The Haverford Emergency Unit
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
The accompanying photograph from the College Archives depicts members of the Haverford Emergency Unit, ca. 1917, standing in front of Morris Infirmary holding litters, with the Carvill Arch to their right. In that year, Haverford College professor, Rufus M. Jones, organized the Unit on campus, which drew from Haverford’s undergraduates. Their training included physical and manual exercises, auto mechanics, and first aid to prepare them for non-combatant participation in World War I while remaining in college. Nonetheless, by May 1917, 19 Unit members left college to volunteer for hospital work and 11 for Army training. The Unit ceased at the end of May, replaced in June by students and faculty training for the work of relief and reconstruction in France in conjunction with the newly formed American Friends Service Committee.