World War I and the People of the Purchase

Title: World War I and The People of the Purchase Author: Cari Mikez Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Pizzo Department: Murray State History Department ABSTRACT The extensive impacts of World War I pervaded society on a global scale during the early twentieth century. The United States officially joined the international conflict in April of 1917 by aligning with the Triple Entente composed of Britain, France and Russia in the fight against the central European powers of Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. In a similar fashion as the other warring nations, the American war effort depended on the development of a national ideology and the mobilization of societal resources to support a newly created armed forces. This research project will explore the significant impacts of the American war effort during World War I on the Jackson Purchase home front in Western Kentucky and will also provide an assessment of rural Western Kentucky societal dynamics through an examination of prewar domestic issues, changes to local economic, political, and social processes, and the responses of western Kentuckians to wartime changes. Research for this project was primarily conducted through local public library and local genealogical repositories, as well as oral histories and other special collection materials housed in Pogue Library at Murray State University. Other areas of interest will include: urban/rural dynamic between Jackson purchase population centers and the surrounding counties, civic organizations, racial issues, prohibition, women’s suffrage, education, health care, and the outbreak of the Spanish flu. This project was inspired by the upcoming Centennial of the World War I Armistice signing on November 11, 2018 and the Bicentennial of the ‘purchase’ of the Jackson Purchase region on October 19, 2018. Many topics and issues covered in the paper are still relevant subjects in the twenty-first century