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The Great War and Armistice Day

This slideshow contains 19 items
1
Company E, Skowhegan, 1917

Company E, Skowhegan, 1917

Item 7322 info
Skowhegan History House

Skowhegan National Guard Company E photo taken in April of 1917 in front of the Dodge Block (now Sterns) on Water Street/Madison Avenue near bridge in Skowhegan. Front Row, sitting, left to right, 4th-Brooks Savage.


2
Red Cross Volunteers, Portland, ca. 1918

Red Cross Volunteers, Portland, ca. 1918

Item 6295 info
Maine Historical Society

Red Cross volunteers pose in front of Portland's Union Station during World War I. The apron-style uniform, also known as a "washable uniform," was worn by support-staff volunteers. Support and workroom volunteers assisted with duties such as the preparation of medical supplies, and managing donations. Their uniform style was similar to other support volunteers, like canteen (food service)workers, but it differed from nurse uniforms.

All volunteers were required to wear the veil (headdress) during service.


3
Skowhegan Doughboys in France, WWI, France, 1918

Skowhegan Doughboys in France, WWI, France, 1918

Item 7583 info
Skowhegan History House

Sam Hitchins and Clayton Foyer pose in front of the Cathedral at Seine-et-Marne France in July 1918. The photo was printed on a postcard and mailed home in August of that year.


4
Frank Whittier, Brunswick, ca. 1917

Frank Whittier, Brunswick, ca. 1917

Item 9379 info
Pejepscot History Center

Frank Whittier, a physician from Brunswick, served as a medical doctor in the Army during World War I. He was stationed in Portland.


5
Dogan Goon in U.S. Army uniform, ca. 1918

Dogan Goon in U.S. Army uniform, ca. 1918

Item 10366 info
Maine Historical Society

Dogan Goon was born about 1893 in southwestern China. He later immigrated to the United States, eventually making his way to Boston by 1917. In August of that year, he was arrested by a Chinese Inspector for violation of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by the U.S. Government in 1882 with the specific intention of barring Chinese immigration. Essentially, it aimed to eliminate the importation of Chinese laborers. The rationale for such legislation is similar to modern complaints about Central American migrant workers – immigrants coming into America in large numbers to work for less pay, therefore taking jobs from American citizens.

Goon was acquitted of violating the Chinese Exclusion Act, but was pressured to serve in the U.S. military to demonstrate patriotism. He served in the Army Medical Corp from June 1918 until January 1919, when he was honorably discharged. His newly confirmed citizenship allowed Goon to marry a Chinese woman and bring her to the United States.

His wife, Toy Len Goon, was named American Mother of the Year in 1952, just nine years after the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act.


6
Raymond W. Stanley, 1918

Raymond W. Stanley, 1918

Item 10769 info
Stanley Museum

Raymond W. Stanley (1894-1985) enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on May 9, 1917, taking advantage of Harvard College's policy of allowing seniors to enlist in active duty prior to fulfilling graduation requirements.

He was assigned to the Naval Reserve's First Naval District at Bath on May 17, 1917, and was eventually assigned to his own motor launch, the U.S.S. Empress, which he had offered to the Navy for use during WWI as a sectional patrol craft, leased at $1 per month.

He served a tour of duty in Boothbay Harbor, patrolling the coastline, ferrying naval personnel from ship to shore, and investigating alleged sightings of enemy activity.

As the only son of F.E. Stanley of Kingfield, a wealthy auto manufacturer, and in possession of his own boat, Raymond Stanley was in the privileged position of being able to serve his country in a non-combat, state-side role.

Not wanting to be seen as "slacking" active duty, however, Stanley took the earliest opportunity to enlist in the new Naval Aviation Corps to train as a combat pilot for European service, and is shown here in his Naval Aviator's uniform, circa May 1918. He was soon after discharged from the Naval Aviation Corps on May 28, 1918, after his pre-flight medical examination found that he was color blind.

Unable to fly, Raymond Stanley re-enlisted June 5, 1918, in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, using his draftsman's skills to illustrate WWI aviation flight manuals for other pilots. He was discharged from the Army Signal Corps with the rank of corporal on January 21, 1919, at the end of the war.


7
Women workers at the Portland Company, ca. 1917

Women workers at the Portland Company, ca. 1917

Item 5762 info
Maine Historical Society

During World War I women were employed at the Portland Company to help manufacture 108 mm shell casings for the United States Army.


8
Women at work at the Portland Company, ca. 1917

Women at work at the Portland Company, ca. 1917

Item 5763 info
Maine Historical Society

Women at the Portland Company inspect 8-inch howitzer shells (208 mm) for use in World War I.

The Portland Company made the shells, which were then packed in pairs in wooden boxes for shipment to a central depot to be filled with an explosive compound.


9
108-millimeter howitzer shell production, ca. 1917

108-millimeter howitzer shell production, ca. 1917

Item 8690 info
Maine Historical Society

"The Portland Company made tens of thousands of these brass 108-millimeter howitzer shell casings for the war effort in 1917-1918. These men are machining the casings to government specifications in the machine shop." -- Fletcher, David H. 'The Portland Company 1846-1982.' Charleston, S.C. : Arcadia Pub., 2002. 114.


10
On Patrol in Boothbay Harbor, 1917

On Patrol in Boothbay Harbor, 1917

Item 9478 info
Stanley Museum

Loaned to the U.S. Naval Reserve during WW1, the "Confrey" was said to be "the fastest boat in Boothbay Harbor and Eastern Maine" at that time. The "Confrey" is shown here on patrol in Boothbay Harbor in 1917, with Raymond W. Stanley at the helm. Raymond Stanley enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve before graduating from Harvard in 1917, and served as Quartermaster 1st Class. He was assigned to the USS Empress (a motor launch owned by his father, F.E. Stanley, and leased to the navy during WW1) and other patrol vessels in Boothbay Harbor.


11
Envelope of World War I letter, 1916

Envelope of World War I letter, 1916

Item 7270 info
Maine Historical Society

Private F. Hubbard wrote this letter to Elizabeth Bascome Jewett on April 25, 1916. Note the censor's stamp on the lower right hand corner.


12
Letter from F. Hubbard to Elizabeth Bascome Jewett, 1916

Letter from F. Hubbard to Elizabeth Bascome Jewett, 1916

Item 7013 info
Maine Historical Society

British soldier Private F. Hubbard wrote this letter to Elizabeth Bascome Jewett from the war front in France April 2, 1916. He tells her he is safe because he is a cook, but that he can hear the guns and the firing. He also comments that they do not stay in one place very long.


13
Fourth of July on Squirrel Island, 1918

Fourth of July on Squirrel Island, 1918

Item 9486 info
Stanley Museum

Miles Bracewell (standing at the left of the photo) sings during the 1918 Fourth of July ceremonies at Squirrel Island. Bracewell, who had a summer home on Squirrel Island, was a noted baritone and opera star. His career on the stage was limited by physical lameness as a result of a polio-like illness, but he was in great demand as a vocalist.

The children taking part in this patriotic WWI ceremony are dressed up to represent American servicemen and women at home and abroad during the European War.


14
Red Cross on parade, Portland, 1918

Red Cross on parade, Portland, 1918

Item 10589 info
Maine Historical Society

Red Cross and Red Star nurses make a long procession through the streets of Portland during a parade on April 6, 1918. The event was the Third Liberty Loan march.

The American Red Cross nursing corps was started in 1909, and by the first World War there were 24,000 nurses who served the country through the Army and Navy Nurse Corps. They served in Europe and on the homefront. The Red Cross provided the vast majority of the nurses who served in both the Army and the Navy.


15
Armistice Day, Skowhegan, 1918

Armistice Day, Skowhegan, 1918

Item 8169 info
Skowhegan History House

A man on Water Street, Skowhegan, shouting the news through a megaphone that World War I was over on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.


16
Soldiers at WWI victory celebration, Houlton, July 4, 1919

Soldiers at WWI victory celebration, Houlton, July 4, 1919

Item 9627 info
Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum

World War I victory celebrations in Market Square in Houlton on July 4, 1919 . Army Officers and a Navy Officer along with several soldiers are awaiting events.


17
World War Victory gate, Houlton, 1919

World War Victory gate, Houlton, 1919

Item 6482 info
University of Maine at Presque Isle Library

The Victory Gate for Houlton's 1919 4th of July celebration on Market Square. The event celebrated the end of World War I, November 11, 1918.


18
Victory Celebration, Houlton, 1919

Victory Celebration, Houlton, 1919

Item 6483 info
University of Maine at Presque Isle Library

World War I victory celebration in Market Square in Houlton.

A large U.S. flag is suspended across the street. Several other U.S. Flags are flying. Bunting and banners decorate buildings around Market Square.

A registration booth and a welcome gate have been erected. The front of the F.W. Woolworth store, at left, also is decorated.


19
Tank, July 4th parade, Houlton, 1919

Tank, July 4th parade, Houlton, 1919

Item 9625 info
Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum

World War I Victory celebration in Market Square in Houlton on July 4th, 1919. A large U.S. flag is suspended across the street. The parade featured an M1917 tank, also known as the "Six-ton Special Tractor" or "Six-ton tank" (modeled after the French built, Renault char léger FT-17).

The M1917 used the first successful caterpillar tread that was first used on the steam log hauler invented by Alvin O. Lombard, Waterville (see: A Salute to Maine, by Daphne Winslow Merrill, 1983, p.127).


This slideshow contains 19 items
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