New Rochelle Library Commemorates WWI Anniversary

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — How New Rochelle contributed to the war effort will be the subject of a presentation by city historian Barbara Davis. “New Rochelle’s Part in the Great War,” a free digital slide program, will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, at 2:00 pm in the Ossie Davis Theater of the New Rochelle Public Library.

Davis said New Rochelle played a unique role in World War I, due to the following factors: the largest recruiting depot east of the Mississippi was located at Fort Slocum, on New Rochelle’s Davids Island; a large number of local and notable illustrators were engaged in creating propaganda posters for the war effort; and New Rochelle provided significant aid to its war-torn sister city, La Rochelle, France.

The presentation will mark the 100th anniversary of a dramatic circumstance that took place in New Rochelle eight months after America entered into World War I, during the week of Dec. 10th, 1917. The event followed on the heels of New Rochelle’s highly publicized fall from grace, yet would conclude with country-wide fame and praise, as a well as a newly-defined sense of community.

Photo credit: NRPL.