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As we celebrate Veterans Day on Tuesday November 11, it’s worth remembering why this became a holiday—originally intended solely to commemorate the end of World War I. The headline above declaring the end of the war is from the Boston Globe because, in 1918, the Cambridge newspapers published only weekly on Saturdays.

The United States had entered the “Great War” on 6 April 1917. A year and a half later, the Armistice between the Allies and Germany was agreed to on “the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month.”  Cambridge Mayor Edward W. Quinn issued a proclamation on November 11, which was published five days later in The Cambridge Chronicle:

And, as everywhere across the nation, the city celebrated:

President Wilson agreed with the idea of commemorating Armistice Day, and he urged governors to do the same. But getting Congressional support for the holiday took some time. In 1926, after much lobbying by the American Legion, a Congressional resolution requested of President Calvin Coolidge that he agree to making this an annual commemoration day. It was not until 1938 that this request to honor WWI dead was finally approved by President Roosevelt. Years later, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks of Alabama proposed changing the name to “Veterans Day” to honor all veterans of all wars. This change was approved by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.

1917: The Looming War

Months before the United States joined the cause, this topic was top of mind across the nation. In the early spring, recruiting efforts were already under way:

Many Cambridge men joined up with Canadian forces. In Cambridge, enlisting options included the Navy, Marines, the Massachusetts National Guard, and the Army. MIT President Richard C. Maclaurin established a ground aeronautical school for the Navy in 1917, and in 1918 the Army had an “air service” branch—a predecessor to the Air Force—sometimes referred to as the “Signal Corps.”  On August 18, 1917, The Cambridge Chronicle reported that “George W. Cooper, of 100 Magazine Street, was the 1000^th New England applicant for the position of first lieutenant as aviator or observation balloon pilot.”

Initially many troops came from the National Guard, which had previously been limited to serving only as a domestic security force. With the advent of the Great War on August 5, 1917, according to the U.S. Government military history, “the entire National Guard was drafted into U.S. Army service for World War I.” 

Brigadier Clarence R. Edwards was deployed to execute the organization of the 26^th Division of the Army, known as the “Yankee Division,” made up primarily of units from the Massachusetts National Guard. The task was daunting. In May of 1917, he spoke at a meeting of the Cambridge Lodge of Elks:

(There are some claims that in September 1917 the Yankee Division was the first complete division to deploy to France.)

In Cambridge, Mrs. William Carey Cole was instrumental in organizing recruiting stations, which she caused to be set up in polling booths. Some of these were located on Quincy Square, Sherman, Cowperthwaite, Banks, and Hudson Streets.

Recruiting was not limited to native born Americans.  According to the U. S. Citizen and Immigration Services, “Foreign-born soldiers composed over 18 percent of the U.S. Army during World War I. Almost one in five draftees was born overseas.” 

Notable among the Cambridge African Americans who joined up was Clifton Merriman (1893-1989). Merriman was a Corporal in an African American unit of the 372^nd Infantry. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, the French Medaille Militaire, the Croix de Guerre with Palm, and the Verdun Medal. He was discharged in 1919 as a staff sergeant, came back to Cambridge, and eventually became the Assistant Superintendent of the main Post Office, where he worked for 35 years. The Post Office building in Central Square is named after him. He died in 1989 at the age of 95.

There is a connection between Merriman and Isaac Wilson Taylor (image below), another African American from Cambridge who joined up. Merriman belonged to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2443, named after Taylor.

Memorials and Commemoration

At least 264 Cambridge men are known to have died in WWI. (This does not include students at Harvard or MIT who did not originally come from homes in Cambridge.) The true number is probably higher. Some were killed in action, some died of wounds or of accident, some died while with the Canadian Forces, some died anonymously. About 169 of these men (and a few women) are memorialized in the collection of Cambridge WWI Memorial Plaques in the historical collections at the Cambridge Public Library: “This set of wood plaques honors soldiers from Cambridge, Mass. who died in World War I. The plaques were dedicated in 1928 by Edward W. Quinn, Mayor (1918-1929) and put on display in the War Memorial Athletic Facility in Cambridge, Mass. Each plaque bears an image of the solider on a copper alloy plate, a name plate (also copper alloy), the date of the year s/he died, and the following text: ‘In grateful remembrance of her War Dead, Presented by the Cambridge City Government, 1928, Edward W. Quinn, Mayor.’ A memorial plaque to the soldiers was dedicated on May 30, 1936, by Edward W. Quinn and John D. Lynch, Mayor (1936-1937). The plaques were made by Imperishable Arts, Inc. in New York City…”

As noted, it took 8 years from inception to display of the collection.  This was due to extensive haggling over the budget, and the appropriate place to display the plaques.

Today, you can view these plaques online: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:ft848v885

Memorial Drive

Another means of honoring the WWI war dead was changing the name of Charles River Drive to Memorial Drive. The American Legion initially floated this idea in 1920, and for three years the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), which owned the property on which the Charles River Drive had been built, objected. The only reason provided was simply that the MDC deemed it “inexpedient.” More specific reasons for their opposition are not entirely clear. One of the ideas to advance the cause was to open the commemoration to all veterans of wars—not just WWI Veterans. After several committee meetings, multiple hearings, and citizens petitions, finally, on February 9, 1923, Governor Channing H. Cox signed the bill authorizing the change.

The formal peace agreement ending the war was signed seven months after Armistice Day at the Treaty of Versailles on June 19, 1919.

Today’s post was written by volunteer Kathleen M. Fox.

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Sources

Cambridge Public Library Historical Collections

“Cambridge World War I Memorial Plaques.” Cambridge Public Library via Digital Commonwealth. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:ft848v885.

The defining role of the National Guard in WWI By National Guard Bureau Historical Services (August 7, 2017). https://www.army.mil/article/191849.

“The Immigrant Army: Immigrant Service Members in World War I.” U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. February 5, 2025. https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/our-history/stories-from-the-archives/the-immigrant-army-immigrant-service-members-in-world-war-i.

“Massachusetts WWI Centennial Commission 2017-2019.” The United States Foundation
for the Commemoration of the World Wars. https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/ma-wwi-centennial-commission-home.html.

Report of the Commission on Massachusetts’ Part in the World War: The Gold Star Record of Massachusetts (1929)

Soldiers of the Great War, Vol 2 (1920) by the Soldiers Record Publishing Association