#draft card

Draft Card burning. 

New York City, USA, 1965. 

Photos from a Draft Resistance Rally at the Town Hall, New York City, 1/14/1968

[Photographs] Town Hall Meeting, 1/14/1968, Draft Resistance Rally [Town Hall, New York City] .  Series: Precedent Case Files, 1928 - 1976. Record Group 118: Records of U.S. Attorneys, 1821 - 1994

This file unit contains photographs depicting a Draft Resistance Rally held at Town Hall in New York City. The rally was a demonstration of support for “The Boston Five,” William Sloane Coffin, Jr., Michael Ferber, Mitchell Goodman, Marcus Raskin and Benjamin Spock, who were indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for aiding and abetting draft resistance.

Now open at the National Archives Museum: Remembering Vietnam: Twelve Critical Episodes in the Vietnam War

Explore 12 critical episodes in the Vietnam War through National Archives records which trace the policies and decisions made by the architects of the conflict and help untangle why the United States became involved in Vietnam, why it went on so long, and why it was so divisive for American society.

Charlie Chaplin April 1918 - Wall Street New York City, Charlie along with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and many others in the Hollywood Community, out on Liberty Loan Tours selling War Bonds to support troops fighting in the Great War.

Bonds were sold by the U.S. during World War I to help raise funds for the war.

Effectively they would sell these bonds to citizens for less than the face value, say $5 for a $10 bond. After a certain amount of time, bonds could be redeemed for face value plus interest.  It was considered a Patriotic Duty, basically it allowed the government to borrow money from the citizens. They did the same during World War II.

By the end of the war roughly 24 million men registered for the draft and about 3 million of them were inducted. I’m a afraid I don’t know the average age of those who registered.

As an example, here’s Babe Ruth’s Draft Registration Card:

World War I Draft Registration Card for George Herman “Babe” Ruth

Find more Draft Registration Cards in the National Archives Catalog.

World War I Draft Registration Card for Alvin C. York, 6/5/1917

Series: Draft Registration Cards, 1917 - 1918. Record Group 163: Records of the Selective Service System (World War I), 1917 - 1939

York, who stated on his draft registration card "…Don’t want to fight," would later be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October, 1918.

Sergeant Alvin C. York, 328th Infantry, who with aid of 17 men, captured 132 German prisoners; shows hill on which raid took place [October 8, 1918]. Argonne Forest, near Cornay, France., 2/7/1919

Uncover more World War I Centennial Resources at the National Archives

It’s Babe Ruth Day!

World War I Draft Registration Card for George Herman Ruth  Series: Draft Registration Cards, 1917 - 1918. Record Group 163: Records of the Selective Service System (World War I), 1917 - 1939

Shown here is baseball legend George Herman “Babe” Ruth’s World War I draft registration card, from when he was playing with the Boston Red Sox, ca. 1917.

More baseball history from the National Archives