A private collector recently shared photos of the Students Army Training Corps at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College (known today as Missouri State University) in Springfield. Approximately 600 colleges, universities, and technical schools nationwide participated in the program. Students voluntarily enlisted in the army and lived on campus under ordinary military discipline and were equal in rank to an army private. Cadets took regular college classes in addition to 11 hours per week of military training. As the army was rapidly modernizing during this period, science courses and technical skills were especially emphasized. Based on their performance, cadets could be enrolled in an officers or non-commissioned officers school. The average cadet spent three months in the program before being transferred to an army unit, although this time often varied based on individual skills and military necessity. A total of 21 colleges and universities in Missouri participated in the program.
The S.A.T.C. program was not the only way in which
State Teachers College showed its support for the war effort. Classes were cancelled at 1:00 P.M. on April
2, 1917, the day America entered the war.
The entire student body and faculty, numbering about 600 people,
gathered in front of Academic Hall (today, Carrington Hall) and prepared for a
patriotic march to the square. After
practicing a salute to the flag in unison, Arthur Briggs led the group into
downtown Springfield. Dressed as the
Goddess of Liberty and Uncle Sam, Florence Dunlap and M.A. Gray rode in a
brightly decorated car at the head of the column. All 600 marchers gathered in the center of
the square where they sang “America” and saluted a flag on the Landers Building
as Briggs had taught them. Throughout
the war students worked with the local Red Cross to supply clothing and care
packages for soldiers.
Landon, Donald D.
Daring to Excel: The First 100 Years of Southwest Missouri
State University. Marceline: Walsworth Publishing Company, 2004.
The
Students Army Training Corps Descriptive Circular,
Second Edition, corrected to October 14, 1918.
