Women in 1917-19 were heavily involved in the war effort. They served on the homefront sewing clothes, gathering supplies, and more, and some went overseas to help in Europe. Ellen Babbitt was one of several Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) women featured in the ISNU WWI Service Records collection who experienced the horrors of war while helping mothers and orphaned children.
Ellen Babbitt entered Illinois State Normal University in the 1890, 1891, and 1895 school years, but did not graduate due to financial constraints. A November 27, 1918, issue of the Vidette describes her as a “born philanthropist.” She worked for the Child Welfare League of Peoria and would partner with the Russell Sage Foundation. In 1913, she helped organize a Children’s Health Conference in Peoria where parents brought in their children to speak with doctors, attend exhibits and seminars on how to raise a child, and visit booths describing the different stages of a child’s life. Her experience led her to the Children’s Bureau of the Red Cross in March 1918.
In August 1917, the Red Cross created the Children’s Bureau in response to Dr. William Palmer Lucas’ findings while working with children in Belgium. Most of the health care workers were in the service, and the children’s health was failing, so “it was necessary to teach the mothers how to keep the children well,” according to her file in the World War I Service Records collection. Babbitt helped with the Children’s Bureau’s first exhibition in Lyon, France, where 170,000 people attended and received literature, attended lectures, and visited booths. She talks about how American soldiers heard about the exhibit and began “encouraging and helping the mothers and children” when they were not at the front. She traveled to Marseille, France, for another exhibition and health conference where mothers could talk to dietician. In a letter to Ange Milner, she wrote of Dr. Lucas inviting her to the exhibitions: “For I am I not trained as a teacher – and if its to teach mothers how to keep their children well – how proud I am that I can do that.”
In July and August of 1918, she traveled around England and Scotland to write a report on how the government was supporting mothers during the war. The British Government increased nursery hours and expanded food aid for mothers. She transferred to Paris in October 1918 to study how they were supporting the welfare of children. When the war was nearing its end, with the armistice only a month away, she wrote to Milner, “This is the great day – if they are really sincere!”
Visit the World War I Illinois State Normal University Service Records for more Illinois State Normal University student, faculty, and staff experience in World War I.
