The Memorial Tablet Honor Roll Committee and the Missouri Historical Society Mortality Committee



Ceremony, Memorial Park Cemetery, July 25, 1920

On August 21, 1918, Mayor Henry W. Kiel of St. Louis appointed a committee of women to assist in collecting the biographical and service information of World War I veterans.  Mrs. Ben F. Gray, a member of the Missouri Historical Society, led the Committee, and  the Society's archivist, Nettie Beauregard,  served as the 2nd Vice President.  The Memorial Tablet Honor Roll Committee was composed of members of patriotic historical societies and war relief auxiliaries from St. Louis City and County. The committee was very active and participated in several events to acknowledge those who served in the War.  They arranged a memorial service held on Art Hill in Forest Park; gathered names for a parchment record of servicemen and women who died in the war to be placed in the cornerstone of the monument in Memorial Park Cemetery. Also, they raised money to purchase a Memorial Honor Roll Tablet honoring the deceased servicemen and women.

Program for Memorial Service held June 15,1919, on Art Hill in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO

 In April 1918, Mrs. Frank DeGarmo, a St. Louisan who was a member of the Missouri Historical Society and assisted in many patriotic and genealogical undertakings, came up with the plan of a nationwide campaign to compile the biographical information of all servicemen who were serving in WWI into a book. The book was to be distributed to libraries and veterans throughout the country. Governor Gardner of Missouri was one of the first Governors to sign on to DeGarmo's plan.  The following year, the Adjutant General’s Office of Missouri decided to distribute medals to veterans of  World War I and the Spanish-American War.   The Missouri Historical Society was authorized to collect biographical and service information on those who entered service from St. Louis and St. Louis County in order to generate a list for the Adjutant General's office.
Soldiers or their surviving family members were asked to complete a questionnaire and submit it to the Historical Society. In some instances, the forms were completed by the Mortality Committee who gathered information from newspapers, religious organizations, schools and the military. Many of the questionnaires submitted to the Historical Society included, photographs, newspaper clippings, and wartime letters that accompanied the questionnaires. Below is James Henry Canford's  Biography and Service Record; along with a photo submitted by his family. He's one of the gentlemen featured in the photo but it's not clear which one he is. 

 

Numerous newspaper articles were published to solicit interest in the project.  Between 1918 and 1926, the committee gathered and compiled biography and service questionnaires from more than 10,000 World War I servicemen and women. The records of those who died in service were filed separately. Their biographical information was also collected for an additional project, which was to include their names on a Memorial Honor Roll Tablet.  In a separate effort, the Missouri Historical Society also collected photos of those who died in service for the exhibit "Gold Star Boys" which was on view at the Jefferson Memorial Building in 1921. 

Newspaper clipping, September 21,1919

Sometime after the War, the questionnaires and photos were put into storage at the Missouri Historical Society. In 1990, they were rediscovered by the Missouri Historical Society's Assistant Librarian, Barbara Stole and a special project was begun to ensure the preservation of the records. They were copied onto acid-free paper, alphabetized and bound into books.  These volumes are available on the open shelves in the Reading Room of the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center . In 1995, a similar project was begun to make the photographs more accessible to researchers, these volumes are also available in the Reading Room of the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center.

In the early 2000s, Missouri Historical Society volunteers entered the names of the servicemen and women that appear in the aforementioned questionnaires and gold star portraits into the Missouri History Museum’s Genealogy and Local History Index . Missouri Over There project staff plans to digitize both collections that are located at the Missouri History Museum's Library and Research Center,  as well as similar collections at various institutions throughout the state.  These materials will be an integral part of the Missouri Over There Soldiers Database.

Sources:
"Missouri Historical Society Service Flag." The Missouri Woman Jan. 1919: 8-9,15.
World War I Memorial Collection. Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri.
World War I Collection. Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri.