Rutgers College. War Service Bureau.

The War Service Bureau of Rutgers College, established August 20, 1917, was implemented to keep Rutgers students in contact with the college as well as with each other during World War I. Earl Reed Silvers, assistant to President William Henry Steele Demarest, served as director of the bureau from its inception until June 1919.

The War Service Bureau fulfilled a number of tasks, such as corresponding with soldiers and collecting wartime photographs and other ephemera. Silvers sent letters to Rutgers alumni serving in the armed forces at intervals ranging from one week to one month. Along with personal communications, he also sent issues of Rutgers Alumni Quarterly. In many of the letters Silvers solicited responses from the men about their experiences. Soldiers and military personnel serving overseas also received bulletins that notified eligible alumni of government job openings. After January 1918, the War Department assumed this responsibility.

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