LibGuides: History Unbound: WWI

NYS World War I Collections

Fort Orange Collection
A collection from the Catskills, where National Guard members and then a state militia dutifully protected the Catskill Aqueduct, which supplied NYC with water.
From the Elting Memorial Library - Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection
Camp Upton Postcards
A training camp for soldiers in WWI, which later served the Civilian Conservation Corps and then more military training for WWII. From the Longwood Public Library.
Camp Syracuse: a recruitment camp from 1917 to 1918.
George W. Fenner World War I Photographs, Syracuse, NY, 1918
Photographs of Camp Syracuse as taken by George Fenner, a newspaper photographer. Included views are of various parades supporting the War and drafted men leaving Syracuse for training camps. From the Onondaga County Public Library.
Suckley Family World War I Collection
This collection focuses on the activities of Henry Eglinton Montgomery Suckley (HEMS) during World War I. He was a member of the American Ambulance Field Service that supported the French Army before the United States became a participant in the war. From the Wilderstein Historic Site.
War Diaries
Journals and accounts from soldiers. From the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
World War I Collection
Letters and photographs collected by the family of World War I veteran David Wright Hudson.
World War I Era Postcard Collection
Most of the postcards are of France, but some feature Great Britain, Italy and Monaco.

Code Talkers

Native Words, Native Warriors
This exhibit from the National Museum of the American Indian includes lesson plans, primary sources, and an interactive audio-visual guided tour of the history.

WWI from National Archives

Lt. James Reese Europe, famous jazz band leader, back with the 369th Regiment. National Archives and Records Administration.

The National Archives presents their primary source sets on a page with a teacher guide. The page will begin with text on the era or subject and is followed by 6 - 12 primary source documents, images, and/or sound files.

National World War I Collections and Sets

Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures
Library of Congress images from World War I era newspapers featuring both social and political topics housed within the American Memory collection.
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
This link points to the "Speakers" index of this American Memory collection because I find it more user friendly, but one could search from any screen. Many recordings are available as .RAM and as .WAV. Most modern browsers will open .WAV files directly in the browser for easy access. All speeches have text transcripts posted as well.
The Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919
From February 8, 1918, to June 13, 1919, by order of General John J. Pershing, the United States Army published a newspaper for its forces in France, The Stars and Stripes. This online collection, presented by the Serial and Government Publications Division of the Library of Congress, includes the complete seventy-one-week run of the newspaper's World War I edition.
Jump Back in Time: U.S. Entered World War I April 6, 1917
Part of the Jump Back in Time guide to The Great War & The Jazz Age, this three page chapter in time has a few primary sources including a sound recording of "Over There".
Jump Back in Time:American Forces under General Pershing Launched First Major Offensive in WWI September 12, 1918
Three images and their contextualizing material; no sound recordings in this chapter.
Treaty of Versailles: Primary Documents in American History
Includes address from President Wilson.
Heir to the Austrian Throne Assassinated;
New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), 29 June 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
Liner Lusitania Sunk by a German Submarine
Evening public ledger., May 07, 1915, Night Extra, Image 1
The U.S. Officially at War
The daily Missourian. (Columbia, Mo.), 06 April 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
Germany Has Surrendered; World War Ended at 6 A.M.
New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), 11 Nov. 1918. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
War Officially Ended
The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]), 28 June 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
WWI - American Treasures at the Library of Congress
This link will jump down to a set of fantastic images owned by the Library with some contextualizing information.
Search Results Digital Public Library of America - WWI

NYS World War I Items

Nurses Victory March, 1918
Hahnemann Hospital Nurses participate in Victory March, carrying Hahnemann Hospital Banner, 1918. From the Highland Hospital Archives.
The success of the war
Woman suffrage poster stating that the success of World War I depends on the women of America, and they should be granted the vote.
World War I victory celebration
Seven men pose in a line across a street. Five are dressed in suits and hold flags of varying sizes. Two are costumed and wear masks. Other people gather behind them further down the street.
World War I Brockway Truck
Military truck developed by the Brockway Motor Company of Cortland

Roy D. Gardinier of Binghamton, killed in WWI

Roy Gardinier
Photograph of Private First Class Roy D. Gardinier, who served in Company C of the 7th Infantry.
Gardinier was from Binghamton, N.Y., and was killed in action overseas on October 13, 1918.
His death was not only a hard blow to his parents and relatives but to the entire community of Binghamton as well.
These materials come from the NYS Archives.
Roy Gardinier Biography
Roy Gardinier Biography Addendum

Walton world war history; being a brief account of the participation, in that struggle, of residents of the town and village of Walton, Delaware County, New York (1922)

Farm Cadets during WWI

A Soldier of the Soil (My Experiences as a Cadet on the Farm)
In 1917, the New York State Education Department began a program that allowed students between the ages of 16 and 18 in good academic standing to sign up and become Farm Cadets. Many teens jumped at the chance to become a Farm Cadet, and to leave their homes in the cities and towns and to assist with the war effort by replacing the laborers who had enlisted in the military and gone to fight overseas. From April-September, students worked on farms throughout the state and, in order to receive academic credit for their contribution, wrote essays about their experience.

In this essay, Hyman Sakolsky discusses his summer work at a farm in the small village of Whitney Point, NY.