Most Oregonians have never experienced the home front challenges and sacrifices associated with a world war. Those who lived during World War I were the first in the history of the state to respond to "total war." Their stories are at once familiar and foreign. This section shows some of the changes that war brought to Oregon's homes, schools, and communities.

Oregon mobilizes
View The draft board wants to see you
View To be an American
View Protecting the homeland
View Oregon's new police force
View Fighting the "venereal menace"
View Shortages and inflation hit hard
View Conservation becomes second nature
View Controlling Oregon's war economy
View The Red Cross at the center of it
View War drives and campaigns tap the state
View "Libraries for our soldiers and sailors"
View Boys and girls pitch in too!
View College campuses mobilize for war
View War triggers social and cultural change

About the images
From top to bottom: A "Mad Brute" German in an American propaganda poster; the little boy Vartan was the poster child for a relief fund campaign; this 83 year old woman participated in a library book drive; a female home defense volunteer shown in a poster.

Next>