World War I Draft Registration Card of Babe Ruth
The Selective Service Act of May 19, 1917, authorized the federal government to conscript an army for service in World War I. From June 5, 1917, to September 12, 1918, twenty-four million men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five registered for the draft, including baseball legend George Herman “Babe” Ruth.
While most of our records were created by federal agencies in the southeast states, we hold these twenty-four million World War I draft cards from across the country, as well as Classification Lists (National Archives Identifier: 578508) and other Selective Service records. In addition to Babe Ruth, there were many famous draft registrants—such as Louis Armstrong, Al Capone, Sergeant Alvin York, Duke Ellington, Ty Cobb, and Robert Frost—and millions of other men that may include one or two of your ancestors.
World War I Draft Registration Card for George Herman Ruth, dated June 5, 1917. National Archives Identifier: 641780
View and download the draft registration card for Babe Ruth in the National Archives Catalog. This draft registration card is one example of the many records held at the National Archives at Atlanta, GA. You can explore more of our holdings by visiting our online Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Atlanta. This record is located within Record Group 163: Selective Service System (World War I), Series: Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held in the National Archives at Atlanta.