Embracing the Immigrants

"We let sharks prey on them, we let poverty swamp them, we did not teach them English, " lamented George Creel, Progressive journalist who would become the civilian director of the CPI.

President Wilson ran on a platform in 1916 of keeping the U.S. out of WWI. It was shortly thereafter that the United States entered the war. Knowing that he needed popular support for the War, the Committee on Public Information was created in April of 1917 shortly after the United States declared War on Germany.

The purpose of the committee was to sway popular opinion in support of the War. As part of that effort it was important to get the support of the millions of people who had immigrated to the United States. Although this segment of the population had previously been ignored, it was now recognized that a major effort was needed by the CPI to rally support for the War within the immigrant population.