From this card we can see that in 1918 Jim and Mattie were living at R4 D2 in Cleo Springs. Jim was 45 years old, had brown hair and brown eyes, and was missing a finger!
Jim and Mattie would have followed the news in the Aline Chronoscope. Besides the unrest in far away Europe, the political situation in nearby Mexico had been concerning. For years, Mexico had been in the midst of revolution. Names of prominant revolutionaries, such as Panco Villa, who conducted raids along the U.S. border, were well known. America invaded Vera Cruz after an incident at Tampico and the Mexican government expelled all U.S. citizens, who were sent to refugee camps in Texas City and New Orleans. Relations with Mexico were not good.
The Great War (WWI) had begun in 1914, but the U.S. had stayed out of the conflict until April 1917, when the "Zimmerman Telegraph" was intercepted. This telegraph from Germany to Mexico proposed an alliance if Mexico would aid Germany in the war, and suggested that the Germans would then assist Mexico in restoring the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back to Mexico. We can imagine what impact this had on the Womack relatives living in Texas!
President Wilson soon declared war on Germany. Jim and most other males were required to fill out draft cards. From this card we can see that in 1918 Jim and Mattie were living at R4 D2 in Cleo Springs. Jim was 45 years old, had brown hair and brown eyes, and was missing a finger!
Fortunately for American families, the War ended 6 months after the U.S. entered the conflict.
But the fall of 1818 brought a new and even more deadly enemy. The Spanish Flu. This seemed to attack young people the worst; soldiers in the military camps were some of the early victims, and the Indian reservations suffered some of the worst losses. But every family dreaded this disease. Schools and public places were shut down. Garfield County had over 600 cases. By the end of the epidemic, over 7,000 people in Oklahoma had died from the disease.
The Spanish Flu in Oklahoma- click on arrow for video
video transcript
After the war, women, traditionally homemakers, had begun stepping out into the workforce into new roles.
Women had been calling for the right to vote for sometime and
In 1918- Grandma got the right to vote!
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