Trudy Hanmer Associate Head Emerita, History Instructor, and College Counselor at Emma Willard School, author of "Wrought With Steadfast Will: A History of Emma Willard School" (http://www.emmawillard.org/about-emma/bicentennial/book) put together this presentation on Emma Willard School and WWI.

1. Emma Willard and
World War I

2. 1914—The War
Begins
July 28—the Austro-Hungarian Empire
declares war on Serbia.
August 1—Germany declares war on Russia.
August 3—Germany declares war on France.
Italy declares neutrality.
August 6—Austria-Hungary declares war on
Russia.
August 10—England and France declare war
on the Austria-Hungary.
August 30—German planes bomb Paris.
September 5—the first Battle of the Marne
begins.
September 23—1914-15 school year opens.
October 7-8—Emma Willard celebrates
Centennial; students dress as Revolutionary
War soldiers.

3. Eight students had fathers on active duty in
the U.S. Armed Services
Margaret Traub ’15
Manila, Philippines
Frances Jewett Murray ‘16
Culebra, Panama
Frances Graves Morrow ’16
Texas City, Texas Susanne Rice ‘16
Fort Leavenworth, KS
Helen Hoffer ’17
Washington, D.C.
Hazel Nelson ‘16
Fort Logan, Colorado Not pictured: Helen Berry ’16,
Katharine Winn ‘15 (non-grads)

4. Major-General Peter E. Traub
1864-1956
West Point, Class of 1886 (classmate of
General John Pershing)
1890—Present with the Seventh U.S.
Cavalry at the Battle of Wounded Knee
1898—With the U.S. Cavalry at San Juan
Hill
1900s—Chair of Foreign Languages at
West Point
1912-15—Ass’t. chief of constabulary,
Philippines
1916-17—Commanded “Buffalo Soldiers”
1918—Commanded 35th Infantry in the
Argonne Forest. Signed commendation
letter for Corp. Harry Truman.

5. Brigadier General Peter
Murray
West Point, Class of 1890
1898—U.S. Infantry, Cuba
1912—Commissary Officer, West Point
1918—Third Brigade, Verdun-St.
Mihiel
1919—Awarded Army Distinguished
Service Medal

6. Brigadier General Lucien G.
Berry
1863-1937
West Point, Class of 1886, Pershing’s
classmate
1892-96—Philosophy instructor at
West Point
1898—Served in the Army Artillery in
Cuba
1915-16--Served on Pershing’s staff in
Mexico
1917—60th Brigade Field Artillery
Fought in the Meuse-Argonne
Disliked aviation, “refused to
cooperate with the Air Service until
ordered to do so.” (Gen. H. A. Drum,
Chief of Staff of the 1st Army, A.E.F.)

7. Colonel Sedgwick Rice
1860-1925
1890s—Lieutenant in the Seventh
Cavalry during the Indian Wars, fought
at Wounded Knee
1898—Officer in a black regiment in
Cuba
1910s—Stationed in Philippines
1915-1919—Commandant of U.S.
disciplinary barracks; prisoners
included conscientious objectors,
radicals, I.W.W. members , war
protesters

8. Brigadier-General John S.
Winn
West Point, Class of 1888
1890s—Served as quartermaster in
the cavalry in Idaho
19011-12—Served with the cavalry in
the Philippines
1912-1913—Served with the cavalry
along the Mexican border
1917—Made Brigadier-General and
appointed Inspector General, Service
of Supply for A.E.F.
1918—Fought at St. Mihiel and the
Argonne

9. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, other
girls at school had fathers in the service
Frances Faust ‘18Katharine Kernan ‘18 Catherine Dutcher ‘18

10. Lt. Comdr.
William H.
Faust
1864-1944
Graduate, U.S. Naval Academy,
1882
Served on staff of naval geological
survey in Alaska, Faust Island
named for him
Retired 1899
Rejoined the Navy on April 9, 1917,
one week after Congress declared
war.

11. Major-General
Francis J. Kernan
1859-1949
Graduate of West Point, 1881
1898—member of first landing
party in the Philippines
1900-03—Served on Arthur
MacArthur’s staff in the
Philippines
1917-18—Commanded
Services of Supply in France
1918-19—Technical military
advisor to U.S. delegation at
Versailles.
Received Army Distinguished
Service Medal for WWI work

12. Reason for so many military daughters at
EWS
First, Frances Mary Thomas Ludlow ‘58 Scholarship—presented in her memory by her husband,
Admiral Nicoll Ludlow, provided two $325/year scholarships for daughters of navy line officers.
Frances Faust ‘18 was a Ludlow Scholar.

13. Second, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage’s nephew, Colonel Herbert Jermain Slocum, a graduate of
West Point, liked to identify daughters of army officers and persuade his aunt to pay their tuition at
Emma Willard. Susanne Rice ‘16 was a Sage Scholar.

14. 1915
OFF MOUNT IDA
American Women’s Peace Party forms.
Germany begins unrestricted submarine
warfare against merchant vessels.
Germany uses poison gas for the first time at
the Second Battle of Ypres.
German submarine sinks the Lusitania, a
British passenger liner.
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
The Battle of Gallipoli begins.
AT EMMA WILLARD
Students raise $375 for Belgian Relief Fund,
$150 for the Red Cross
French department puts on a play, proceeds
sent to the “suffering people abroad.”
Faculty and students prepare 25 “surgical kits”
for soldiers.
Emma Willard Alumnae Association plans an
“entertainment,” proceeds to go for surgical
kits
Sarah Tappin McQuide ‘86 named chair of
NYS Surgical Dressings Committee

15. Lila Rundle Shepard ’14 was the first Emma Willard graduate to take an active part
in the war. A Canadian citizen, she became a “nursing sister” and was stationed at
No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. She enlisted in February, 1915, just six months
after the war began in Europe. Canada entered the war when England did.

16. Excerpt from Lila Shepard’s first letter to Miss Kellas, 1915:
Dear Miss Kellas:
We are in France and at work at last…We are not allowed to
write about many things, but I want you all to know that I am
thinking of you.
We are on a bluff, the cliffs of which drop straight down four
hundred feet to the sea—the prettiest sight you could imagine with
the rows and rows of tents. Our own tent is right near the edge of
the bluff—two sisters have a tent between them….Mlle. de Rossé
will be quite surprised to hear that I get along very nicely with my
French…I have my old red verb book with me, and nearly every
night go over a few of those horrid irregulars…I hope the next
mail will bring me many letters from E.W.S.
With a great deal of love to you all,
Lila

17. From Lila Shepard to Eliza Kellas, Fall, 1915
“After the big attack at Loos, there was an endless
procession of stretchers with their still grey
blanketed figures. I can still see the tired stoop of
the orderlies’ shoulders for nearly a week they
worked day and night. And the horrible wounds,
but how brave the poor lads were…there was no
time for me to cry. I nursed a boy with both legs
blown off, and he was so proud. His last words
were, ‘We led the charge…’ The men in the
trenches know [war’s] horrors.”

18. 1916
OFF MOUNT IDA
Woodrow Wilson warns Germany not to use
unrestricted submarine warfare.
The Battle of Verdun results in 1,000,000
casualties.
The Battle of Jutland takes place; only major
naval battle of the war.
Woodrow Wilson is reelected on the slogan, “He
kept us out of war.”
Women’s National Land Service Corps formed in
England. “Land Girls” replace farm workers
fighting at the front.
David Lloyd-George is elected prime minister of
Great Britain.
AT EMMA WILLARD
Revels is held for the first time, January 7.
The French department holds another
entertainment, proceeds to go to “needy babies”
in Europe.
“America” is added to the commencement
program.
Opening of school delayed until October 4, 1916,
because of a polio epidemic.

19. 1917
OFF MOUNT IDA
Nicholas abdicates.
German air raids attack London.
Germany resumes unrestricted submarine
warfare; Zimmermann Telegram revealed.
April 2, Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to
declare war on Germany.
American troops land in France: “Lafayette, we
are here.”
Lenin and Bolsheviks take over Russia; sign an
armistice with Germany.
AT EMMA WILLARD
Triangle editorial supports the draft.
Students organize a Red Cross Society.
May dance is cancelled; money sent to war
effort.
West Point chaplain, H. Percy Silver, spoke at a
Sunday service.
Triangle editorial urges students to buy Liberty
Loan bonds.
The Star Spangled Banner is added to the
commencement program.

20. Triangle ad, November,1917.

21. “In the ultimate analysis, it is the
nation with the best women that’s
going to win the war.”
Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstoff

22. Alice Trowbridge ‘17 whose mother, Gertrude Trowbridge,
was the national chairperson of the National League for
Woman’s Service.

24. Farmerettes at the University of Iowa

25. EWS students replace grounds crew

26. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels:
“Women will provide the best clerical assistance
the country can provide.”
Yeomen (F) earned the same pay as men ($28.75/month,
plus a uniform allowance, medical care, war risk insurance,
and $1.25/day subsistence pay, wore a uniform skirt that
cleared the ground by 8 inches, sported an insignia of
crossed quills and worked six days a week/ten hours a day.
Nearly 12,000 women joined up, including Margaret Traub ’15.

28. SOME WOMEN JOINED THE RED CROSS
MOTOR CORPS, TRANSPORTING WOUNDED
SOLDIERS FROM THE FRONT
Helen Collins ‘12, motor corps driver

29. SOME WOMEN JOINED THE YWCA, WHICH
OPERATED HOSTESS HOUSES IN FRANCE FOR
NURSES AND DRIVERS ON LEAVE
Dorothy Perry ’14 joined the Y
and sailed for France in 1917.

30. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL HOSTESS HOUSE WAS
THE HOTEL PETROGRAD IN PARIS, RUN BY
MARGARET COOK ‘95
Excerpt from a letter written from the Hotel in October, 1918,
by a young woman on a week’s leave from nursing:
“Here I am at the Petrograd on my week’s leave….
This hotel seems more like a college dormitory. You
take your towel over your arm and go from floor to floor in
search of a tub not in use and meet other kimonoed
figures likewise pursuing the best hot tub baths in France.
Most hotels have hot water only on certain days now.”

31. 1918
IN THE WORLD
American troops enter the fight at Chateau-
Thierry and the Second Battle of the Marne.
Woodrow Wilson announced Fourteen Points.
Paris is shelled by the Germans.
Nicholas II and his family are murdered by the
Bolsheviks.
A world-wide influenza pandemic begins.
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates, and on November
11 at 11:00 a.m., an armistice is declared.
AT EMMA WILLARD
Students raise almost $5000 for the Student
Friendship War Fund of the YWCA.
Ex-President Taft visits the Cluetts in Cluett
House.
Seniors debate whether or not to hold a dance
because “of the dearth of men.”
Editorial in June Triangle: “Win the War”
No roses at graduation because of austerity
measures.

32. A French soldier at the American Red Cross
Hospital in France wrote to Miss Kellas on June 13,
1918:
“À la tête de mon lit, existe une placque,
‘Emma Willard School.’”
Students had raised money for the Red Cross to
supply its hospitals with beds.

33. Alumnae Notes—1917-18
Weddings Abound! Frances Murray ‘16 Lt. Samuel D. Sturgis
Elizabeth Thomas ‘15 to Lt. C. Whitney Tillinghast Susanne Rice ‘16 to Lt. Joseph W. Byron
Marjorie Cowee ‘11 to Lt. Lawrence Southard Lotta Hollister ‘15 to Lt. Hugh Mayberry
Margaret Merwin ‘14 to Lt. Carlton Overton Winifred Robb ‘13 to Lt. Wm. T. Powers
Doris Langlois to Lt. Cassius Poust
Elizabeth Cheney to Lt. Ogden J. Ross All but one survived the war.
Isabella Vaughan ‘13 to Lt. William Stafford
Ethel R. Freeman ‘09 to Lt. Brant Holme

34. A father’s note asking Miss Kellas to allow his
daughter to go home and see her “soldier friend” on
“furlough.”

35. William Halsall
Cheney
Before coming to Emma Willard, Eliza
Kellas was the live-in tutor to Billy
Cheney and his sister and brother.
Billy graduated from St. Mark’s School
in 1916 and entered Harvard with the
Class of 1920. In 1917 he joined the
Army Air Corps, training in Italy with
a unit organized by N. Y. Congressman
Fiorello LaGuardia. In January, 1918,
Billy and two other pilots were killed
during a training mission, the first
fatalities for the unit known as
“Fiorello’s Foggiani.”
Eliza Kellas was heartbroken.
Caproni Ca.5 biplane
Plaque in Billy Cheney’s memory on the altar of his family’s church in NH.

36. November 11, 1918
Students dressed as nurses and soldiers and world leaders. Classes were
cancelled, and the entire school went to Troy to watch a victory parade.

37. POST-WAR TRIANGLE EDITORIALIZING
“A great prayer of thanksgiving goes p from our hearts that the most frightful struggle of history
is over, that Right has triumphed over Might.”
“But is the war over? Have we a right to say it is done, and to rest? The war is over in only one
sense, that of the actual fighting—the war of destruction. A war of construction is to be waged
now, as great, if not greater than the other. The problems of peace are to be taken up, problems
more complex than those we have hitherto met, in that they are so new. This is no time for us as a
nation to give up sacrificing…Let us not forget, in our relief and joy, that there are many who
have been sorely stricken by the war; there are starving women and children who must be fed;
there are devastated countries to be reconstructed…so let us not stop giving, but, on the contrary,
give to our utmost, to the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., the Salvation Army, and to all the other noble
organizations whose function it is to carry on this splendid and necessary work.”

38. INFLUENZA—1918-19—claimed the lives of thousands of
young adults, including these four young alumnae. Death did
not stop with the end of the war.