Help Us Help Our Boys

This World War I poster, featuring a confident YWCA worker, urged the public to support the United War Work Campaign—a massive fundraising effort held in November 1918 to aid soldiers abroad. The campaign united seven major organizations, including both the YWCA and YMCA, to raise $170.5 million in one week.

Women in the YWCA played a vital role in providing safe housing, food, and support services for U.S. troops and their families. This poster highlights how women’s wartime work was framed as patriotic duty—supporting “our boys” while asserting a growing public presence for American women in national affairs.