The War (Outreach)
A supplemental educational and community outreach and public awareness initiative to support the national broadcast of Ken Burns' series The War, a seven-part film of two-hour episodes to be aired beginning in September 2007. The epic series will examine the history of World War II on the front lines and the "home front" through the personal stories of men and women from four American communities -- Luverne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and Waterbury, Connecticut. To spark a national dialogue on patriotism, civic obligations and lessons to be learned from an earlier generation, the outreach initiative will engage educators and their students, from elementary grades to college; minority groups; military families and veterans; senior citizens; civic organizations; and religious groups. The outreach campaign will include competitive grants for public television stations to engage their communities in finding local World War II stories, a storytelling kit for classroom oral-history projects, and a national symposium for educators and historians. The project is supported by and partnered with the Library of Congress, the National Archives, veterans' groups, educational and social studies organizations, and historical societies.