World War I Poster - The Last Evidence

Four days after the United States entered World War One on April 6, 1917, state, local and international YMCA organizations met in conference at Garden City, Long Island, to plan for a unified reaction to the war. The first meeting of the National War Work Council was held in New York on April 28, 1917, where President Wilson gave official recognition to the organization. During November 1917, the YMCA announced their goal of $35,000,000. In defense of the amount, John R. Mott, then YMCA General Secretary, wrote: “Some tasks can wait; not this one of serving 24,000,000 men between now and Spring, the most critical period of the war.” Wilson, Taft, and Roosevelt all publicly endorsed the fundraising which, in 2011 USD, would mean raising close to $607,000,000. Three months after they announced the campaign, they passed their goal, and by July 1918 had raised $54,000,000 (just under $936,000,000 2011 USD). For duplicate - http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/2286

Scale is not 1:1 because item was digitized using a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. For true size, see "Extent" field; Poster was digitized for documentation, not for use in print or for projects, but for a higher quality image, see duplicate (SC17010): http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/2286; The poster has a long discolored strip along its right edge, is discolored along its top left edge, and has a small tear at the center of the top edge.

In this World War I poster the top half shows soldiers gathering around a YMCA canteen. Most of the image is circumscribed, with some soldiers standing outside, and behind the circle is the red YMCA triangle. Surrounding the image are the words: "'The Last Evidence that Anybody Cares,' Says a Soldier 'Overthere' of the Y.M.C.A. dugout." The bottom half of the poster contains black text against a green background. It has quotes from soldiers endorsing the importance of the Y.M.C.A. in their lives, followed by a plea for donations to support their $35,000,000 campaign. The bottom right explains where donations can be mailed, while the bottom left lists the numbers of Y.M.C.A. War Work Secretaries, where they are serving, and with which nation's soldiers. For a transcription, see "text."