Today is Veterans Day, a day in which we honor our military veterans. This day began in 1919 as Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the yearly anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1954, the day was expanded to honor veterans of all wars and given its current name.

In honor of both our veterans and the anniversary of the end of World War I, today we are featuring the Valentine J. Oldshue Papers. Oldshue was a historian and journalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who served as an ambulance driver in World War I, a Red Cross relief coordinator, a correspondent for the American Legion in Paris, and a member of the Public Utility Commission. The collection contains newspaper articles covering the peace negotiations in Paris after World War I, Memorial day ceremonies at American cemeteries in the 1920s, letters, photographs, and postcards from France and Albania, press credentials, Oldshue’s diary and his dog tags (pictured above).