After the War
After the war ended, fears of spreading communism after the success of the Russian Revolution led to the postwar "Red Scare" and government raids in 33 cities, targeting radicals and deporting three thousand people. Wilson championed League of Nations to secure the ideals of democracy and self-determination for which the U.S. had fought, but failed to get support in Congress.
Some Americans concluded that the government efforts to promote the war had gone too far. For instance, George Chandler, who served as Connecticut's Department of Publicity chair, resigned shortly after the war ended, writing that "the operation of a Publicity Bureau by the Government is a dangerous practice in a Republic and one which can only be justified as a war measure."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded to protect free speech rights, which had come under attack during the war, as well as the rights of conscientious objectors. The Supreme Court, for the first time, began to define First Amendment rights to free speech.
The American Legion was organized by returning veterans; by the end of 1919 it had 75 chartered posts in CT and administered a public fund for returning veterans, as well as focusing on remembering and commemorating the war.
Loving Cup
At the end of the war, veterans from Fairfield presented this "loving cup" to Harriet (Mrs. Henry) Glover. In addition to all her Red Cross work of sending supplies to the troops, she wrote a letter every day during the war to each soldier from Fairfield, going through the list of 400 until she reached the end and then starting again. If they expressed concern about their families, she would go to visit and offer needed help. The inscription reads, "Presented to/ Mrs. Henry Scheaff Glover/By/World’s War Veterans/of/Fairfield, Conn./In Recognition of her deep interest/and earnest efforts in behalf of/the boys in service/November 8, 1919."
Welcome Home cut-out letters, made for Theodore Burr of Fairfield
“Back From France” photograph
Ernest Hart of Bridgeport volunteered for the Army and was stationed at Fort H. G. Wright in New York about 1917 with Battalion D, 68th Artillery. In August 1918 his regiment was transferred to France; he returned to the U.S. in February 1919.