On April 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson asked a joint session of Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Congress responded with Public Resolution 65-1, 40 STAT 1. In honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I, we take a look at some U.S. Government publications available on the topic.
Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front – World War I features numerous illustrations, many never before published, include images of aircraft, cameras, and people, authentic official aerial photos, and maps in varying scales, all designed to help the reader relive the exhilarating and dangerous experience of aerial observation during World War I.
United States Army in World War I (2001) (CD-ROM) includes United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919, volumes 1-17 of original documents compiled in 1919; Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, V. 1-5; an extended guide to the battlefields of World War 1 first published in 1938; and Army Art of World War 1.
The Army Medical Department, 1917-1941 and Answering the Call: The U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 1917-1919: A Commemorative Tribute to Military Nursing in World War I look at how the Army addressed medical concerns and how medical professionals answered the call to service.
Several interesting publications provide first person accounts of the war.
- The United States Marine Corps in the World War by Major Edwin N. McClellan
- Over there with the AEF: the World War I memoirs of Captain Henry C. Evans
- Letters of Second Lieutenant Charles Wesley Chapman, Jr., December 19, 1894-May 3, 1918
To help bolster the morale of troops during the war Stars and Stripes was created and while it was technically the official American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) newspaper, it was editorially independent. The Library of Congress has made the full run of The Stars and Stripes World War I edition available through its digital collections.
To staff and pay for the war, the Government launched campaigns to garner public support. The U.S. Center of Military History has made some of these available from their site.
Many of those who died while fighting in Europe were buried in temporary cemeteries established by the Army’s Graves Registration Service. In 1921, Congress authorized the creation of eight permanent World War I cemeteries on foreign soil. In January 2017, the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery became the ninth World War I American cemetery. Each cemetery is accompanied by a memorial and maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Find out more about each of the cemeteries:
- Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
- Brookwood American Cemetery
- Flanders Field American Cemetery
- Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery
- Oise-Aisne American Cemetery
- Somme American Cemetery
- St. Mihiel American Cemetery
We hope you will take a step back in history and explore the variety of U.S. Government publications available on World War I.
HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?
Click on the Links: For the free resources, click on the links above.
Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.
- Click here to purchase Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front – World War I (Paperbound)
- Click here to purchase United States Army in World War I (2001) (CD-ROM)
- Click here to purchase The Army Medical Department, 1917-1941 (Paperback)
- Click here to purchase Answering The Call: The U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 1917-1919: A commemorative Tribute to Military Nursing in World War I (ePub eBook)
- Click here to purchase The United States Marine Corps in the World War
- Click here to browse our Wars & Conflicts collection
Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.
Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.
About the author: Cynthia Earman is a Cataloging & Metadata Librarian in the Library Services & Content Management division of the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
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Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 