American Field Service World War I Records, 1914-1935

This collection is into the following four series, based on the administrative structure of the American Field Service during World War I:  Series 1: Paris Headquarters; Series 2: Boston Office; Series 3: New York Office; Series 4: Chicago Office; Series 5: Publications and Promotional Material

In many cases, the collection is processed at a box level only; many folders (and individual items) remain unsorted within each series.  In some cases, however, boxes were processed at a folder level and a folder list is given.  See the individual series descriptions for more information.

The American Field Service (AFS) originated as the Transportation Department in an auxiliary military hospital, located in the high school building of Lycée Pasteur in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris. This volunteer-run, civilian-financed American Ambulance Hospital, an extension of the nearby American Hospital of Paris, opened its doors in September of 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I.

Abram Piatt Andrew (1873-1936), former assistant professor of economics at Harvard (1900-1909), Director of the U.S. Mint (1909-1910), and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President William H. Taft (1910-1912) drove an ambulance for the American Ambulance Hospital in January 1915, and was made Inspector General of the hospital’s ambulance section in March 1915.  In April 1915 Andrew negotiated with the French military to have some of the ambulance units (which would become known as the "American Ambulance Field Service") serve closer to the front lines of battle.  Under Andrew’s leadership, the organization actively recruited volunteers from the Ivy League and other colleges for six month volunteer missions in France.

As American Representative of the American Field Service and Treasurer of the American Field Service Fund, Henry Davis Sleeper worked out of a Boston office, engaging in recruitment and extensive fundraising to purchase ambulances.  He also managed AFS promotion in the United States, arranging showings of the film “Our American Boys in the European War” and sales of the book Friends of France (Boston, 1915).  The New York City headquarters of the American Committee of the American Ambulance Hospital, run by William Hereford, was also involved in recruitment and donations before AFS split from the American Hospital in 1916, and continued as an AFS New York office after AFS became an independent entity in 1916. Beginning in 1917, there was also an office in Chicago, which handled recruitment in the western states.

In Paris, Andrew oversaw the field operations and advocated that the organization work directly with the French Army and more actively in the field.  Due to this advocacy and other reasons, the American Ambulance Field Service split from the American Ambulance Hospital and established separate headquarters at 21 rue Raynouard in Paris in July 1916. In May 1917, Andrew worked with Commandant Doumenc, Head of the Automobile Service of the French Army, to establish a camion service, where volunteers would haul munitions, troops, and supplies instead of treating the wounded.  While somewhat controversial, sixteen Transport Matériel [Etats-] Unis (TMU) sections, also known as the Réserve Mallet, were created.  The American Ambulance Field Service shortened its name to the American Field Service at this time.

By the time the U.S. entered the war in late 1917, 2,500 men had served as ambulance or camion drivers in the American Field Service with the French Armies.  AFS had participated in every major French battle and carried more than 500,000 wounded.  The U.S. Army Ambulance Service absorbed AFS, which ceased to exist as an independent organization.  Some AFS Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) units became U.S. Army SSU units, while other AFS volunteers enlisted in different branches of the U.S. service.  AFS Paris Headquarters remained open after the U.S. entered the war, as the organization transitioned into becoming part of the U.S. Army.  Beginning in July 1917, staff at AFS Headquarters published a weekly bulletin containing news of drivers and the war, which was distributed to former AFS drivers.  Sleeper closed the Boston office and moved to Paris after the Armistice to help the organization conclude business operations.  The Paris headquarters at 21 rue Raynouard closed in April 1919.