulating. There is not a lot of flash and graphics and what not, but it truly has some solid and interesting information. I though the website was easily navigable and not confusing for the user. For anyone who wants to know more about WWI, this is an excellent resource.

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