This collection consists of a leather-bound scrapbook belonging to 2nd Lt. Ward B. Bates and contains 139 documents, seventy-two maps, 263 photographs, and eighty-one picture postcards. The photographs cover Bates' time in training at his various duty stations. Some of the photographs include Bates and other officers enjoying their time on liberty before heading to the battlefield. Battlefield images are those taken by Bates as well as the personal pictures of Major Joseph Mills Hansen who was the Chief Historian of the A.E.F. Some photographs depict those dead after an assault. Documents include an assortment of U.S. Service Club membership cards and also Officer Club membership cards. The scrapbook holds Bates' honorable discharge paper from the Army National Guard. There are also numerous copies of various orders passed down to the many officers of field artillery. All orders pertained to the movement of the newly commissioned officers, including Bates. Orders came down from the War Department and would give time and place of the new duty station. Bates traveled from Ft. Dodge, Iowa, to Ft. Snelling, Minnesota. Other duty stations included Camp Logan of Houston, Texas and Camp Jackson of Columbia, South Carolina. General Order No. 23 in particular deals with Bates division once they reached Paris, France and how they were to go about setting up camp, care of personnel and supplies, and interaction with locals. There are also many newspaper clippings that document the events of World War I.