With millions of men away from home, women filled manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front. Others provided support on the front lines as nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers,
At the outset of World War I, women in the United States did not have the right to vote in national elections and could not serve in the military. In keeping with the spirit of the Progressive Era,
Edith Cavell was a British nurse who operated a medical clinic and nursing school in Brussels at the start of the war in August 1914. She also helped smuggle injured soldiers and civilians out of
Grace Banker was the Chief Operator of the U.S. Signal Corps’ women telephone operators. Women telephone operators were recruited in the states for their civilian experiences and ability to speak
When the 19th Amendment took effect on Aug. 18, 1920, it followed over a century and a half of activism by and for women. Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, the constitutional amendment promises,
After 1918, Nov. 11 became a day of remembrance. Commemoration practices involved both celebration and somber remembrance with ceremonies often including parades, speeches and a moment of silence.
The term ‘war brides’ originally referred to women who quickly married before their husbands left for military service. By the end of the Great War, war brides took on the entirely new meaning of
Pamphlets in the Museum’s archival collection depict advertising the efforts of various American relief organizations and soliciting funds to ease the suffering of several predominately Christian
The national food effort, and reorganization of the supply chain, served an Allied victory and inarguably changed how Americans ate, prepared and thought about food.
On Jan. 16, 1919, after nearly a century of activism, the Prohibition movement finally achieved its goal to rid American society of “the tyranny of drink.” Passed by Congress on Dec. 18, 1917, the
As American soldiers mobilized for war in the spring of 1918, a handful of army physicians began noticing a worrisome influenza moving among their soldiers. Often resulting in a deadly pneumonia, it
American servicemen returned from the First World War only to find a new type of violent conflict waiting for them at home. An outbreak of racial violence known as the “Red Summer” occurred in 1919,
African Americans made substantial contributions in WWI, on both the front lines and the homefront. By 1920, nearly one million Black Americans left the rural South in a movement called The Great
Advocates of peace argued for the continuation of American neutrality. Objection to the war became identified as dangerous to the nation. Political fear and the controversy of war opposition led to
