WWI Draft registration

Draft registration cards are a very valuable family history research record. They usually provide the legal name, address, next of kin, employment record, and description of the registrant. Currently, my family history database has more than 300 registration cards as evidence for these types of facts. Despite having read through hundreds of these records, in my reading tonight, I learned that I really had a deep lack of understanding of how the draft process worked. Excerpted below are some of the very interesting bits I discovered thanks to Ancestry!

Source: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3172/

"Men who registered were given bluish green certificates to prove they had registered. The certificate was embossed with an eagle at the top and merely stated who had registered where on what date. This certificate was signed by a registrar. In Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune stated that law officers could demand to see this registration certificate at any time, and a man without a card was then subject to investigation. [Say what?] Also, passports were not issued to men in the affected age groups unless they could produce draft registration certificates. The Vicksburg Evening Post warned its western Mississippi readers that the federal government could easily determine who had not registered through school, insurance and other records, and the impression was also left that registrants' names would soon be printed in the newspaper so the public could determine who had not registered. This paper also reported that such sensational rumors had spread around on registration day that some black registrants rushed to their registration site in an out-of-breath state."

24 million men were registered during the three WWI draft campaigns which occurred on June 5, 1917,  June 5, 1918 and September 12, 1918. According to Ancestry, "about 98% of adult men under age 46 living in the U.S. in 1917-18 completed registration cards". Perhaps this was partially because President Wilson  "characterized it as necessary to make "shirkers" play their part in the war". Who would want to be labeled a shirker?

I never realized that there were national registeration days, or even large efforts to promote those days. Honestly, I had given almost no thought to how the World War draft registrations were implemented until reading these snippets today.   Over time I had noticed that a lot of the registration cards were dated in June, but I had assumed this was likely due to the small towns that I was looking at and the number of persons available to register people. 

"On the designated registration days, businesses and schools closed down in most communities. Saloons closed in most states. Registration started at 7 or 7:30 a.m. and lasted until late at night. In New York City, boat horns were blown to announce the start of registration, and in Provo, Utah whistles performed a similar function. In Vicksburg, MS, church bells and whistles were used. In Jackson, MS, cannons at the old state capitol building were to have been fired at the start of registration, but organizers had difficulty finding gunpowder. Similar noise-making events occurred across the country.

Family members often came with the registrant to the registration site. Patriotic parades were held on the first registration day, as in Spanish Fork, UT, where registrants were included in the automobile parade.  

In Salt Lake City, a deputized registrar made a tour of the hospital on registration day registering men unable to leave the hospital. These hospitalized men could also have appointed someone to obtain the registration card prior to registration day from the city or county clerk".

Hope in reading this, you also learned something new about our history.