November 11, 1918:

Armistice Day in Oxford

“The eleventh hour of the
eleventh day of the eleventh month”

World War I often has been referred to as “the war to end all wars.” It was originally called The Great War, since at the time it was inconceivable that there would ever be a World War II.

The end of The Great War was eagerly anticipated by the American public, which had sacrificed much blood, lives and treasure. 320,000 Americans were killed or wounded during the conflict. The U.S. spent some $20 billion on the war effort, equivalent to nearly $400 billion in current dollars.

In the late afternoon of Sunday, November 10, 1918 an extra edition of the Hamilton Evening Journal was published. It arrived in Oxford just an hour after it was printed. With it came word that the Armistice had been signed and that the Great War was at an end.

Celebrations began the next morning, coinciding with the formal cessation of the conflict, at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” Miami University and Oxford College cancelled classes. (There is no indication that Western College did so.) The Journal reported that “students marched through the streets with flags, tin pans and every sort of noise producing paraphernalia.” Flags were displayed throughout the town. The afternoon parade was more organized, leading from the public school at West Spring Street to High Street and the west park. It included a drum corps, the G.A.R. (Great American Revolution) Home Guards, Red Cross Women’s Relief Corps, Miami University band, U.S. Army officers, Miami University battalions, including the S.A.T.C. (Student Army Training Corps), with children from the public school and the William Holmes McGuffey school, together with scores of automobiles, many decorated with flags and streamers, snaking along behind.

Frank R. Snyder, Oxford’s leading photographer, was on hand that day, and took photographs of the two processions from his top floor studio in the Mansion House at the corner of High and Main Streets. (Today the original building is gone, twice replaced by commercial eateries, most recently Chipotle.) In the featured image, Snyder captures the dramatic scene of more than two dozen women proudly carrying an oversized American flag along High Street. It is an evocative reminder of the price Americans paid for their participation in the European conflict.

We look forward to seeing you this Spring! Feel free to call [(513) 529-2232], email (ArtMuseum@MiamiOH.edu) and/or sign our comments book in the entryway.

Sincerely,