Explore the wartime activities of twenty-five women associated with Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) serving in World War I through this digital collection. Letters, photographs, surveys, news clippings, postcards and other primary source material dating from 1917-1919 offer a fascinating window into their WWI experiences and provide excellent examples of the roles that women played during the Great War.
World War I drew many people affiliated with ISNU into service. As part of the home front efforts, ISNU librarian Ange. Vernon Milner organized a letter-writing campaign to ISNU affiliates serving in the war through the University's War Service Committee. Milner sought to document the participation of the students, alumni, faculty and staff of the University in WWI to keep a “preservation file” for future use. After the war, she also sent surveys to all who could be located. Until her death, Milner continued to correspond with many of these students and alumni, compiling and maintaining records for 806 individuals. Today, 685 of the 806 files remain (4 cubic feet). For more information about this collection visit the University Archives Finding Aid at Illinois State University.
This project was supported by an Educate and Automate Digital Imaging of Illinois History and Cultural Heritage Material awarded by the Illinois State Library in Fiscal Year 2002.