The Education Department encouraged high school students to work on farms to meet the wartime labor demand, and it cooperated with the State Food Supply Commission to shorten the school year to achieve that end. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and author of a book that was awarded the Malte-Brun Medal of the Geographic Society of Paris. Dr. Finley's trip was endorsed at the highest levels of both countries. Dr. Finley was the representative of colleges and universities across the country, many of which sent messages of sympathy and support to their sister institutions in France. The bulk of the material dates from March through August 1917.
Photographs are undated and unattributed.
Most of the correspondence consists of letters of introduction, social invitations, welcome notes, and letters asking for assistance or scheduling meetings with Dr. Finley. Copies of clippings, programs, calling cards, and invitations are scattered throughout. A few of the scenes show people, primarily French soldiers and a few civilians. The photographs are in two sets, one numbered in blue and the other in red. They may have been intended as illustrations for a publication about the trip.