TREASURES IN YOUR GENEALOGY FILES 
WWI Memorabilia

Wikipedia tells us that, “the Selective Service Act or Selective Draft Act (Pub.L. 65–12, 40 Stat. 76, enacted May 18, 1917) authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people. During World War I there were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31.”

photo: QHGS

Wikipedia also says that, “in the United States during World War I, the word ‘slacker’ was commonly used to describe someone who was not participating in the war effort, especially someone who avoided military service, an equivalent of the later term draft dodger. Attempts to track down such evaders were called slacker raids.”

Pictured above is a ribbon that was given to registrants at the draft board in Healdsburg, California. The words “No Slacker” meant that the man who received the ribbon had registered and was not a draft dodger. This ribbon is a family treasure that belongs to one of our QHGS members.

More information about the Selective Service Act of 1917, “Slacker Raids,” and WWI Draft Registration Cards may be found at the following websites:

Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_Act_of_1917
and also at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacker

Encyclopedia of Genealogy at http://www.eogen.com/USWorldWarIDraftRegistrations

Genealogy Branches at http://www.genealogybranches.com/worldwaronedraftcards.html

JewishGen at http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/wwidraft.htm

National Archives at https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/draft-registration/

RESEARCH TIP: What treasures like this might lie among old WWI photos in your genealogy files? Do you have funeral cards pressed between the pages of a prayerbook or missal in your family archives? Reexamine your memorabilia—who knows what you will find!