During the early spring of 1917, the United States anxiously waited to see how President Woodrow Wilson would respond to changing events in Europe.  Although not a native South Carolinian, Wilson had spent some of his teenage years in Columbia from 1870-1874, and he remained connected to the city through family and friends.  The personal ties the 28th president held with the city heightened the connection many of its inhabitants had with national and international events.  On April 3, 1917, Columbians went to work as if it on any other day, but by mid-afternoon, the city was abuzz with the latest Columbia Record headline: “United States is Really at War.”  Though the announcement was a few days premature of the actual declaration of war, its thick block-print letters nonetheless forecast the coming of great change for its readers.  Three days later Congress authorized Wilson’s pro-war stance and the United States was officially involved in a war that it had maneuvered to avoid for years.

Following their president’s lead, Columbians steeled themselves for the upcoming patriotic trial by preparing their city for wartime work.  Both a Canteen corps, designed to assist soldiers passing through Columbia on trains, and a local Red Cross chapter were quickly formed.  Joe Sparks, chairman of the “Red Cross Preparation Day Parade,” commented, “Now is the time for Columbians to let it be known in no uncertain terms that they stand squarely behind the nation and President Wilson in this emergency.”  City and state officials set the groundwork for ensuring the state’s military readiness.  The Columbia Y.M.C.A. held its first military training class on April 4.  Governor Richard Manning pronounced Wednesday, April 11 as Naval Recruiting Day and established quotas for all South Carolina counties, including 29 men for Richland County.  Private businessmen, who had been soliciting the federal government for several years to establish an army fort, or cantonment site, outside the city’s limits, enjoyed the fruits of their labor on May 19, 1917 when General Douglas Macarthur officially announced that Columbia would become one of sixteen such national sites.