When the United States Congress declared war in April 1917, Connecticut
answered the call to arms. As the capital, Hartford was the hub of the
state's war effort. The city hosted major rallies and recruitment
drives, and leaders from Hartford directed efforts to inspire patriotism
and sacrifice. Allied needs for war materiel and goods were insatiable,
and local manufacturers like Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing
Company worked around the clock to meet the demand. Men and women from
the area battled in the trenches, volunteered in the hospitals and
canteens and served in the air and on the high seas. A century later,
this legacy of service and sacrifice is memorialized by local monuments.
Author David Drury traces the extraordinary story of Hartford during
World War I.