Before the United States entered World War I, it seemed remote to the students and faculty of Arkansas State Normal School. However, that attitude changed when the U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917.
Military Drills at the Normal: Professors R.E. Womack and Guy Dan Estes organized 75 male students into military units and began drilling on the campus. It was noted that one female student, Nora Brown, also participated in the military drills.
Male Students Leaving Campus: The men did not leave campus all at once but rather on a steady and gradual basis. When the U.S. declared war on Germany in the spring of 1917 there were 200 men on campus; one year later there were only 12. There were two reasons for this huge drop in the male population – most of the men had gone into the U.S. Armed Forces and there were fewer men going into the education profession.
Contributions by the Female Students: The women on campus contributed mightily to the war effort. At one point the Conway Draft Board had more paperwork than they could handle and asked for help from the Normal. Six women from the Normal volunteered to assist the Conway Draft Board and helped alleviate their backlog of paperwork.
The Y.W.C.A. staged an “Old Maids” Convention to raise money for Liberty Bonds. The women of the Normal Y.W.C.A. created a time machine that transformed older women into young women, much to the delight of the crowd. There was a 25-cent charge to see the show. In another fund raising event female students attending in the summer of 1918 created a show based on vaudeville acts and charged ten cents for admission.
The Crestomath Literary Society, the first literary society on campus, held a bazaar on December 20, 1917, to raise money for Liberty Bonds. Many former Crestos also contributed to their fund-raising efforts and it was deemed a great success. The women were quite pleased because they had sold virtually everything they had brought to the bazaar. After the bazaar had ended and the Crestomath women visited among themselves about the great success that day and these comments were in the Normal Echo, “Things were in order about this time, and with happiness in their hearts, the Crestos started off merrily across the snow covered lawns to their home at Doyne Hall.”
Normal Service Flag: The Normal Service Flag was unfurled and shown to the public on May 22, 1918. There were 98 stars on the Normal flag; each represented a Normal student who was engaged in World War I.
Faculty in the Armed Forces: Several faculty members also served in the military including Coach and Professor Guy Dan Estes, J. C. Cook – head of Normal Athletics and D.D. McBrien – head of the Department of History. Heber McAlister, future third president of UCA, accepted a job with the Normal as head of the Department of Mathematics, but went to Europe as a major in the Army before his employment began.
Source: “From the Archives” by Jimmy Bryant, director of Archives & Special Collections