The Great War for Civilization 02/04/2013 by Courtney Jason When this WWI Army jacket came to Museum Textile Services, we did not know too much about it. According to the client, it had belonged to their grandfather, who was an Irish immigrant who enlisted to escape the orphanage he was living in. Beyond that, the rest was unclear. In the intervening weeks, much has come to light about Alexander G. McLean, his uniform, and his service in the Great War for Civilization.
McLean's WWI jacket before conservation. McLean's army jacket is a 1917 pattern jacket, which is distinguishable from the earlier 1912 pattern by a single line of stitching around the sleeve cuffs. Details like this can be
found on the US Army's website in an extensive PDF by David Cole.
From David Cole's "Survey of U.S. Army Uniforms, Weapons and Accouterments," p. 61.
Recently the client returned with more items belonging to their grandfather. The buttons, pins, business cards, and books have inspired us to begin our research anew, and while we still do not know a lot about the life of Alexander McLean, we are developing a more complete picture. We know he joined the Army with the Yankee Division, and that he likely spent the majority of his time abroad fighting in France. The first step of the project is to mount the jacket for display. It has been carefully vacuumed and an archival support pillow has been constructed. Next it will be mount it to a fabric-covered solid-support panel and covered with a UV filtering acrylic shadow box. When the jacket is complete, additional shadow boxes will be constructed for the other items. While there are still a lot of unanswered questions, we are looking forward to learning more about the life of Alexander McLean. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates as we continue to work on this project.
Items belonging to A.G. McLean including victory medals, shell casings, and key to the City of Boston.
Medal awarded to Alexander G. McLean from the town of Hopedale, MA, for service in WWI.