History may be lurking in a desk drawer in your own house. An old family photo album, unopened for decades, turned out to be full of pictures of Van Wert, Ohio, as the United States entered the First World War. The photographer, Harry A. Bailey, was a young man who had enlisted the day the war was declared; as he waited to do his bit (which he ultimately did with some distinction), he took pictures of the big parade and the various war preparations around town. These pictures are a priceless record of a small city’s response to the war effort in 1917. Some of them are also unique records of the state of certain buildings in Van Wert more than a century ago.
As I scan the pictures, I’m donating them to Wikimedia Commons in their own category. They are in the public domain: anyone can use them for any purpose.
Here our photographer has climbed on the roof of a building at Main and Washington Streets. The distinctive Second Empire courthouse marks the spot as the central block of Main Street.
The parade passes Crooks Bros. Hardware at Main and Washington.
The scene on the ground.
Why we fight: never forget the rape of Belgium. Were these really Belgian refugees, or were they just Ohioans dressed up to look like the magazine pictures of Belgian refugees? No matter; the point is made.
As a general rule, your patriotism can be measured by the size of the flag you carry.
We hope this profuse growth of bunting will not get wadded up in the machinery.
A billboard company helpfully provides a War Map of the Western Battle Front. You can also read Van Wert County’s war record so far if you enlarge the picture:
Enlisted Men, 482
Made Supreme Sacrifice, 3
Nurses, 15
Doctors, 15
Liberty Bonds, $1,650,000
Thrift Stamps, $600,000
Red Cross, $35,000
YMCA, 22,375 (?)
Salvation Army, 1457
Knights of Columbus, [no visible figure].
The War Campaign hard at work. With Van Wert mobilized this way, the Germans don’t stand a chance.