A Series of Lessons on Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida, WWII Heritage City

A series of Teaching with Historic Places lessons from the World War II Heritage Cities Lesson Collection

“Monthly inspection of the Naval Photography School at NAS Pensacola” - July 29, 1944

State Library and Archives of Florida

Introduction

The three lessons, and culminating fourth lesson, support the development of understanding the significance of Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida as an American World War II Heritage City: its impacts to home front efforts with its contributions to the Armed Forces and Naval Aviation, its Vocational School and training of women in industry, and the large USO presence. The lessons highlight specific contributions but connect to larger themes and understandings of the U.S. home front during wartime.

The standards listed beneath the lesson links are a collection of standards covered in the lesson collection. Objectives for each lesson, materials, and resources are listed within the lesson.

The first three lessons listed can be taught individually or collectively, in any order. The final lesson is to support students in combining learning across the three lessons, and/or comparison to other World War II home front cities in a culminating activity.

Lessons (with World War II home front topics):

The Armed Forces Presence in Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida, World War II Heritage City

• Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP), Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Fort Barrancas, Fort Pickens; segregation in the Armed Forces; African American service members, women service members, WAVES

Women in the War Industry: Connections to the Pensacola Vocational School

• Social change, women in the workforce, manufacturing and industry, vocational school and training

The USO Serving on the WWII Home Front in Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida

• United Service Organizations (USO), entertainment and support of service members, segregation, civilian contributions, historic preservation

Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida: Comparing and Connecting WWII Home Front cities

Positioning these Lessons in the Curriculum

Time period: World War II 

Topics: World War II, women’s history, African American history, workforce migration, science and technology 

United States History Standards for Grades 5-12 

This lesson relates to the following National Standards for History from the UCLA National Center for History in the Schools: 

Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945) 

Standard 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs 

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies 

This lesson relates to the following Curriculum Standards themes for Social Studies from the National Council for the Social Studies: 

Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change 

Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions  

Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society 

Theme 9: Global Connections 

Relevant Common Core Standards  

These lessons relates to the following Common Core English and Language Arts Standards for History and Social Studies for middle and high school students: 

Key Ideas and Details 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.1 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY. RH. 6-12.2 

Craft and Structure 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.4 

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.7 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.9 

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH. 6-12.10 

Part of a series of articles titled Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida World War II Heritage City.

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The lesson series was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, an educator and consultant with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.