Great Meeting Gives Impetus to War Chest

From The Indianapolis Star, Tuesday, May 14: A public demonstration last evening at Tomlinson Hall attended by 3,000 men and women and featuring the simple slogan, “Indianapolis and Marion County Can and They Will,” gave the War Chest campaign momentum. William Fortune, war chest board president, explained the need for an organized and centralized effort in gathering funds for all the Great War philanthropies. He also said the fund would not only be for war needs, but also for every worthy charitable and benevolent work. ‘The goal is that every person in the community shall give according to his or her income. We hope the list of contributors will be near 100,000,” Fortune added. The first subscriber sent $3 (2017: $50) to the chest with a note stating it was a day’s pay from a working woman.

“Great Meeting Gives Impetus to War Chest,” The Indianapolis Star, 14 May 1918, p. 1:1