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Tag: World War I

The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns

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Written by Angela Jordan

The second of four posts written for “WWI and Champaign County” of the Town & Gown Speaker Series, a collaboration between the Student Life & Culture Archives and the Champaign County Historical Archives.

Research for this post contributed by Maggie Cornelius.

The United States government asked Americans to knit socks, sweaters, and other garments for soldiers during World War I. Most of this knitting was produced by volunteers working under the auspices of the American Red Cross. Illini women, like many women during the war, devoted their free time and money to contribute necessities and luxuries to the war effort. The former provided subsistence and the latter provided morale. Continue reading “The Women Behind the Men Behind the Guns” →

Illinois Ambulance Volunteers, 1917

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Written by Angela Jordan

One of four posts written for “WWI and Champaign County” of the Town & Gown Speaker Series, a collaboration between the Student Life & Culture Archives and the Champaign County Historical Archives.

Research for this post contributed by Maggie Cornelius.

University of Illinois students found multiple ways to aid the Allies in Europe prior to the U.S. entry in April of 1917. Among the students who traveled to war zones was a committee of volunteer ambulance drivers. On May 15, 1917, over twenty Illini men set sail for France to help deliver the wounded from the front to military hospitals.[1] The chairman of this Ambulance Committee was Christian “Chris” Gross. An agriculture student and a member of the Daily Illini editorial board, Sigma Delta Chi, Alpha Gamma Rho, and Psi Upsilon,[2] Gross organized and sent volunteer ambulance drivers to Europe for a six-month stint. Continue reading “Illinois Ambulance Volunteers, 1917” →

Students to Servicemen, 1917-19

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Written by Angela Jordan

Nearly a century ago, the Great War drastically changed the lives of servicemen and their families.  Over 3,000 University of Illinois alumni and students joined the military and Dean Thomas Arkle Clark faithfully corresponded with many students, alumni, and parents about military service, war experiences, and potential University admissions.  Servicemen and their families appreciated Dean Clark’s concern, for in the words of Edmund Allen, “It surely helps a lot to know that the folks at college haven’t forgotten, and it keeps the ties that hold us to the best things in life a little tighter around us.”[1]

Below are letter excerpts from University of Illinois servicemen during the Great War found in War Service Records, 1917-19. Continue reading “Students to Servicemen, 1917-19” →