American Library Association Uniform
date: label: associated date
content: 1917-1918
notes: label: Description
content: Women's American Library Association (ALA) uniform from World War I, consisting of a hat, coat, shirtwaist, necktie, skirt, and insignia. The hat is green velour, the coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, the shirtwaist is white crepe de chine, and the tie is greenish brown silk. Metal lapel and hat insignia and cloth sleeve insignia show "ALA" over an open book. This uniform was donated by the ALA through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
label: Description
content: The ALA's mission during World War I was to provide American men in the armed forces with reading material during their off-duty and recovery hours on transport ships, in camps, and in hospitals. Men served as librarians for the ALA, while women typically engaged in fundraising, sorting and preparing books, and working at ALA headquarters.
label: Description
content: Source:
label: Description
content: Vivian Lea Young, “'Petticoats Are Part of this Uniform': American Women Volunteers of the First World War and Their Uniforms” (Master's thesis, George Washington University, 1987).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: related event
content: World War I
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
label: See more items in
content: Women's World War I Uniforms
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0165.60.02
label: accession number
content: 1998.0165
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0165.60.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shirt
label: Other Terms
content: shirt; Woman; Ala
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall (padded, folded): 32 1/4 in x 17 in x 2 in; 81.93532 cm x 43.18 cm x 5.08 cm