Articles
- Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The Women Who Fried Donuts and Dodged Bombs on the Front Lines of WWI.” Smithsonian. April 12, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/donut-girls-wwi-helped-fill-soldiers-bellies-and-get-women-vote-180962864/.
- Doughboy Center. “Doughnut! The Official Story.” WorldWar1.com. Accessed December 2, 2022. http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/doughnut.htm.
- Yagi, George Jr. “Doughboys and Doughnut Girls—How the Salvation Army’s WWI Women Volunteers Made History, One Tasty Treat at a Time.” Military History Now. May 31, 2018. https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/05/31/of-doughboys-and-doughnut-girls-how-the-salvation-armys-female-volunteers-of-ww1-made-history-one-tasty-treat-at-a-time/.
Books
- Booth, Evangeline, and Grace Livingston Hill. The War Romance of The Salvation Army. Public Domain. 1919.
- Gavin, Lettie. American Women in World War I: They Also Served. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1997.
Videos
- Journey Indiana. “The Salvation Army Doughnut Girls.” YouTube. November 17, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ8dig33Iw4.
Supplemental Pages on This Blog
The following pages provide additional historical context for the diary entries.
People
- Captain Margaret Sheldon — The author of this diary, a Salvation Army officer who served in France 1917–1919
- Lieutenant Helen Purviance — Salvation Army officer and fellow “Donut Girl” who served alongside Margaret
- Evangeline Booth — Commander of the Salvation Army in the United States who sent workers to France
- General John J. Pershing — Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces
- Sergeant Alvin C. York — Medal of Honor recipient for his actions near Châtel-Chéhéry
Places and Events
- The Salvation Army in World War I — How the Salvation Army came to the front lines and the origin of the donut tradition
- The AEF Training Area: Gondrecourt and Demange-aux-Eaux — Where Margaret first served in late 1917
- Varennes-en-Argonne — Site of the opening of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
- Château-Chéhéry and the Argonne Forest — Where Alvin York performed his legendary feat
- The Meuse-Argonne Offensive — The largest battle in American military history
- The Armistice: November 11, 1918 — The end of the war
- Reims Cathedral — The damaged Gothic masterpiece Margaret visited in January 1919
- Verdun — Site of the longest battle of WWI, visited by Margaret in January 1919
- Koblenz and the American Occupation of the Rhineland — The final destination of Margaret’s January 1919 tour
External Historical Resources
- Library of Congress. (n.d.). The American Expeditionary Forces. Library of Congress Digital Collections.
- National Archives. (n.d.). The Meuse-Argonne Offensive. National Archives and Records Administration.
- Cantwell, C. (n.d.). Doughboys & doughnut girls: The Salvation Army and WWI. National WWI Museum and Memorial.
- Boissoneault, L. (2017, April 12). The women who fried donuts and dodged bombs on the front lines of WWI. Smithsonian Magazine.
- The Salvation Army USA. (n.d.). National Donut Day. The Salvation Army.
- National Archives. (n.d.). World War I records. National Archives and Records Administration.
- American Battle Monuments Commission. (n.d.). Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. ABMC.
- Congressional Medal of Honor Society. (n.d.). Alvin C. York. Medal of Honor Recipients.
- Library of Congress. (n.d.). World War I Armistice. Library of Congress Research Guides.
- U.S. Army Center of Military History. (n.d.). Occupation and demobilization, 1918–1923. U.S. Army.
Diary of a World War I Donut Girl 