2A1: Oshkosh on the Home Front: Activities and Attitudes During World War I

On the premise that the American home front is most typically discussed from a national perspective, this paper seeks to emphasize the importance of acknowledging the individual communities that comprised this larger whole. Therefore, it offers a more singular focus and examines the development of the home front in Oshkosh, Wisconsin during World War I. To provide context for specific local activities in Oshkosh, this paper also briefly establishes the atmosphere regarding the war effort that generally characterized Wisconsin as a state. Using archived issues of the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern as a major primary source, the goal of this research is to illustrate that the United States’ entrance into World War I catalyzed the emergence of strong patriotic sentiment and widespread home front activities throughout the Oshkosh community. It analyzes coverage of World War I prior to American involvement and after, noting the changes in tone and language that occurred once the United States entered the war in 1917. Furthermore, it highlights the extent to which home front efforts significantly influenced the everyday life of Oshkosh citizens, whether positively or negatively, and addresses how studying the Daily Northwestern’s coverage of these efforts can be used to understand the city’s overall attitude about World War I and what the people of one Midwestern community felt their role was in a global conflict. Numerous aspects of Oshkosh’s home front and community culture are examined, including the changing purpose of social events, the tensions and suspicions that existed within the community as a result of Oshkosh’s high concentration of German- American citizens, and the variety of ways in which the city mobilized its population to support the war effort so that all community members could contribute, be they wealthy men of local stature or young schoolchildren. Based upon the Daily Northwestern’s extensive coverage of home front activities, this paper concludes that the people of Oshkosh were enthusiastically committed to supporting the war effort during the entirety of American involvement in World War I. This paper was originally presented at “World War 100: A Centennial Symposium” in Madison, Wisconsin in October, 2017, and a condensed version was featured in the Oshkosh Public Museum’s quarterly publication The Muse in spring 2018.