#TBT in the Archives 9/28/17: World War I

In April 1916 after it became clear a policy of non-intervention was no longer possible, the United States declared war against Germany, entering what was then known as the Great War. Men and women across the nation mobilized in support of the nation's war effort, and the Cumberland Valley State Normal School was no exception.

Most young men entering the armed services were conscripted, though certainly a large number enlisted by choice. In October 1917, Principal Ezra Lehman reported 25 to 30 male students had been conscripted since the last school year. Additionally, several women had been pulled out of school by their local school districts to begin teaching before finishing their own studies - a move made necessary by the conscription of male teachers. Other women had not returned to school because of the need to make money for their families after the departure of men.

Additionally, football prospects for the 1917-1918 season looked dim because of a lack of players.

Not all was bad, according to the Normal School Herald. The student body readily embraced war work, patriotism, and rationing.

This article in the January 1918 Normal School Herald details the patriotism on display at weekly meetings of the Philo Literary Society.

This article from 1917-1918 reports the food rationing taking place at C.V.S.N.S. during World War II.

Students in sewing class eagerly completed items for men at the front.

By fall of 1918, the school had settled into the rhythm of the war, and regularly published lists of men serving in all branches of the armed service. In the October 1918 issue, four full pages contained the names of men in service.

Some of the men who served in the Great War.

The school was also beginning to experience the effects of the Spanish influenza epidemic that ravaged the world in 1918-1919. And, it soon became clear Shippensburg alumni and students were among those killed in the war: Frank Carbaugh, '17; Arthur D. Noll, '17; Charles D. Kell, '16; and Harry Taylor.

A poem written by alum Frank Carbaugh while convalescing in a military hospital in France. He died in August 1918.

The Class of 1917 donated a bronze tablet in honor of the Shippensburg men lost during World War I. Initially the plaque was placed in the Old Main Chapel. In 2017, it is in the lobby of Memorial Auditorium.

When the war ended on November 11, 1918, the campus (newly reopened after being closed for a few weeks for the flu) held a parade to celebrate, complete with class marches and musical selections. For the time being, there was peace.


Sources:
Cumberland 1919. Shippensburg, PA.
The Normal School Herald, October 1917-July 1919. Shippensburg, PA