Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Rural mail carrier in 1917
Today we went to a history program at the National Archives in Atlanta where we got to look at reproductions of World War I draft cards. My friend and I got a stack of cards from Mississippi and Iowa. In the Iowa stack, there was a Fred Harrison Johnson who was a rural mail carrier! I found that interesting. He was 28 when the card was filled out, in June of 1917. He was African-American, born in Iowa (I think), and not married. He was of medium height, medium build, and slightly bald. He claimed exemption from the draft because he was a civil servant. As you might be able to tell, I found this very interesting! He was the only postal worker we found, although we did find a ditcher, drayman, and some type of conductor, maybe for a train, it was hard to read.
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Very cool! I had never thought to look on draft cards for that kinda stuff. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteThe draft cards are very interesting to look at! You can find some interesting jobs! I know they have draft cards for Charlie Chaplain, one of the Three Stooges, and some famous baseball players. In the ones I looked at, there were no immigrants, which was a bit disappointing though.
DeleteHey, I usually go to the National Archives of Atlanta! Didn't get to go this past time, but I'll see you there next time!
ReplyDeleteReally? Cool! We go on Wednesday usually.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to add you to my blogroll but for some reason Blogger isn't adding you. As soon as I get it figured out you will be on my blog roll.
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