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WWI
Bloomington Association of Commerce
McLean County, Illinois
[McLean County, Illinois, in the World War, 1917-1918; by Edward E. Pierson & Jacob Louis Hasbrouck c 1921]
(Transcribed by: Teri Moncelle Colglazier)
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The Bloomington Association of Commerce during 1917 and 1918 devoted its energies largely to work to help the nation win the war. Its offices, then in the Griesheim building, became headquarters for many minor organizations, such as fuel committees, food price committees and the like. In the summer of 1917, the rooms were used as a recruiting office for getting men to fill out the ranks of old Company D, which later became a part of the famous Prairie Division. The Association had its own War Activities committee, which worked for the comfort of successive contingents of drafted men as they assembled for departure for camps, and later when the service men returned home after the demobilization. This committee had designed and struck a bronze medal, in quantities sufficient to give one to each man who went out of this county into any branch of service. The inscription on this medal reads: "McLean County, Illinois, U. S. A., Honors her Soldier, John Doe, Serve Well. 1918." On the reverse side was a bas-relief of the great seal of the state of Illinois. On May 1, 1918, the Association of Commerce moved into its present spacious quarters upon the second floor of the Durley block, the new location giving more than four times the floor space of the old. The Association of Commerce provided and financed different rooms as headquarters for drives, such as liberty loans, Red Cross, war benevolences, etc. The city and county organization of the Council of National Defense made the A. of C. rooms their headquarters, and a secretary, Miss Reeser, was employed constantly for this kind of work. All the township committees of the C. N. D. co-operated through this association during the war. The Association of Commerce raised in special funds for war work during the three years from 1917 to 1920, the total of $4,991.81, which was distributed through its committees and the office itself. One of the most important phases of its war work was that connected with the establishment of the Student Army Training Corps at the Wesleyan. When the government took this action, the Association of Commerce guaranteed the financing of the barracks on Wesleyan 's campus, at a cost of $27,000. At the opening of these barracks, the A. of C. and Better Farming Association put on a benefit corn show and raised $5,000 for building a students' club house. The armistice put an end to such need, and the fund of $5,000 was distributed among the Home Bureau, the Better Farming Association and the A. of C. The government after the war reimbursed the Association for the cost of the barracks. During the demobilization period, the Association carried on its most beneficial activity through its canteen committee and War Activities committee. The Association was instrumental in establishing in Bloomington a government employment agency, which up to the year 1920 had secured jobs for some 4,000 people, many of them returned service men. This bureau was in personal charge of John E. Matthews. In spite of the strain of war activity, the Association of Commerce carried on with scarcely any interruption during 1917 and 1918 its general community work for the city's welfare. The wartime officers of the Association of Commerce were: President, R. C. Baldwin; vice-president, Milton R. Livingston; secretary, J. H. Hudson; treasurer, Harris K. Hoblit. The personnel of the war activities committee of the Association was as follows: C. L. Hills, chairman; George Washburn, H. D. Bunnell, W. H. Homuth, E. E. Jones, C. U. Williams, C. B. Hamilton. For three months during the demobilization period, the War Camp Community Service organization maintained an office with the Association, and a paid secretary to assist returned men in getting back into civil life. Honor Roll The following members of the Association of Commerce were in the service:
Carl H. Behr
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