Use of gymnasium for military endeavors
World War I; First World War; Military training; Students' Army Training Corps;
Gym was compulsory for sophomore students, and it is noted in this article that outdoor sports, such as soccer, hockey, and tennis, were played in the back of the gym - but only when that space was not occupied by the college company.
"Sporting Weekly"
'The Gale,' Knox College 1919
1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
Text
WWI-158
1917-1918
Donald Allensworth to Dr. W.E. Simonds
World War I; First World War; Military training; Soldiers;
Knox student Donald Allensworth requests a letter of recommendation from Dr. Simonds for his application to the Signal Officer's Reserve Corps.
Allensworth, Donald
5/1/1917
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-364-small
1917
Donald Allensworth to Dr. W.E. Simonds
First World War; World War I; Aviators; Soldiers;
Donald Allensworth complains of a lack of hometown support upon joining the army.
Allensworth, Donald
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-359; WWI-360
1917-1918
Donald Allensworth to Dr. W.E. Simonds
First World War; World War I; Military training; Soldiers;
Knox alumnus Donald Allensworth writes to Dr. Simonds to describe his service, saying that he had "a rather good job for anyone not wanting to see a little real service but I do not like it for that reason, thus my plans to go across." Allensworth also mentions Ralph Noble, a fellow Knox student who was later killed in the war.
Allensworth, Donald
12/3/1917
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-356-358-DA3
1917
Donald Allensworth to Dr. W.E. Simonds
First World War; World War I; Soldiers; Military training;
Donald Allensworth reports his desire to go overseas, and notes his homesickness upon seeing a copy of "The Knox Student," the College's student newspaper.
Allensworth, Donald
5/22/1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-361-363-DA2
1918
Donald Allensworth to Dr. W.E. Simonds
World War I; First World War; Military training; Soldiers;
Donald Allensworth writes Dr. Simonds a long and newsy letter about his time spent in military training in San Antonio, Texas. Allensworth notes, "There are many interesting and well sophisticated men here. So many of the rough, hard-boiled kind believe that to be a real army man, one has to be worse than the last, and they tell stories about themselves that one never would find out in private life. I suppose they expect respect or awe, I don't know which."
Allensworth, Donald
5/27/1917
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-365-373-DA
1917
Hettie Anderson's report
World War I; First World War; War relief; Y.W.C.A.;
Miss Hettie Anderson, Knox College class of 1903, was Director General of Lyons region in France for War Work Council of the Y.W.C.A. In her report of December 1917 she describes the ways she is helping the people in her region cope with the war. A mother with a six week old baby came asking for clothing for the baby, and a conductor on the tram asked for help finding her fiance; the last she knew he was in Egypt. She also describes the ways she is helping the people in her region cope with the war.
Anderson, Hettie
December, 1917
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
20.3 x 25.4 cm
eng
Text
WWI-028; WWI-029
1917-1918
Anonymous letter
Red Cross; World War I; First World War;
This writer describes the hardships and tribulations associated with being a Red Cross canteen worker. She writes, "I tell all the boys I come across that they must not feel they are accepting a charity from the American Red Cross when they get a meal or a bed or a bath - for they are not."
Anonymous
Janet Greig Post Manuscript Collection, Knox College Special Collections & Archives
8/13/1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
21.5 x 28.0 cm
ENG
Text
WWI-596; WWI-597
1914-1918
Letter from a corporal to an anonymous canteen worker
World War I; First World War;
A corporal writes a flowery letter to a canteen worker.
Anonymous;
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
21.5 x 28.0 cm
ENG
Text
WWI-588;
WWI-589;
1917-1918
Letter from John M. Baker to Dr. W.E. Simonds
World War I; First World War; Armistices; Soldiers;
The armistice was signed, and John M. Baker, member of the class of 1919 and future faculty member, was taken aback: "Dear Doctor Simonds: Every time I ever went to a fire it was extinguished before I arrived. Every time I ever got to go on a football trip the game was called off, and - " He expresses his surprise about the war being over: "I could not realize, we cannot realize yet - that our war had fizzled out too…. The big question now is when can I pick up the tangled ends of my education and finish spinning it out. I don't care what the Civil war fellows did, I want to come back to Knox."
Baker, John M.;
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
13.5 x 21.0 cm
eng
Text
WWI-455; WWI-456;
1917-1918
Letter from John M. Baker to Dr. W.E. Simonds
World War I; First World War; Military training; Soldiers;
Baker writes: "After a nearly two hundred mile cross country hike up here, our regiment and brigade has set to work on the last and most interesting part of our training, [actual] firing and reconnaissance under simulated campaign conditions. After ten months of waiting we are beginnning to see the actual task it is up to us to work at. It may take us many weeks yet before we leave but it is now a matter of weeks not months. I am afraid that as other people look at it, I am a failure in military life. I have put all I had into learning the game. I have gone without passes and applied myself steadily to reading up on it and figuring problems but I am still a corporal." Baker regales Simonds with tales of life in training: "I am so amazingly impractical. I worked weeks until I could use a certain crude fire control instrument better than anyone else in the Battery, then I made good with it out on the range and then - I went off and left it in the manger. My horse pulled it out and trampled on it! The other day after doing a fairly hard bit of reconnaissance, I fell off my horse. A few days later, I was just finishing successfully an orientation problem with the assistant Reconnaissance Officer when I nearly tripped the Colonel with a 50 meter tope line." Baker also observes "Men were just types to me when at college, now they are personalities..." Baker observes of his peers that "We are all mighty youthful, I guess for the spirit of the gun fire sets our blood tingling. War does not seem like a terrible thing, it seems fun. It seems like a thrilling game as we rehearse it out among the dark pines. It then seems a shame that it is only sham." Baker then goes on to note, "It is only when we return with our tired horses to camp, and see the barracks so recently occupied by the men who are now in the great work over there that we realize that it isn't fine, but means death perhaps - but even suffering sounds fascinating when you are strong and well and far away. Last fall I thought the men had no ideals about the war, but now it is different. They feel we have a great task to accomplish over there and that it will be difficult to finish but that it must be finished and they feel kind of pride.... It is great to be living in that hope!"
Baker, John M.;
7/15/1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
15.3 x 22.7 cm
eng
Text
WWI-457;
WWI-458;
WWI-459;
WWI-460;
1918
Letter regarding military instruction at colleges
World War I; First World War; Military training;
Secretary of War Newton D. Baker lays forth a plan to take advantage of "a great military asset" - able-bodied college-age men.
Baker, Newton D.
05-08-1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-411-small
1918
Letter from E.S. Banister to Kellogg D. McClelland
Banister notifies McClelland that he has been authorized to appear for a physical examination prior to acceptance into military service.
Banister, E.S.
02-18-1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
Text
WWI-412-small
1918
Letter from Bertha Bates to Mrs. Peck
Hospital wards; World War I; First World War; Nurses;
Bertha Bates writes that William Ferris' nurses and doctors "spoke of him with the greatest admiration and affection. His special nurse broke down and cried when she spoke to me about him. She said he was so sweet and brave and uncomplaining. His thoughts were in his home and he spoke to her of his home and family."
Bates, Bertha
Class of 1915, Student Series, Knox College Special Collections & Archives
10/1/1918
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
21.5 x 33.0 cm
ENG
Text
WWI-611
1914-1918
Alfred Baxter to Dr. W.E. Simonds
World War I; First World War; Soldiers;
Alfred Baxter writes of Ralph Noble's tragic death and describes the "restless spirits" who were initially eager to go to war.
Baxter, Alfred
<p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank">No Copyright - United States</a></p>
eng
text
WWI-323-small
1918