Topical Guide 275
Mark Dorset
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): World War I
Two of her co-workers enlisted, and her supervisor, John Caldwell, who had always kept to himself and rarely spoke to any of the workers on any subject but their work, surprised them all by announcing that he was leaving to assist in the work being done by the Young Men’s Christian Association in France. Said he, in part:
When this terrible war is over, who will return to us? Will the men who return to our shores prove to be a greater menace than the Prussian bullies? Will they be the sons and husbands and brothers we sent over there, or will they be a syphilitic horde of Frenchified monsters? I am going to France to do my part to see that when our boys return we can embrace them without fear and loathing. I’ll counsel abstinence, but I will also provide protection, for no doughboy should be without his three safeguards: his helmet, his mask, and his condoms.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 6
This booklet was produced by the YMCA to educate soliders about the dangers of contracting venereal disease while separated from their wives and girlfriends. It was published for the Sex Education Bureau of the National War Work Council of Young Men’s Christian Associations and approved by the War department Commission on Training Camp Activities, Social Hygiene Division.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
[Read the entire booklet on their website.]
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