FRASER has partnered with the Missouri Historical Society (MHS) for many years to bring materials related to the history of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis into the digital library—most notably, the papers of William McChesney Martin, Jr., a St. Louis native and Chairman of the Board of Governors from 1951-1970. In our latest partnership, MHS has generously provided digital copies of the materials from their World War I collection related to the Federal Reserve’s involvement, and the efforts of the Eighth (St. Louis) Federal Reserve District as a whole, in raising money to support the needs of troops during World War I.
Liberty Loan war bond campaigns of 1917-1919 were administered through the Federal Reserve Banks, and subscriptions were tracked at the Federal Reserve District level. At MHS, documents related to the Liberty Loan campaigns were held in a large collection of World War I materials related to both military and civilian participation in World War I.
Name a Ship Contest/Name a Tank Contest: Missouri Legion, Bulletin No. 6, October 10, 1918
- “Name a Tank” and “Name a Ship” contests from the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign (1918), in which counties competed to sell the most bonds and win the chance to designate the name of a new military vehicle
- Pamphlets announcing the timetables for “exhibit trains,” locomotives that crossed the country on special tours. These trains were intended to rally patriotic spirit and encourage bond sales through speeches and military demonstrations
- Liberty Loan posters and patriotic art, including “honor emblems” for loan subscribers to display in the windows of their homes and a poster highlighting the Eighth District’s success as the first district to make their quota and go “Over the Top” in the bond sales campaign of the Victory Liberty Loan of 1919
- Song lyrics for patriotic war finance songs such as “Uncle Sam, Every Man Will See You Through” and “Don’t Let the Son Go Down”
- Reports and organizational records of the business of the Liberty Loan Organization
FRASER users interested in the financing of World War I and the business of the Liberty Loans may also be interested in the papers of Benjamin Strong, president of the New York Fed from 1914-1928; The Story of the Liberty Loans, a 1919 retrospective; and the many other materials filed under Liberty bonds.
© 2025, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve System.
