Babson was a private in the 104th U.S. Infantry in France from 1917 to 1918. This collection consists primarily of letters to Babson from his sisters and mother when he was in the army. They describe daily activities and attitudes toward World War I in Massachusetts and Kentucky. The collection also includes a patriotic scrapbook of clippings on life in the U.S. during the war.

Brewer's work in French field hospitals during World War I is documented by scrapbooks and letters to his wife, as well as a scrapbook kept by his family friend and office nurse, Beatrice MacDonald. MacDonald was wounded during an air raid and was honored for her service by the British and French governments and received the Distinguished Service Cross. The MacDonald scrapbook has been digitized.

The Cannon family papers include correspondence between Cornelia James Cannon and her husband, Walker Cannon, written while he served as a military doctor in France during World War I. The correspondence describes a family separated by war, from Walter's experiences working in a military field hospital, to Cornelia and the children dealing with the effects of war at home, including rationing, planting victory gardens, the influenza epidemic, and growing antagonism toward Germans living in Cambridge.

During World War I, Hall chaired the New England Clothing Committee working with the Comité Franco-Américaine pour la Protection des Enfants de la Frontière (Franco-American Committee for the Protection of the Children of the Frontier), which provided assistance to impoverished French children and their families. Scrapbooks contain records of work by Hall's committee, bills, sample patterns, reports, pictures of children, and other items; folders contain letters from Caroline R. Hill to Hall. The scrapbooks have been digitized and are available through the finding aid.

A paleobotanist, Holden was on a research fellowship in England when World War I began. She took a Red Cross nurses’ training course, worked in hospitals in England, and in January 1916 went to Russia with the first Millicent Fawcett Medical Unit to establish hospitals for Polish refugees. Holden learned Russian and Polish and was an interpreter and courier for the unit. She contracted typhoid and died of meningitis while helping establish hospitals and working in paleobotany in Kazan.

A pacifist and feminist, Rankin was the first congresswoman, representing Montana for the 1917-1919 and 1941-1943 terms; she also was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. participation in both world wars. In the 1920s she worked for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and founded the Georgia Peace Society. In the 1930s, she worked for the National Council for Prevention of War. From 1945 to the early 1970s, she traveled extensively, especially in India; opposed the Vietnam War; and worked for the Equal Rights Amendment.