World War I Centennial News
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Historian Corner:
Dr. Jay Winter on the Cultural Impact of WWI
In June 29th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 78, renowned historian and author Dr. Jay Winter spoke with host Theo Mayer about the profound cultural impact of World War I, particularly on remembrance and war memorial design. The following is transcript of the interview:
Theo Mayer: Jay, you've been focusing on World War I since before the Centennial. How did you come to focus on this time period?
Jay Winter: Again, studying the first World War in 1965 when I was an undergraduate at Columbia University, the first World War struck me as Europe's Vietnam. So it was the contemporary echoes of the war in Vietnam that affected my choice of subject and indeed is part of the explanation for the vast expansion of first World War studies from the 1970s on. 
Dr. Jay WinterTheo Mayer: Well, now we've talked with a number historians and others about the many changes that this period brought around. In fact, we've been referring to it as "The War That Changed The World." Would you agree with that?
Jay Winter: Absolutely, the technology of information and images was revolutionized. One of the leading revolutionaries was the Kodak company, who put in the hands of ordinary soldiers the Kodak vest pocket camera that made it impossible for armies to enforce their regulations that soldiers shouldn't have images of war. They should simply fight and let the propaganda agents take care of that. In some ways, what the first World War did was to open up ordinary soldiers' vision of what war is, including American soldiers of course, and prepare the ground for the fact that you can't control images. It's the prehistory of Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
Theo Mayer: Fascinating, and Jay, in some of your writings, you're specifically talking about World War I and how it changed the way we mourn our dead. Could you elaborate on that?
Jay Winter: The first World War produced 10 million dead men, either killed in combat or died from disease, and of those, five million have no known graves. It's as true for the American armies, as it's true for others. War has always been a killing machine, but what 1914-18 did because of artillery was to turn it into a vanishing act. The issue of missing soldiers, soldiers who died but no one has a trace of them, becomes universal in the first World War. It's the birth of the war of the disappeared, and it's also the moment when a number of different countries all attempted to represent this revolution through creating tombs for unknown warriors. In other words, not people who disappear, but a body that doesn't have a name. And it's those that we honor as in Arlington Cemetery.
Theo Mayer: Well, you're certainly right about that. In the thousands of locales of World War I memorials around the country, the names of the lost sort of formed the central theme for the communities and for the memorials. Is that also true in Europe?
Jay Winter: Very much so. The names are all that really mattered. This is a phrase that the British poet Rudyard Kipling who lost his son too, who literally vanished during the Battle of Loos, and his body has never been found. He put that in all of the Commonwealth, initially imperial, but now Commonwealth war graves, cemeteries, "Their name shall liveth forever more, because there's nothing left." Artillery killed 80% of the men who died in the first World War. It was mechanized, assembly line, machine-run killing. Four years of war, the biblical message that we all return to dust, was relived with a savage irony attached to it. The notion of honoring the dead meant honoring an individual who once walked by your side and who now simply vanished from the face of the Earth.
Warriors in Khaki: Wyoming Indian Doughboys in the Great War
By Douglas R. Cubbison
Curator, Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum
The Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum opened the Cowboy State’s Centennial Exhibit on “Wyoming in the Great War” on April 6, 2017. Among the myriad topics studied in preparation for this exhibit, was the service of Wyoming Indians in the Great War, particularly from the Arapaho and Shoshone Nations on the Wind River Reservation.
While performing this research, we encountered Fullerton Leonard Waldo, a civilian service worker who helped Doughboys in France, who published a book on his experiences in 1918, entitled: “America at the Front.” Waldo wrote, ““Red Indians from Wyoming or Colorado were stoics of the high explosive shells and the poison gas as if the calumet went round at the council-fire or the drums beat to a dance.” This quote, rightfully considered racist and degrading today, was still valuable, for Waldo had clearly seen Indians from Wyoming fighting on the Front Lines of France. This quote served as the impetus to begin our museum’s effort to comprehend the role played by Indian Doughboys from our State.
The 1913 Citizenship Expedition at Wind River Indian Reservation, October 11, 1913 - Wanamaker Collection, Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University, Bloomington, IndianaThe Eastern Shoshone Treaties of 1863 and 1868 established the Wind River Reservation for the Shoshone Nation, in the heart of the Wind River Valley in central Wyoming. Fort Washakie was established by the U.S. Army to safeguard the Reservation and serve as the Shoshone Agency. The Shoshones were steadfast supporters of the United States, and Chief Washakie led as many as 160 warriors to join General George Crook at Clear Creek (modern Sheridan) on June 14, 1876- Chief Washakie’s men would fight with skill and courage at Rosebud Creek three days later.
When the Arapahos had been forced to yield to reservation life following the Great Sioux War of 1876, Chief Washakie permitted them to settle on Wind River Reservation, so that they could remain in their beloved Powder River country. Fort Washakie had only been closed as a U.S. Army installation as late as 1909. The 1913 Population of Wind River Indian Reservation was relatively small – a mere 1,697 from both tribes, men and women.
Read more: Warriors in Khaki: Wyoming Indian Doughboys in the Great War
Belleau Wood attained iconic status via training, luck, and post-war focus
By Tony Perry
Special to the United States World War One Centennial Commission web site
While much of America may prefer to forget World War I, the U.S. Marine Corps is dedicated to keeping alive the story of Belleau Wood, the battle in June 1918 that changed the course of the war.
The Chicago Tribune headline about Belleau Wood on June 6, 1918: Marines Smash HunsHistorians often list Belleau Wood with the 1805 battle against the Barbary Coast pirates and the 1945 flag-raising on Iwo Jima as among those iconic moments that shaped both the public perception of the Marine Corps and the Marines’ view of themselves.
A hundred years on, the Marine teach the lessons of Belleau Wood to recruits. During bayonet training, for example, they learn about Sgt. Major Ernest Janson, a Medal of Honor recipient who used his bayonet to kill two of his enemy and force others to flee on the first day of the fight for Belleau Wood.
Each year Marines newly assigned to the 5th Regiment, some merely teenagers, receive a decoration called the fourragere – the same decoration bestowed by the French government upon Marines after Belleau Wood. The French hold an annual ceremony to show appreciation for the Marines stopping the Germans from reaching Paris.
The 2nd U.S. Division that blunted the German drive was composed of both soldiers and Marines. Because of the positioning of the U.S. troops on the battlefield, the Marines bore the initial brunt of the German assault. Army troops have their own story of bravery at Belleau Wood but the Marine Corps is dedicated to retelling the story of how the green Americans thwarted their enemy.
An anonymous blogster under the nom-de-Internet of Angry Staff Officer has urged the Army to follow suit: “I’ve never encountered a Marine who didn’t know where Belleau Wood was or what happened on Iwo Jima. This should be the model.”
Read more: Belleau Wood attained iconic status via training, luck, and post-war focus
“I Hate To Write” gives mother's perspective on cataclysmic changes of WWI
By Paul White
Special to the United States World War One Centennial Commission
“I Hate To Write” is the story of my great grandmother Edith Agnes MacDonald McCormick an Irish immigrant, a mother raising three sons in NYC in the early 1900’s through WWI. Edith is a woman of courage and fortitude and through her “Record”, she provides a compelling, extraordinarily personal glimpse into NYC family life, but also the events occurring at the turn of the century through the cataclysmic changes of WWI.
Paul WhiteWhy the title “I Hate to Write”? Because these three words begin Edith’s diary and though she may say she hates to write, she writes marvelously. This is a story of family, courage, faith, war and terrible personal loss.
Edith opens our eyes to a time when flight was a breathtaking novelty. It was a time prior to air conditioning, when horses were dying in the sweltering heat of New York summers, when people sought summer relief in the seashore cottages of Staten Island. Edith’s day to day thoughts are illuminating, as she comments upon such events as Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal, the Russo-Sino War, Peary’s discovery of the North Pole, our entry to and involvement in WWI and more.
The patriotic zeal and the support for her country and its allies that Edith exudes is compelling. Equally compelling is Edith’s concern for her three sons as America is increasingly drawn into the war in Europe. Edith’s concern for her two older sons was justified as both John and his younger brother Paul enlisted in the army shortly after President Wilson declared war.
Official records of the National Guard of the United States for the State of New York certify that John Kernan McCormick, 7th Regiment New York Infantry & National Guard (nicknamed the “silk stocking” unit) was honorably discharged from the National Guard by reason of being drafted into the military service of the United States, August 5, 1917. John was soon sent to Camp Wadsworth along with other silk stocking sons of New York‘s upper crust society as part of the newly formed “107th” Regiment, 27th Division, sent to France, led by General John O’Ryan. At that time, John was 26 years old and employed as a lawyer.
Read more: “I Hate To Write” gives mother's perspective on cataclysmic changes of WWI
Winning Design Selected For New Native American Veterans Memorial
By Mikaela Lefrak
via the WAMU radio web site
When Harvey Pratt got the call telling him he’d been selected to design a new memorial to Native American veterans in Washington, D.C., he was in shock.
“My wife and I just sat there looking at one another, like, what do we do now? What’s going to happen?” Pratt said.
Harvey Pratt lives in Guthrie, OK. He spent over 50 years working in law enforcement and creating art in his off-hours.On Tuesday morning, June 26, the National Museum of the American Indian made the public announcement about Pratt’s selection, freeing him to finally share the good news with his community in Oklahoma. He’s a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, and a Southern Cheyenne chief.
Pratt’s design, entitled “Warriors Circle of Honor,” was selected out of an initial pool of 120 submissions. A jury whittled them down to five finalists, and then chose Pratt’s unanimously. The memorial will be located on museum grounds, just off the National Mall.
“Most Americans, and people around the world, are not aware of this very strong tradition of service in the military by Native Americans,” said Rebecca Trautmann, the memorial project curator for the American Indian Museum.
Native people serve in the U.S. Military at a higher per capita rate than any other ethnic group. More than 154,000 Native American veterans are alive today, according to the 2010 census.
Pratt is a veteran himself. He enlisted in the Marines in 1962 after his first year of college (“it wasn’t going well”) and shipped out to Vietnam in the spring of 1963.
He said he made the decision to join the military so that he could follow in the footsteps of his uncle, who served in World War II and the Korean War. “He’d been wounded so many times and has so much shrapnel in his body,” Pratt said. “He just carried on. He’s a real warrior.”
Pratt said he hopes his memorial design will make native veterans who served in any of the military’s five branches feel welcome. “Native people, we’re the same, but we’re different,” he explained.
Read more: Winning Design Selected For New Native American Veterans Memorial
NY Cardinal, Guard Remember 'Fighting Father Duffy'
By By Col. Richard Goldenberg
via the Military.com web site
NEW YORK -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York joined the National Guard's top chaplain in Times Square on Wednesday, June 27, to salute the Army's most famous chaplain: New York National Guard Lt. Col. Francis P. Duffy.
New York Army National Guard Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Scott Ehler, left, introduces the official party to commemorate the life and career of New York Army National Guard Chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy at Times Square June 27, 2018. Ehler joined with Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, WWI National Commissioner Dr. Libby O’Connell and the National Guard’s senior chaplain, Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Kenneth “Ed” Brandt to commemorate Duffy’s service in WWI. (U.S. Army National Guard photo/Jean Kratzer)Dolan and Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Kenneth "Ed" Brandt, who also serves as one of the Army's Deputy Chief of Chaplains, marked the anniversary of Duffy's death on June 26, 1932, by laying a wreath at the memorial to Father Duffy erected in Times Square in 1937.
Duffy, a member of the New York National Guard's 69th Infantry Regiment, was famed as leader and counselor to the Irish-Americans who served in the unit during World War I. He was also known for his good works at home.
When he died an estimated 50,000 New Yorkers lined the funeral procession route from St. Patrick's Cathedral to his burial site in the Bronx.
"Father Duffy was one of those chaplains who allowed his ministry to follow the Soldiers," Brandt said. "In true chaplain fashion he cared about the person more than the ideology. Father Duffy served all, regardless of religion, seeing each person as a child of God."
"I am so grateful that in the middle of this part of the world, New York City, would stand the statue of the priest who exemplified so radiantly that love of God and love of country," Dolan said.
Read more: NY Cardinal, Guard Remember 'Fighting Father Duffy'
Immigrants played a major role in winning World War I
By Gordon C. Morse
via The Virginian-Pilot newspaper pilotonline.com web site
Courtemont-Varennes, France — It may have happened 100 years ago, but the more time you spend with the first world war, the more it closes in on the present.
You want to kick around immigration? You want to witness an argument? Then wade into the thicket of American politics in the early years of the 20th century and see the discussion then, in the aftermath of one of the greatest spans of immigration in the nation’s history.
Gordon C. MorseHow were we going to make this work as a nation? No one really knew. With people arriving from here, there and everywhere, flooding the cities, entering the rural interior, it became a source of social bewilderment and sharp political division.
Then America looked up in 1917 and said, Oh, we might have to join a raging, ongoing war on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean — from whence many of us came. It was a previously unimaginable choice that rapidly became compelling.
In the third year of the Great War, when America decided to participate, we had the regular army — what there was of it. “With 108,000 officers and men,” writes Patricia O’Toole, in her new biography of Woodrow Wilson, “The Moralist,” the U.S. Army “was on par with the army of Montenegro.”
National Guard divisions would help, but we needed millions of Americans in uniform, not tens of thousands. A draft would have to make up the difference.
That’s how the “National Army” emerged, an induction-based collection of divisions topped with professional military leadership. Among the first to get ready and enter the fighting was the 77th Division, based in New York, and that involved an amalgam of ethnic backgrounds.
Pulling people together and training them became a business of Americans meeting Americans, from sea to shining sea — and it started with being able to talk to each other, says historian Ed Lengel.
Read more: Immigrants played a major role in winning World War I
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Historian Corner:
Theodore Roosevelt and the First World War
In June 22nd’s WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 77, Historian David Pietrusza, the author of the book: TR's Last War - Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy, spoke with host Theo Mayer about Theodore Roosevelt, his role in World War I, and the suffering that the war ultimately inflicted on him and his family. The following is a transcript of the interview:
Theo Mayer: Welcome to the Historian Corner. Now, we've talked a lot about the many amazing men and women of this amazing period in history and today we're gonna focus on a historical figure whose name we all know. A really interesting man and one of the biggest personalities of the turn of the century. The man who was president of the United States from 1901 to 1909- President Theodore Roosevelt. With us is historian David Pietrusza, who's here to help us understand the man and his role leading up to and during the war that changed the world. David, thank you for joining us today.
David Pietrusza: Thank you.
Theo Mayer: Let me start by briefly asking you to describe Roosevelt's two terms ending five years before the war broke out, so we have some context.
Teddy Roosevelt served as the 26th President of the United States between 1901 and 1909. At the time of the First World War, he still loomed large in the American consciousness.David Pietrusza: They're just incredibly energetic. TR just exhausts the American public and observers of his administration and himself. If he's not busting trusts, he's creating national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, passing a pure food and drug act, regulating the railroads and their rates, creating the Panama Canal, seizing that land from Colombia, circumventing Congress, getting the job done by hook or crook, resolving the Russo-Japanese war and winning the Nobel Peace Prize and sending the Great White Fleet around the world. He's just so busy all the time and when he's not doing that, he's reading a book a day and raising a brood of about five children, running all over Washington, riding horses and fording the Rock Creek. Just really fascinating the American public, the American media, like no president had in a very long time, maybe if ever.
Theo Mayer: Pretty outspoken as well and as America was not joining the war, and as the election of '16 happened, he was pretty outspoken about that, wasn't he?
David Pietrusza: At first, oddly enough, he's quite circumspect. When the Germans invade Belgium, he sounds almost Wilsonian about, "Well, the Germans have to do what they have to do. Nations have to do that," but then, particularly when the Lusitania is sunk, he is absolutely outraged and he verbally declares war on Germany and on the Wilson administration which he thinks is not doing enough, not being tough enough with Germany and not preparing for a war. If war comes, you should be prepared to fight it- the old "speak softly and carry a big stick."
Theo Mayer: He actually campaigned to become the general of the armies during all this when we finally declared war, didn't he?
Read more: Podcast Article- Teddy Roosevelt Interview Pietrusza
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
War Tech: Ice City
In June 22nd's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 77, host Theo Mayer describes the “Ice City”, a refuge and network of tunnels carved within a glacier by the Austro-Hungarian army. The following is a transcript of that segment:
In 1916 the Austro-Hungarians build Ice City within Marmolada glacier, pictured here today.
“We're headed back to the high Dolomite Mountains, where the Austro-Hungarians and the Italian armies fought bitterly during World War I, and we're gonna look at the Ice City. Now, fighting in those craggy steep mountains created a set of logistical problems quite unlike those of the muddy, flooded field of Flanders or the chalky wooded terrain of Northern France. Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers needed to fight off hypothermia, frostbite and rock slides as they fought each other from stalemate to bloody stalemate. The armies had to carry, drag, and hoist artillery way up the mountain to 12,000 feet, and when the artillery was fired across the enemy, it didn't have mud to sink into as it exploded. Instead, it sheared off sharp rocks and sent stone shards flying in all directions. Now, way up in the rocky crags, digging trenches just wasn't an option, so they went inside the mountain and underground. The Italians built outposts attached to the sheer cliff sides while the Austro-Hungarians took to tunneling deep inside of the mountains and the glaciers- including what's known today as the Ice City. From the summer of 1916, Austrian lieutenant Leo Handle led an effort to build tunnels deep into the glacier to avoid both Italian fire and the unstable environment of alpine warfare. After more than 10 months of hard work, over seven miles of tunnels had been dug out of the ice, providing room for more than 200 soldiers with barracks, kitchens, chapels and food stores for good measure. To help the soldiers navigate the endless web of tunnels, signs were made, featuring the names of celebrities, world cities and fairytales.
Cross section of Ice City
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Update from the States: An Interview with the Delta Cultural Center's Drew Ulrich
In July 20th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 81, Drew Ulrich, the curator of the Delta Cultural Center in Arkansas, spoke with host Theo Mayer about a new exhibit honoring Delta region residents who served in the Great War. The following is a transcript of the interview:
Theo Mayer: For our updates from the States, we're headed to the wonder state, Arkansas. There, a new exhibit opens for the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas: Over Here and There, The Sons and Daughters of Arkansas' Delta at War, honoring the men and women of the Delta area who served in World War I. With us to tell us more about the exhibit and the World War I legacy in the Delta region of Arkansas is Drew Ulrich, the curator of the Delta Cultural Center, a state museum with a mission to preserve and present the rich and varied cultural history of Eastern Arkansas. Welcome, Drew.
Drew Ulrich: Thank you so much, Theo.
Theo Mayer: Great to have you. Drew, can you help us understand exactly what the Arkansas Delta is?
Drew Ulrich is Exhibit Curator at the Delta Cultural Center
Drew Ulrich: Basically, what defines the Delta is the reach of the Mississippi's tributaries, large and small, into the state. So you should imagine the eastern third of the state. It's comprised of about 27 counties.
Theo Mayer: Now, tell us about the Delta 100 years ago. What was it like? And tell us about the wartime service of the men and women from there.
Drew Ulrich: Well, predictably, the main economic sectors were lumber and agriculture. It was an incredibly rural landscape. The few cities in the area were Helena, Jonesboro, and Pine Bluff. A lot of lumber mills existed in those towns, and they turned out a lot of wood that would become rifle stocks for the Army and Marine Corps. There was a very enthusiastic response to the declaration of war and to enlistment. And the first officer wounded in the war was actually a Delta man from Lonoke County, Lieutenant Heber McLaughlin.
Theo Mayer: Drew, if I come to the exhibit, what am I gonna see? 
The counties that make up the Arkansas Delta region
Drew Ulrich: Our exhibit, Over Here and There, illustrates through texts, images, and artifacts, the advent of American involvement in the war, and the impressive contribution of the people of Arkansas in the Delta region. The exhibit underscores the men who served as soldiers, Marines, and sailors, and the women who enlisted as military nurses and clerks, both stateside and overseas. The enterprise begins with a synopsis of local communities embracing the declaration of war, and then it reflects on how recruitment and enlistment unfolded locally, especially the implementation of the draft instituted by the Selective Service Act. Excerpts of letters sent home from servicemen of the Delta region are featured throughout most of the sections, describing veterans' experiences. The succeeding sections discuss the adjustment of Arkansas soldiers to fighting on the front in France, followed by the finale of combat and reaction to the armistice, and the journey back to Eastern Arkansas. The final section addresses commemorations of the war and its significance today, featuring contemporary images of memorials erected throughout the region to honor local veterans. The section also recalls the turmoil veterans and residents experienced alike in the war's aftermath, including economic depression, unemployment, the new deadly enemy of the Spanish flu, as well as extreme racial violence. And finally, to further distinguish veterans' different and similar experiences during the war, I profiled three vets from the region and their individual stories so that a visitor can follow them through the exhibition: a US Army nurse, Suzy Almer, who led nursing staff at Camp Pike, private first class Herman Davis, a soldier whom Pershing identified as,"the fourth most indispensable soldier in the American Expeditionary Force," and finally, Private Frank Moore, an African-American farmer drafted late in the war, who after his discharge, found himself embroiled in hostilities at Elaine.
Theo Mayer: Well, it's pretty darn comprehensive, I have to say. I think you left no stone unturned from pre-declaration through post-war trauma.
Delta Cultural Center visitor center, located in downtown Helena, is the home of Over Here and There
Drew Ulrich: I did my very, very best.
Theo Mayer: How's the reception been? What kind of audiences are you getting?
Drew Ulrich: Well, we had a wonderful grand opening in early May, in which Senator Boozman's military liaison gave remarks and I introduced the exhibit. And the reception's been very upbeat and positive, and I'm really excited to get more and more traffic as time elapses. It's going to be up until February next year.
Theo Mayer: Perfect. Well, Drew, thank you so much for coming in and telling us about it.
Drew Ulrich: Oh, yes, yes, I'm glad to share it, and I appreciate this chance to talk to you about it.
Theo Mayer: Drew Ulrich is the exhibit curator at the Delta Cultural Center. Learn more about their exhibit, Over Here and There, by following the links in the podcast notes.
Podcast Notes and links
http://www.deltaculturalcenter.com/exhibits/over-here-and-there
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Photography in the Great War
In July 20th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 81, we focused primarily on photography: its effect on the war, a modern curation project, and even an addition to our vernacular. Corine Reis, a French public historian, spoke with host Theo Mayer about her WW1 photography blog, Waldo Pierce Goes to War. Later in the show, we dug into the importance of photography to military operations and personal photography among soldiers in WW1 Tech, and examined the word "snapshot." The following is a transcript of the interview, followed by WW1 Tech and Speaking WW1:
Theo Mayer: This week for Spotlight on the Media, we're revisiting one of the most interesting, thoughtful, and well-curated collections of World War I imagery out there on the internet. The blog Waldo Pierce Goes to War is curated by French public historian Corine Reis. We first talked about her blog back in Episode 61. Katherine introduced me to it, and I was truly taken in by Corrine's sensibility, especially showing images that I'd never seen before. Corine, welcome to the podcast.
Corine Reis: Bonjour, thank you for inviting me.
Theo Mayer: Corine, you started your blog not to explore photography about World War I, but to follow Waldo Pierce, a well-known American painter and a really colorful character. Could you give our audience a quick introduction to Waldo? And please tell us why you decided to document his World War I journey.
This image of American soldiers, taken in July 1918, is one of many featured on Corine Reis's WW1 blog.
Corine Reis: I was introduced to Waldo because he was my husband's uncle. The family stories about Waldo fascinated me, and I started exploring his life more deeply. I discovered an incredible character that you find only in novels, an artist, a warrior, a family man, a real life explorer. His bravery at the Battle of Verdun with the ambulance service won him the Croix de Guerre. Then he became an official artist for the American government while doing intelligence work. To me, his journey represents all that I love about America -courage, strength, generosity- and I wanted to share that with other people.
Theo Mayer: Waldo was a friend of Hemingway's, and both men were volunteer ambulance drivers. What do you think made these people volunteer, and what do you think they had in common that made them go to war before the country did?
Corine Reis: Waldo, Hemingway, and all these young volunteers were college-educated, they read the papers and were well-informed about the situation in Europe and the looming danger of German imperialism. They were all driven by the American spirit, which is to protect the land, freedom, justice, democracy. For them it was a no-brainer, they just had to do the right thing. Without hesitation, they left their sweet American life to stand up for Europe. They truly walked the walk.
Theo Mayer: Well, I completely agree with you, and it was a really powerful movement. I wanna move along a little bit and talk about your photographs from the period. What struck me particularly was how the images that you're finding and posting show everyday life in wartime from different perspectives. How do you find these photos?
Corine Reis: Because I work in both English and French, I'm able to access more resources. The most important component of successful research is using the right keyword, and being able to use those in both French and English ... La Contemporaine, the magnificent French library, digitized the photographic treasures from World War I that were buried and made them public, and the photos add important and moving context to the American diaries from that era.
Theo Mayer: Your blog is wonderful. What's the most challenging thing for you about the project?
Corine Reis: My main challenge is a lack of time. Indeed, writing about such an enormous war can be intense and time consuming. I wish I had more time to write about black soldiers, women, children, pets, food, and of course, the all-important pinard, which is French slang for wine.
Theo Mayer: Beautiful. Now, we have a wonderful audience and a lot of them also speak French. What would you like to say to our audience in your native tongue?
Corine Reis: Ce blog est ma facon de remercier l'Amerique venue sauver mon pays. Je dis vive l'Amerique and vive la France.
Theo Mayer: So for our English speaking audience, what did you just say?
Corine Reis: This blog is my way to express my gratitude to America, which came to my country's rescue. I say long live America, long live France.
Theo Mayer: Corine, thank you so much for joining us.
Corine Reis: Merci, thank you so much for your wonderful work. Au revoir.
Theo Mayer: Au revoir, Corine. Corine Reis is a French public historian and the curator for the Waldo Pierce Goes to War blog. If you have any questions for Corine, you can tweet to us @theww1podcast, or follow the link in the podcast notes. We're gonna publish a few select images from Corine's collection on our Twitter channel @theww1podcast, so if you don't follow it yet, sign up. A lot of our stories have wonderful visual components to them, and that's where you'll find them.
Link:
https://waldopeircegoestowar.tumblr.com/
WW1 Tech:
Photography and the war had major influences on each other. In 1914, as the Germans streamed through Belgium towards France, pilots had seen the columns of invaders from the air. Now, they made estimations on the number of invaders, but the commanders just didn't believe that you could make such an accurate assessment from the sky. But soon after, the planes were outfitted with cameras and aerial reconnaissance grew into a major part of combat and strategy. The combination of these two relatively new technologies, the airplane and the camera, provided field commanders with a comprehensive map of the enemy positions and movements,
A British pilot shows off his camera as field dark room technicians started to stitch together dozens of images into comprehensive area maps. Now, there was a pattern here. Reconnaissance overflights preceded artillery bombardments, and artillery bombardments preceded ground offensives, a pattern that the soldiers began to recognize. And if you think about it, even though fighter plane aces were the noted, notorious knights of the sky, famed for engaging in dogfights, much of the time their actual job was protecting the recon planes. And in fact, those pilots and the specialized units that made sense of their photos probably had a greater impact on the war. On the ground, official war photographs and films were made by all sides. U.S. Signal Corps
A US Signal Corps camera man, France, April 1918 motion and still picture cameramen were assigned to every division and outfit of the American military, as well as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. These cameramen produced nearly 600,000 feet of film abroad, and in the United States the Signal Corps shot another 277,000 feet of film. The US Signal Corps documented an American war in an unprecedented fashion, preserving countless motion and still images for posterity; a huge boon to the Centennial as the Library of Congress has added troves of great digitized images and films to the publicly available resource. But the Signal Corps cameramen weren't the only ones on the ground with cameras. World War I started just after the introduction of a world-changing new camera, the vest pocket Kodak, or VPK.
The VPK, a camera beloved by soldiers in the First World War By 1914, war photography had actually been around for over a half a century. However, due to the tech limitations of the camera gear, pictures of war were mostly staged. According to military historian Joe Cooksy, 19th century war photographers were hampered by wet clay technology, with unwieldy cameras that needed long exposure times. This was not exactly ideal for capturing the chaos of war. But the 1912 Kodak Vest Pocket camera was small enough to carry, and anyone could take a picture. It quickly exploded in popularity, and reached the Front in 1914 with the first wave of British soldiers. Commanders were far from thrilled about this, as they wanted to control the public's vision of the war. After friendly images of Brits and Germans surfaced following the Christmas Truce of 1914, the British government banned portable cameras. Of course, this move didn't work. In contrast, the German authorities were fairly tolerant of personal photography in their ranks. In the US, the Kodak Company marketed the VPK specifically to soldiers, who brought them to France in droves. According to a Kodak advertising poster, the camera helped the soldier create, "History from their viewpoint." Now, this isn't just effective marketing, but a poignant statement regarding the significance of personal photography in wartime. So thanks to this new piece of photographic technology, soldiers, nurses, and civilians alike produced a massive collection of personal images, and were able to share their experience with us about the war that changed the world. Imaging and photography, this week's focus for World War I War Tech.
Links:
https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/aerial-photography-first-world-war/
https://www.wired.com/2014/08/wwi-photos/
http://dronecenter.bard.edu/wwi-photography/
https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/photos-world-war-i-images-museums-battle-great-war/
https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/the-vest-pocket-kodak-was-the-soldiers-camera/
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/photography
https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/technique/interviews/vest-pocket-kodak-book-107481
https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2017/03/16/shooting-world-war-i-the-history-of-the-army-signal-corps-cameramen-1917-1918/
https://rememberingwwi.villanova.edu/photography/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/inside-first-world-war/part-eight/10742060/aerial-photography-world-war-one.html
http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/memoryofwar/staged-photography-and-photography-as-a-stage/
https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/world-war-i-in-photos/
Speaking WW1:
We're going to stay with our photo kick and reprise a word we featured in Episode 46: snapshot. Now, Americans have been known for their shooting prowess since the colonial and pioneer days. And in World War I, they continued to display their sharp shooting skills in the trenches. But shooting from a trench in war was quite different from shooting back home. Lifting your head up while taking careful aim at a target could get you killed, so when you went to fire, speed was key. Snapping up over the parapet, aim, fire, and drop became the standard procedure, which came to be known as the snapshot.
British troops in a trench, 1915. Personal cameras, such as the Vest Pocket Kodak, made candid 'snapshots' such as this one possible. The word snapshot had been used to describe a quick shot from a firearm during the 1800s, but came into much more frequent use during World War I. Around the same time, the word was then borrowed for another activity. As we mentioned in this week's World War I War Tech, this was the dawn of the portable camera era. Pop up a camera, aim, and fire, you've just taken a snapshot. A game emerged called "snap-shooting": a photographic version of tag where you tried to escape while someone chased you with a camera, trying to catch you on film. It was essentially a photographic version of hunting. Snapshot, see the podcast notes to learn more.
Links
https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Doughboy-Fritz-Soldier-Slang/dp/144563
7839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508848013&sr=8-1&keywords=tommy+doughboy+fritz
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/photography
https://books.google.com/books?id=e1uOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=snapshot+word+origin&source=bl&ots=lbRMBtv72g&sig=0z6RxsEwfHGJrS79B1ivAL5GoKI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs3Nijnr7XAhWH0iYKHcyvC-M4ChDoAQgoMAA#v=onepage&q=snapshot%20word%20origin&f=false
Mr. Howard Schultz delivers remarks.
Starbucks Chairman co-hosts WW1CC event to support National WWI Memorial in Washington DC
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
On Monday, June 18th, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz endorsed the new National WWI Memorial in Washington DC, by headlining an event on the USS Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum in New York City.
As keynote speaker, he stated "America honors veterans of every major war with a National Memorial in Washington, DC except one, World War I. Thanks to the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, we will finally honor our World War I veterans, a tribute long overdue".
U.S. World War I Centennial Commission Vice Chair Edwin Fountain gives remarks.Schultz, who has served as Starbucks CEO, Executive Chairman, and global strategist since the coffee chain's beginning, is the son of a former U.S Army veteran. During his tenure, the Starbucks company has been a major supporter of veterans issues, and veteran hiring.
Mr. Schultz was joined by Centennial Commission special advisor, Admiral Mike Mullen, USN (Ret), who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mullen stated "I am honored to work with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission in such a worthy and essential undertaking for our Nation. The National World War I Memorial will honor the sacrifice of our World War I veterans to ensure that the war is never forgotten"
The gala event brought together more than two hundred people from across the spectrum of business, philanthropy, military, and cultural communities. Among the guests attending the event were creative-advertising legend Robert Lenz, as well as Sandra Pershing, the granddaughter-in-law to General John Pershing, Mr. Wes Moore, CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, and the Honorable Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. Ambassador and U.S. Senator.
Read more: Starbucks Chairman co-hosts WW1CC event to support National WWI Memorial in Washington DC
Members from the winning WWI Prize team in the Junior Division pose with WW1CC Education Coordinator James Taub (center). They created the project entitled "Kaiser Wilhelm the Second, King George the Fifth, and Czar Nicholas the Second: the conflict of compromised cousins."
National History Day Awards National Prizes for WWI-themed Student Projects
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
National History Day (NHD) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes the teaching and learning of history in middle and high schools around the world through a variety of programs for teachers and students.
The National History Day Contest is NHD's biggest program. Established in 1974, the National History Day Contest encourages more than half a million middle and high school students around the world to conduct original research on historical topics of interest.
For the contest, students in grades 6-12 present projects at the local and affiliate levels. The students create entries as an individual, or a group, in one of five categories: Documentary, Exhibit, Paper, Performance or Website.
The contests is huge -- it takes place in all fifty states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, South Korea, China, South Asia, and Central America. Students first show their projects at the local level. Then, they compete in a series of regional contests, with top entries advancing to state/affiliate contests. The top two entries in each category and division are invited to compete at the national-level Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Read more: National History Day Awards National Prizes for WWI-themed Student Projects