Marion Louise Pooke: A Natick Daughter in War-Time Paris
Marion Pooke’s Service With the American Expeditionary Forces
In November 1919—just months after returning from France—Natick’s Marion Louise Pooke addressed the Natick Woman’s Club with a talk titled “With the A.E.F. in France.” Drawing on her service with the American Expeditionary Forces at the end of World War I, she offered a glimpse of the era’s hardships and the cautious hope that followed.
From Walnut Hill to the World Stage
Marion Louise Pooke (1883–1975) grew up in Natick, the youngest of three daughters of Charles Augustus Pooke (1855–1936), a partner in the Union Lumber Company and trustee of the Natick Trust Company, and Georgette Custer Pooke (1851–1918). The Pooke sisters—Helen Custer (1878–1953), Florence Augusta (1880–1964), and Marion—attended the Walnut Hill School and then Smith College (Helen and Florence graduating in 1901; Marion in 1905). Marion continued her training at the Massachusetts Normal Art School, earning a teaching certificate in 1908, and from 1909 to 1913 studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. She then kept studio space at the Grundmann Studios and Fenway Studios.
By her own account, Marion initially viewed the Great War “in rather a detached way,” until a visiting speaker described the urgent need for Red Cross workers. She soon enlisted with the American Red Cross and was later transferred to the Y.M.C.A., where her artistic training and teaching skills found unexpected purpose. She and other women volunteers quickly grasped the seriousness of their responsibilities. After her mother died in 1918, Marion returned to Europe in 1919 to support the war effort and relief work.
Art in the Shadow of War
Stationed in Paris, Marion was attached to the Educational Committee of the Y.M.C.A. There, she pioneered a remarkable experiment: opening art studios inside military hospitals. These makeshift classrooms provided wounded and recovering soldiers with the tools to draw, paint, and sculpt — to express themselves and find a measure of healing through creative work.
Men who had lost limbs or suffered shell shock found solace in sketching and modeling clay. Blacksmiths and boiler men sat beside trained architects, trading techniques and ideas. Rough wards were transformed as soldiers pinned their drawings to the walls. “The men worked like dogs and excellent results were obtained… It was all a life saver and the men loved the studios.”
Exhibitions of the patients’ work drew praise from visiting officers, and a selection was even sent to Washington, D.C., to show how art supported recovery. According to Marion’s own recollections—shared in her postwar talks and notes —these displays changed minds: skeptics left convinced that drawing, painting, and simple crafts could steady nerves, build confidence, and speed healing. For Marion, the studios proved something larger—creativity gave wounded soldiers a way to make choices again, take pride in small successes, and look ahead—restoring dignity and offering real hope even under challenging circumstances.
Witness to History
Her service also placed her at the heart of world events. In the port city of Brest, Marion glimpsed General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, as transports arrived and departed continuously. She stood within sight of President Woodrow Wilson during Memorial Day observances in Paris, part of the postwar rituals honoring the dead while the peace was still being negotiated. And—most memorably—she was present for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919, the ceremony that formally ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers and reshaped borders, reparations, and the prospect of a new international order.
She later recalled: “I was in Versailles on the day the Peace Treaty was signed… I shall never forget the jubilant throngs that filled Paris, waving flags, singing anthems, and parading captured cannon through the streets until dawn.” Crowds surged along the boulevards; church bells and military bands answered one another across the city; bunting and Allied colors draped windows and storefronts. For a volunteer who had spent months tending to soldiers’ needs in canteens and hospitals, the moment fused relief with uncertainty—the triumph of peace set against the memory of wounded men and the knowledge that the work of rebuilding had only begun. It was history in the making, and she was there to see it.
Natick Connections Abroad
Incredibly, in the vastness of Paris, Marion found a familiar face. “Imagine my joy in finding Miss Edna L. Hunnewell, a Natick girl and a very dear friend of mine, also working under the Y.M.C.A. in Paris…” Miss Hunnewell—of the family whose extraordinary generosity has supported the Natick Historical Society—reminds us that even amid a world conflict, hometown ties could surface in the most unexpected places.
Hardship and Resilience
Marion’s work was demanding. Her schedule carried her across the city on crowded trains and jolting hospital wagons: “Sometimes I got transportation in the hospital Army carriers… jolting over the rough cobblestones… I would wonder how I of all people should be scurrying around Paris in this unconventional manner. But I loved it all.”
Conditions were often grueling. She described long nights in unheated dormitories, “bitterly cold but we were prepared to make the best of everything and with much laughter we untied our cots and started in.” At one point, a severe ear infection hospitalized her for weeks. Even while recovering, she observed the unrelenting work of other women who danced and entertained soldiers nightly in “leave areas” to maintain high morale.
Through it all, Marion bore witness to suffering. “We went into the first ward and I had my initiation into the real tragedies of the war… men without eyes, shell-shocked men, shrapnel wounded and gas-burned men without arms and legs.” These sights never left her, yet she held fast to the conviction that her presence mattered.
It Counted
When Marion sailed home aboard the Augusta Victoria in July 1919, she carried with her a deep conviction about the work she and other women had done. “Our presence steadied the men. What we did was small compared to their sacrifice, but it counted.” For Marion, the contribution of women was not measured in medals or parades, but in the quiet influence they had on the lives of soldiers.
Written by Jennifer Richards, October 2025
Reading Marion Pooke’s lecture in its entirety is a fulfilling experience. Beyond the highlights and memorable quotes, her words carry the emotion and immediacy of someone who lived through extraordinary times and wanted her neighbors in Natick to understand them. The full document offers not just facts but a voice — candid, reflective, and at times humorous.
Title: With the A.E.F. in France (Lecture before the Natick Woman’s Club)
Creator: Marion Louise Pooke (1881–1975)
Date: November 1919
Format: Manuscript, typescript, 12 pages
Holding Institution: Natick Historical Society, Natick, Massachusetts
Sources & Additional Reading
Sources
Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Walnut Hill School, https://www.walnuthillarts.org (accessed Oct 29, 2025).
Smith College Special Collections, Smith College, https://libraries.smith.edu/special-collections/college-archives, (accessed Sep 14, 2025).
New England Academic Traditions, Danforth Art Museum, https://danforth.framingham.edu/artwork/one-night-stand/, (accessed Sep 27, 2025).
U.S. Army Center of Military History, Army Art in World War I: A Commemorative Print Set, U.S. Army Center of Military History, https://history.army.mil/Publications/Publications-Catalog/Army-Art-in-World-War-I-A-Commemorative-Print-Set/, (accessed Sep 27, 2025).