Featured Articles
Portraits of War: Two Mississippi Doughboys in France, 1918
Finding vintage photography to post to the site that has meaningful background history has been a tough mission the last few years. I was recently inspired to start posting to the blog more often from [...]
Iowa, USA, and the Great War
In the early 20th century, Iowa was an even more distinctly rural state that it is today. In the 1910 census out of a population of 2.2 million over 70 percent of Iowans lived on [...]
America’s First Women Soldiers of WWI Deserve the Congressional Gold Medal
Over 100 years ago, Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), issued the call for women telephone operators to serve overseas in France. Prioritizing military necessity over the Army's prohibition against [...]
East Tennessee Love Letters that Crossed Oceans: A WWI Story of Patriotism, Courage and Devotion
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The McClung Historical Collection was sent a piece of history that tells the story of a love during World War 1 from an East Tennessee couple’s perspective. James M. Hawk is the [...]
Survival and Rescue at Sea: The First Mission of Ensign Kenneth R. Smith, USN
Newly commissioned Kenneth Smith was a 1917 graduate of Yale University and member of the First Yale Aviation Unit. The story of his first combat mission is an epic one. Kenneth Smith (R) and [...]
The Truth About WWI “Trench Guns”
During the First World War, the Winchester M1897, fitted with the M1917 bayonet, (colloquially called the “trench gun” by collectors) became perhaps the most iconic and immediately recognizable American small arm of the conflict. It is unusual, [...]
Losing a son and brother: A Quincy family and World War I
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the U.S. Army was generally small, inexperienced and poorly equipped for warfare on the European front. In contrast, National Guard units, including the all Black, [...]
Bell from famous US WWI destroyer sunk off Scillies returned to its owners
The symbol of one of the most notable US Navy shipwrecks in history has been recovered from UK waters and presented to our closest allies. A team from the MOD’s Salvage and Marine Operations recovered [...]
World War I Doc Blazes Trail for Black Hospital, EMS Community
Throughout American history, Black service members have forged new paths for future generations, despite the prejudices they may have encountered. One such trailblazer was Dr. Frank Erdman Boston, who reached the rank of major during [...]
