World war i draft registration cards

Veteran Voices Military Research




History of the World War I Draft


When the United States declared war against Germany on 6 April 1917, its military was undermanned and unprepared to go to war. The first estimate for the number of men needed to send to the battlefields of France was one million. The standing United States regular Army was at just over one hundred thousand men. Despite a robust enlistment drive and the federalization of a number of National Guard units, the government realized within six weeks that not enough men were volunteering for the Army or Navy to fill the needed quota of men required to be at full strength; to that point only seventy-three thousand had volunteered.





On 18 May 1917, the United States Congress passed what became known as the
Selective Service Act of 1917
, which gave President Woodrow Wilson the authority to conscript all able men between the ages of 21 – 30 into service in the National Army through a draft registration. The law also directed that the quota of men drafted from each state and territory was to be proportional to its’ percentage of the national population. It also set up guidelines for exemptions and for


The draft registration card of Al Capone indicates that he worked as a paper cutter in Brooklyn, New York. The Selective Service Act of May 18, 1917, authorized the President to temporarily increase the U.S. military. Under the authority of this act and later acts, the Army’s Office of the Provost Marshall General supervised the registrations of approximately 24 million men for the World War I draft. Three registrations were held: the first, on June 5, 1917, for men aged 21 through 30; the second, on June 5, 1918, for men who had become 21 since June 5, 1917, supplemented by a registration held August 24, 1918, for men who had become 21 since June 2, 1918; and, the third, on September 12, 1918, for all men aged 18 through 45 who had not previously registered. The existence of a draft card does not necessarily denote military service. Registration is often confused with induction into the military; however, only a small percentage of those who registered were actually inducted into the military. The reverse is also true. All men who served in World War I did not necessarily register for the draft. Those who volunteered or those who were already in the military did not regis

Seeking explanation of WWI draft registration card codes


Dear Mr. Farrenkopf,

 

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

 

The code 12-2-19-C is the identification code number for the local draft board; it corresponds with the Classification Lists and Docket Books for the city. The meaning of the “CA” code is less clear. In general the letter “A” placed over or with the order number indicates the September 12th, 1918 draft registration order numbers, as some local boards wound up starting over in recording the order of registration due to the immense expansion of eligible registrants. Alternatively, based on the Registration Regulations No. 2 paragraphs 32 through 50 issued in 1918, the code may indicate the individual was not able to be present on the day of registration. Another possibility is that it refers to the sorting order of the cards in the preparation of the board’s returns, wherein registration cards for aliens from enemy nations were placed in a “Group C” subgroup “a.”

 

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series General Files, 1917 - 1919;  Office Files,


We’ve just added to SuperSearch™ a great collection of United States World War I Draft Registrations, 1917-1918, with over 24 million records. Information recorded varied slightly by registration date but usually included name, current residence address, date of birth, place of birth, age, marital status, race, occupation, employer, citizenship status, and other information about his next of kin. The cards were double-sided with information entered on both sides. The details were usually written in by an official, but the signature or mark was handwritten by the person registering.

Search the United States World War I Draft Registrations, 1917-1918 collection now

On April 6, 1917, the United States officially entered World War 1 and declared war on Germany. The size of the US Army then was too small to effectively fight an overseas war, and an Act was passed enabling men to be selected, trained and drafted into military service, as necessary.
The first step was to register all eligible men.

The “first registration” on June 5, 1917, included all men from 21 to 31 years of age. The “second registration” date was June 5, 1918, with a supplemental registration on August 24