Registration Announcement
Native Americans fought in WWI for many reasons: proof of their loyalty to America, a desire to go overseas, ties to friends and family who volunteered, a desire to fight and prove their manhood (as many young men at the time wanted to do), and for a myriad of other reasons. Though a few all-Indian units did exist within the army, military leadership at the highest levels wanted full integration. Continue reading
Decoded Zimmermann Telegram
In the early 20th century, Americans tended to be isolationists when it came to foreign policy. For the most part, WWI looked like a European conflict into which America need not enter, and president Woodrow Wilson pledged to keep the country out of the conflict. However, after Germany continued to attack unarmed merchant and passenger ships the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with it. Continue reading
Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin Promoting Liberty Bonds in 1918
During WWI, the U.S. government raised money to support its war efforts through Liberty Bonds. Private citizens could purchase bonds, and after the war redeem them for the purchase price plus interest. The government issued four sets of bonds:
* The Emergency Loan Act (April 24, 1917) which set interest rates at 3.5%
* The Second Liberty Loan (October 1, 1917) which set interest rates at 4%
* The Third Liberty Loan (April 5, 1918) which set interest rates at 4.5%
* The Fourth Liberty Loan (September 28, 1918) which set interest rates at 4.25%
Several patients at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians purchased Liberty Bonds. As superintendent and chief disbursing agent for the asylum, Dr. Harry Hummer kept track of who held bonds, and their value. In a letter to the commissioner of Indian Affairs dated May 16, 1918, he listed the Second Liberty Loan Bonds held by patients. Kittie Spicer, Josephine Wells, Davis Roubideaux, Frederick Charging Eagle, Willie McCarthy, Luke Stands-by-Him, Robert Thompson, Joseph Marshall, and Edward Hedges owned bonds valued at $1,350 dollars on which $27 in interest had accrued.
Liberty Loan Poster
Third Liberty Loan Poster
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