Kennewick High School's War Effort
High school students create a statewide propaganda campaign to promote agricultural production and food conservation during World War I.
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A 'Food Preparedness' poster, which will undoubtedly attract statewide if not nation-wide attention, will be issued by the Kennewick High School this week. The poster, printed in national colors, is intended to stimulate the boys and girls of Washington to increase annual food production. It warns the housewife against needless waste, urges enrollment in agricultural clubs, and depicts the results of waste upon Uncle Sam’s fighting forces. The text was prepared by Wm. Meikle, head of the agricultural department, and the illustrations are original cartoons by S. Norman Lynch of the junior class. The cost is borne jointly by the school and local businessmen via the Commercial Club. 2,000 copies will be distributed throughout the state, with fifty copies sent to each county school superintendent.
“The United States must have three great armies; first—those who fight the battles; second—those who manufacture war munitions; third—those who furnish the food and this army is fully as important as the other two.”
This reflects the massive civic mobilization efforts during WWI in the Tri-Cities, long before the area became a hub for the Manhattan Project. The 'Food Preparedness' campaign illustrates how schools were integrated into the national war machine, a precursor to the intense civic-industrial identity Kennewick would develop in later decades.
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