This post was created in collaboration with Chris Byrd, Archives Technician in the Still Picture Branch.
Local Identifier: 111-SC-211694.
June 22, 2024, will mark the 80th anniversary of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. This landmark legislation is most commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights, as it offered Federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in the areas of hospitalization, purchase of homes, businesses, and especially, education.
The bill unanimously passed both chambers of Congress in the spring of 1944 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law on June 22, 1944, just over two weeks after the Allied invasion of Normandy. Here in the Still Picture Branch at the National Archives, we have many photographs and posters within our holdings that show just how the G.I. Bill of Rights provided for World War II veterans.
Local ID: 111-SC-238200.
Local ID: 111-SC-251648.
Local ID: 26-NM-4-49. NAID: 66395427.
Local ID: 26-NM-4-50. NAID: 66395429.
The G.I. Bill has been extended several times. Nearly 2.3 million veterans participated in the program during the Korean War era and more than eight million during the Vietnam War era.
Local ID: 64-CFDA-20140610-01-003. NAID: 286212984.
Interested in seeing more records? Check out the National Archives Catalog to continue your research!
Sources:
- 75 Years of the GI Bill: How Transformative It’s Been
- The National Archives: Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944)
The photographs included in this post have no known copyright restrictions. If you have any questions about the images in this post or the holdings of the Still Picture Branch, please contact us at stillpix@nara.gov.
PUBLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FURNISHED BY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES STILL PICTURE BRANCH-RRSS
Generally, copies of photographic records held by the National Archives may be published without special permission or additional fees. The National Archives does not grant exclusive or non-exclusive publication privileges. Copies of Federal records, as part of the public domain, are equally available to all. A small percentage of photographs in our holdings are or may be subject to copyright restrictions. The National Archives does not confirm the copyright status of photographs but will provide any information known about said status. It is the user’s responsibility to obtain all necessary clearances. Any use of these items is made at the researcher’s or purchaser’s own risk.
Proper credit lines are encouraged in the interest of good documentation. They also help inform the public about government photographic resources that are available.
*Because so many of our requests for information cite credits and captions that appear in published works, the inclusion of a photo number in hard copy and electronic publications is of great assistance to both us and the public.
Examples of preferred credit lines are as follows:
- National Archives photo no. 210-G-C241
- Credit National Archives (photo no. 83-G-41368)
- Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 83-G-41430
- National Archives (210-G-A14)
If using a large number of our images, the National Archives will appreciate receiving copies of publications that contain our photographs. Such copies can be sent to the Still Picture Branch or the Library, National Archives and Records Administration.
Sidney Rosenfeld returned to the US on September 15, 1945. According to his bonus application, he was paid $410.00 in 1949 for his 36 months of service (20 overseas). By that time he had become a used car salesman in Des Moines, but then relocated to Columbus, OH, where he died in May 2010 aged 79.