The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After two tense years spent watching the war overseas, "the day that will live in infamy" thrust the United States into World War II overnight. The day after the attack, the Library of Congress sent archivists around the country to record the thoughts and fears of a citizenry newly at war. Stored at the Library of Congress for nearly sixty years, these interviews -- conducted on 9th and 13th Streets in Washington, D.C. -- captured the voices of ordinary Americans at one of the most cataclysmic times in the nation’s history.

Producer: David Miller / Funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the New York State Council on the Arts and the Corporation. Archival recordings courtesy of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Special thanks to Joe Hickerson. "The Day after Pearl Harbor" is a co-production with City Lore.

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This piece is available in the following audio formats [2:12 min]:
		28.8 kbps Real Audio
		56 kbps Real Audio

		intro
		transcript

		"Marine Valentines," a radio story about valentines that marines recorded to their wives, mothers, and sweethearts while stationed in the South Pacific
		Interviews conducted at an African-American pool hall in Washington, D.C., on the day after Pearl Harbor [RealPlayer required]
		"Let's Remember Pearl Harbor," a song by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians [RealPlayer required]

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