Patriotic Labor: America during World War I 

Red Cross

Collection of Liberty Loan buttons, pins and coins

To appease citizens who balked at the idea of increased taxes from the United States' involvement in the war, President Wilson began a bond campaign to fund military efforts and ease the burden to the taxpayer. The war bonds campaign raised nearly 21 billion dollars over the course of the conflict.
The campaign targeted women in particular, with the organization of bonds run by women’s clubs, the YWCA, and the Red Cross, which had wide female support. The Red Cross alone blossomed from a mere 267 chapters nationwide to a staggering 2,300 over a few months in 1917, with volunteering women attending chapters to package supplies and produce clothes for the soldiers.

Patriotism

Staying Neutral

Building an Army

Military Training

Food is Ammunition

Labor and Industry

A Tentative Peace

United Behind the Service Star poster (c. 1918)

Springfield College Archives and Special Collections

Digital Commonwealth

The Young Men’s Christian Association, more commonly known as the YMCA, began as a community prayer group in Switzerland in 1844. As the organization grew and joined with a sister network, the YWCA, it became increasingly secular. By the twentieth century, the YMCA was working primarily in urban communities, offering Christian entertainment to deter youth from engaging in crime. YMCA members also mentored young participants by offering training in skills that would serve them in the labor force.
During World War I, the YMCA played an active role both at home in the United States and abroad. On the home front, the organization launched clean-up campaigns on the streets and offered courses in emergency action and food conservation during Herbert Hoover’s initiative to decrease food consumption and waste.

Group of African-American children participating in Chicago YMCA clean-up campaign.