Welcome to Women's History Month 2017: The World War I Years

Welcome to this year's Women's History Month posts focusing on our female ancestor's lives during World War I.

Next month marks the centennial of the United States entrance into World War I. While the war began in 1914, the United States didn't enter the conflict until 1917. This period from 1914 to 1920 (the war ended on November 11, 1918) is one we are going to concentrate on as we explore, history, social history, genealogy and resources for researching female ancestors.

As genealogists, we tend to limit  our World War I era research to the draft registrations or military records. These are important but consider all the other topics that can be explored: volunteer service, suffrage, the Spanish Flu epidemic, food, and work just to name a few. Resources to be used in our research can include newspapers, government documents, histories, archival collections and more.

To get started thinking about this time period, check out:

National Women's History Museum - Women in the Progressive Era
The National Museum of American History - Women in World War I
The Women's Memorial - World War I Nurses: The Journal of Emma Elizabeth Weaver

For more tips and resources, take some time to read my previous Women's History Month posts. These links are to the right of this post.

Join me each day as we discuss this important time period in your female ancestor's life.