Finding vintage photography to post to the site that has meaningful background history has been a tough mission the last few years. I was recently inspired to start posting to the blog more often from a group of friends who enjoy seeing great photography mixed in with background research. This site has always been a labor of love and I’ve neglected posting new material (but have updated older posts) since the global pandemic hit. I now introduce you to a new addition to the collection that showcases an underappreciated aspect of the the WWI US service experience.

The process of making these shots web-ready is a bit tedious but it involves the scanning, editing for dust and scratches as well as optimizing size for the web. It’s not a quick task but I like to take time to make these available whenever possible.

This photograph struck me when I first viewed it for a few reasons. The role of African Americans in World War One has been touched upon in books, documentaries and museum exhibits but the photographic history of the common labor war worker has been eclipsed by the “fighting” units that are often depicted. These two men, Erie Rayburn of Coffeeville, MS and Ollie Stiger of Jackson of the same state have likely never been shown online. These postcard style shots were often taken to be sent to friends and family as a way of remembering a time where the normal day-to-day life of the 1910s was upended and normal guys were thrown into abnormal situations.

Both Ollie and Erie served in the same labor unit – the Depot Service Company No. II based out of Brest, France during the war. I’m unsure of what exact labor duty they would have been assigned to but it likely involved the moving of material onto or off of ships onto trucks or trains. More research will need to be done.

Ollie Stiger (also spelled Steger in later documents) was born on August 6th, 1892 (also listed as 1891?) in Mississippi and died in San Diego, CA in October of 1972. After the war he worked with the Chicago and North Western Railroad as a “coach cleaner”. I’m unaware of any children or family at the point of writing this post.

Corporal Erie Rayburn was also from the same hometown of Ollie of Coffeeville, MS and was born around the same time in 1895 and passed away a few years after Ollie in 1988. I sincerely hope they stayed friends after the war and after they parted ways to seek the true American Dream.

More research to come…