United States Army Signal Corps collection of photographs of 26th Division

The photographs were created by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I and distributed via the Committee on Public Information. The photographic section of the Signal Corps was responsible for official U.S. Army ground and aerial photography related to the Army training and war experience. The images were available to the press and public via the Committee on Public Information (CPI). The CPI was an independent agency created to influence public support for the U.S. participation in World War I. Prints could be ordered via the Catalogue of Official A.E.F. Photographs taken by the Signal Corps, U.S.A.

The bulk of images in this collection pertain to the U.S. Army 26th Division, known as the “Yankee Division” as it was composed of National Guard companies from New England. It was the first full American division to arrive in France in 1917 and was the first American military unit to be decorated by a foreign government when the French awarded the Croix de Guerre to the 104th Infantry Regiment.