In honor of Women’s History Month and also “the greatest generation” as penned by Tom Brokaw in his 1998 book of the same name, I have released a course about life on the home front in the USA during World War 2. The stories are told from a stateside bride’s perspective of the USA home front during the war.
Lucille Maris, my mom, has been my guest content expert as we recorded videos for this project. Please join the list by entering your email address to get notified about new blog posts or dates when we’ll be sharing on Periscope.
You’ll also get a coupon code for a discounted enrollment in the course in Udemy when you add your email to the list.
To check out the course and preview a few of the videos, simply visit this link: WW2 Home Front History Course.)
I can’t wait for you to see and hear the interesting details my mom shares about young love, enlistment in the military, moving from base to base during flight training, saying goodbye, and communicating via letters with her deployed husband, Jim Maris (my dad), who wrote to her every single day that he wasn’t on a combat mission.
An example of a scrapbook page from the WW2 scrapbook that Lucille and Jim compiled in the 1940s. Several of the elements from the scrapbook are included in the online course.
You will be amazed to see the electronic files of photos, documents and letters that I’ve scanned from our 1940s collection of memorabilia from the War. I’ve included those to help you gain an even better understanding of what life was like in the 1940s during the time of war and during a blossoming love story that lasted 65 years.
I would greatly appreciate it if you would share this post with your friends or family members who would benefit from knowing about this new online course and opportunity to view living history.
PS – Mom positioned a photo of my dad on the mantle behind us as we recorded the video and had his military uniform hat next to the photo. After we were done and had loaded up the gear, I turned to say goodbye and there she stood wearing Dad’s hat and smiling. She said, “I think your dad would have approved of me helping teach a course about the war.” Yes mom, he most certainly would have approved!
Lucille Maris in Jim Maris’ US Air Force hat. This was taken on the day we did the video recordings for the online course.
Sounds like an amazing course. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for your kind words about the course!
A heart warming post, thank you. I really must get into scrap booking.
Sonya – It’s inspired me to do some srapbooking too! At the time, little things like ticket stubs, receipts, and hand-drawn cartoons seem so insignificant, but 70 years later – what a treasure and a great way to tell a story!
Love the picture of your mom in the hat! I just watched the “bomber crew gets a mascot” preview video. What a great way to share your parents story and to show people what it was like during WWII, both at home and for those serving. Good luck with the course!
Thank you for your comment Kristine! I’m so glad you stopped by the course and watched one of the preview videos. The stories of Blondie, the beloved Cocker Spaniel my dad got in England as a mascot for his crew, are some of my favorites. They brought her home (to Tennessee at the time) in 1945 and had her for about 10 years.
I love the photo of your mom! She’s a hoot! What a great way to keep history alive.
Thanks Carol! Mom truly is a cutie! It’s been such fun to work on this project with her. Thanks for stopping by the website and sharing your comment! Vickie
I love what you’re doing to keep the history alive. Kudos!
Thank you so much. It has been quite an interesting journey to do these projects about WW2.
The course is such a fantastic way to keep history alive, make learning about history cool, and also getting your mom involved.
That pic of her is just awesome!
Thanks Delia! I appreciate your kind words. And agree, isn’t that pic of my mom just a stitch!
Imagine if history was taught this way in elementary & hi school/ How fascinated we would all be. You are doing a wonderful thing preserving these memories & records.
That is such a wonderful compliment Roz! And boy do I agree with you that I would have been so much more engaged if history was taught in some manner similar to this when I was a school girl.
Wow, pretty impressive that you have that kind of history at your fingertips. My dad was in Vietnam and has a purple heart for some heroic acts and it was great to hear his story and how it still is present with him today.
Thanks Kristen. It’s been so interesting to work through the materials to put the cd project and the online course together. Now working on the book. Tell your dad thank you for his service in Vietnam.
What a great idea! I hope it’s a huge success. It’s so important to capture family history. I regret that my Polish grandmother died when I was 12 — well before I was aware enough to understand the importance of such memories.
I really feel blessed that my folks have been able to share these stories with me so that I could capture them for a larger audience.
I really enjoy watching how you shape this course offering. All this in addition to the intriguing content.
Thank you Sharon.