World War I on the Ohio Home Front: “Your Country Calls!”

Featuring Susan Talbot-Stanaway, retired director of the Zanesville Museum of Art

From 1917 through 1919, thousands of Ohioans engaged in the battles of the “Great War.” At home, they were exposed to new roles, beliefs, and new sense of national unity. People were urged to support the families of soldiers, purchase war bonds, plant Victory Gardens, undergo the hardships of rationing, and report spies. Women entered the workplace for the first time, supported wartime charities, and joined organizations like the Women’s Land Army. Ohio manufacturers shifted to producing munitions, dramatically increased their work forces and recruited African Americans from the south to operate assembly lines. Susan Talbot-Stanaway will explore how Ohioans participated in the Great War and how that participation shaped important social and political changes.