World War I

Mythbusting the Legend of the Baker Twins

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Through compelling and thorough research, Donna Vojvodich, Historian for the U.S. Coast Guard’s SPARS Stories History Program, busts a fun but sadly persistent erroneous legend of the alleged service of the Baker twins during World War I. They were not the “first” women to serve in the Coast Guard. In fact, the Baker twins didn’t serve at all.

The honor of first goes to Myrtle Hazard, who held the rating of electrician first class (E1) and enlisted in January 1918.

You can read all about it in “The Long Blue Line: The Baker Twins—Re-searching the first female Coasties – or were they?” online at https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/3311017/.

This is yet another example of our need, as serious family historians, to not accept other people’s unsupported conclusions as fact. We must instead carefully examine both textual and photographic records, do careful analysis, and base our conclusions on facts, not wishful thinking.

Alien Enemy Index, 1917-1919, is Now Online

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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently completed digitization of the Alien Enemy Index, 1917–1919 (National Archives Identifier [NAID] 602456), that contains 57,722 index cards that document U.S. government interest in – and actions concerning – enemy aliens during the First World War.  Enemy aliens were citizens of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. You can read more about this index and the related records at “The Alien Enemy Index, 1917-1919, is Now Digitized!” at https://historyhub.history.gov/genealogy/b/genealogy-blog/posts/the-alien-enemy-index-1917-1919-is-now-digitized.

The map below, courtesy of Australia’s Digital Classroom, shows the European boundaries of the Central Powers whose citizens were considered enemy aliens.

Search Tips: When searching the Enemy Alien Index in NARA’s Catalog, keep in mind that the first name of some aliens are abbreviated, such as “Chas.” for Charles or “Robt.” for Robert. Therefore, if searching by first and last name yields no results, search by surname only, or even by first name only for unusual first names.  Also consider searching by alternate spellings of a surname if you get no results.  In addition, some women are listed by their husband’s name, such as Mrs. Theodore Zeigler (NAID 296756836). You can also browse through an entire file unit (there are 23 file units), but be sure to set the “Sort by” order to either “Title (Alphabetically, A-Z)” or “Title (Alphabetically, Z-A)” instead of “Most Relevant.”    

Map URL: https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/images/map-showing-first-world-war-alliances

Death and Burial Practices in World War I and World War II

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You’ll want to see a great presentation by Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA, on Death and Burial Practices in World War I and World War II, a webinar on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars site. Rick walks you through the procedures used to identify, bury, and honor U.S. war dead, and the records created in that process. It’s free to all to view through 26 January 2021.

As the webinar description states: “Much of this webinar focuses on the process of collecting, identifying, and burying the dead, and the resulting records, including their genealogical significance. In World War I (1917–1918) there were 53,402 battle deaths, while in World War II (1941–1945) battle deaths rose to 291,557. There are 124,905 American war dead interred overseas. This webinar also addresses how the United States honors and memorializes those killed in battle, including the role of the American Battle Monuments Commission, the American Gold Star Mothers program, and the operation of the Army’s Grave Registration Service.”

Internment of Enemy Aliens During World War I

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The internment of over 110,000 Japanese citizens and Americans of Japanese descent during World War II is well-known. In contrast, U.S. internment of over 6,000 German citizens and other enemy aliens during the First World War has been largely forgotten.

Was your ancestor interned? Read my article, “Internment of Enemy Aliens During World War I” for more information. I recommend starting with online newspaper databases which sometimes contain news reports about aliens arrested and detained. Then, you’ll want to locate federal records in the custody of the U.S. National Archives. My article will introduce you to available records and how to request record searches and copies.

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Photo: Enemy aliens interned at Fort Douglas, Utah, pass the time by building model ships. 165-WW-161C-94. NAID 31478939. American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, 1917-18; Record Group 165, Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs; National Archives at College Park, MD. 

World War I Records Online

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April 6, 2017, marked the 100th anniversary of America’s entrance into the Great War. After remaining neutral for three years, the United States reluctantly entered what was supposed to be “The War to End All Wars.” By declaring war, President Woodrow Wilson committed the nation to join the other Allied countries in their efforts to defeat the German-led Central Powers.

As the largest repository of American World War I records, the National Archives invites you to browse the wealth of records and information documenting the U.S. experience in this conflict, including photographs, documents, audiovisual recordings, educational resources, articles, blog posts, lectures, and events from its new World War I Centennial portal. This portal links to selected digitized records.

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War Labor Policies Board, 1918-1919

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It seemed fitting to start the “Anti-Obscurant” series at the beginning….

Record Group 1, Records of the War Labor Policies Board, 1918-19, is about as obscure as one can get. This temporary World War I agency has the distinction of being Record Group 1 because its records were the first records received by the National Archives in the mid-1930s. The records measure a mere 12 cubic feet, and there are only 7 record series.

The Board was established by the Secretary of Labor on 13 May 1918. It was composed of representatives of the Labor, War, Navy, and Agriculture Departments; the War Industries Board; the U.S. Shipping Board; the Emergency Fleet Corporation; the Railroad, Food, and Fuel Administrations; and the Committee on Public Information. It was abolished in March 1919.

The Board formulated uniform policies for war labor administration, and promoted better housing conditions for war workers. After the Armistice, it considered proposals for canceling government contracts and for demobilization, and made studies of domestic and foreign wartime labor conditions and of labor policies relating to immediate postwar conditions in the United States.

After reading through the descriptions of the agency’s record series, it’s fairly clear that the Board’s records would most interest labor historians, World War I historians, and persons researching Chairman Felix Frankfurter, Executive Secretary George L. Bell, business adviser Herbert F. Perkins, economic expert Walton H. Hamilton, and staff member Helen Bary, who created two of the series.

Record Group 1 is clearly not a useful record group for genealogists—unless your ancestor was involved with the Board, in which case you may learn more than you wanted about the Board’s concerns during its 10-month existence.

This link will take you to description of the records in NARA’s online catalog.