1In Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917-1945, historian Allison S. Finkelstein skillfully uncovers the service and sacrifices of the American women during the First World War, and how these women veterans continued to serve and sacrifice after the war through their activism and commemoration efforts. Largely forgotten and invisible, as the title of the monograph states, these American women, or “veteranists” as Finkelstein deems them, believed in forms of commemoration through “veteranism.” Veteranism stems from the belief “that in the aftermath of the war, supporting, aiding, and caring for veterans needed to be a priority of American citizens, civic groups, and the government” (2). Veteranists argued that “utilitarian memorials and living memorials” performed and commemorated far more productively than statutory monuments and memorials (3). Looking at key veteranist organizations, including the Women’s Overseas League (WOSL), the American Red Cross (ARC), the World War Reconstruction Aides Association (WWRAA), the American War Mothers, and the Gold Star women, Finkelstein establishes how these women not only served and sacrificed during and after the war, but also “demonstrate[s] the myriad ways that female activists influenced the interwar discourse and debate on the legacy of the First World War and the American women who participated in it” (18).

2Employing an array of rich archival materials, a number under-used, Finkelstein has divided up her monograph into five chapters, along with a comprehensive introduction and conclusion. The five chapters are composed thematically, each one focusing on a different veteranist organization. The chapters are carefully constructed to give a thorough historical overview of each organization, the forms of commemoration services they performed, and how each organization advocated for veterans, both women and men. Finkelstein’s strength in the chapters lays not only in her organization, but in the specific examples of commemoration, such as the ARC’s Memorial Building to the Women of the World War, and how these commemorative actions demonstrate “a unique and somewhat avant-garde method of commemoration that will change the way scholars and practitioners understand American commemorative practices” (2-3). This important method of commemoration, as Finkelstein contends, shows how these women were unwavering in their advocacy for veterans and how they refused “to accept that women could not serve equally in the armed forces” (167).

3One of Finkelstein’s most significant contributions in Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials is how she addresses issues of class and race. Without diminishing the work these women in these organizations performed, Finkelstein acknowledges that many of the typical members were privileged women that were “White, Christian [and from] middle- to upper-class backgrounds” (28). However, Finkelstein does not neglect those that were excluded and segregated. For example, looking at African American women, Finkelstein comprehensively chronicles African American women’s contributions, advocacy, battle to be included in these organizations, and recognized for their service and sacrifices. Finkelstein states that while African American women were part of the pilgrimages overseas and it was stated by officials and American leaders that discrimination would not be an issue. However, the author shows how “the army racially segregated the groups of pilgrims” and the treatment of “African American pilgrims was not exactly the same or equal to that of the White pilgrims” (137-8).

4Finkelstein ends her monograph with a well-rounded conclusion that goes “beyond the Great War” (153). As she states, the “female veteranists did not go quietly into the night,” but remobilized “as they supported the nation and the military on both the home front and the war front” during World War Two (153). Additionally, Finkelstein connects these acts of commemoration and forms of advocacy further with the development of the GI Bill, and a short section on what followed the Second World War. Overall, Finkelstein has produced an exceptional piece of scholarship that continues the work of veteranists themselves, who, as Finkelstein has established, sought out to do and fight for: recognition for the work of these women and to never forget their service and sacrifices as veterans.