Behind the Stars and Stripes

Blog post by Jackie Fogarty (’18)

When cleaning out closets, people often stumble upon memories: dress clothes worn once for a special occasion, a t-shirt bought on a relaxing vacation, or the lucky socks worn for every nerve-wracking event.  These garments have a story with undeniable significance to the wearer.  Now imagine all of the pride and stories associated with these seemingly innocuous clothes combined into one garment, displaying professional achievements and history: this is the US military uniform.

US military dress uniforms are similar to biographies in pictographic form.  Each specific marking on the uniform is a symbol, from years in service to victory medals, and have particular standards for placement on the uniforms.  For Charter Day weekend (April 24 – 27, 2015), the Wortham Military Collection in Barton Hall displayed many historical military uniforms from Pre-WWI Cornell ROTC Cadet uniforms to WWII military in an exhibit titled, 150 Years of Leadership Excellence, curated to commemorate Cornell’s contribution to military history.

One of the major donors to the Wortham Military Collection is the Payne family, specifically Major Kate Payne.  Daughter of a Colonel, wife of an Infantry soldier, widowed and then later, wife of an Engineer in the Air Force and herself a member of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) division, Kate Payne provided the Cornell community with a firsthand historical military education.

Lucius L. Hopwood was the father of Kate Payne and a Colonel in the US Medical Corps.  Assigned to the Chief Surgeon’s Office during World War I, Col. L.L. Hopwood spearheaded hospital installation in France to mend the lack of proper medical care for the exponentially increasing number of wounded soldiers on the battlefront.

Colonel L.L. Hopwood’s uniform

Colonel L.L. Hopwood’s uniform

Aside from the information about his service, the uniform reveals his personal military accomplishments.  He was in an overseas combat zone for at least one year as seen by the olive and gold chevrons on his lower left sleeve; these designations are called Overseas Service Chevrons, with each chevron indicating six months in a combat zone.  After World War I, horizontal bars called Overseas Service Stripes replaced chevrons and are located on the lower right sleeve today.

Overseas Service Chevrons

Overseas Service Chevrons

Evidenced by the colorful rectangular pins, called ribbons, on the upper left chest, he earned (from left to right in the photo) an Army Distinguished Service Medal, Mexican Border Service Medal for his service in the Mexican campaign against Poncho Villa in 1916, and World War I Victory Medal.  Each ribbon corresponds to a specific medal, which is kept rather than worn on the uniform. The color palette of the ribbons matches that of the medals, and the colors and pattern are specific to each individual medal throughout US military history.

Army Distinguished Service, Mexican Border Service, and World War I Victory Ribbons

Army Distinguished Service, Mexican Border Service, and World War I Victory Ribbons

Kate Payne donated these invaluable uniforms to Cornell to preserve not only the literal fabric of the uniform, but also the fabric of the nation.  Military uniforms are like codes with the detailed information seen from the symbolic, measured, and unique markings, and we can now step back and fully appreciate the individual wearing the uniform.

Jackie Fogarty (’18) is a fashion design major and a research assistant in the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection.  She has been working on a special stewardship project to preserve military uniforms at Cornell’s Wortham Museum. 

One thought on “Behind the Stars and Stripes

  1. Very nice to see this work being done. I believe the correct term, though, is “campaign ribbons”. Some are indeed a sort of shorthand for medals awarded, but others (perhaps more recently — I’m not sure of the detailed history) are authorized for service in particular campaigns.

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