The World War I prisoners at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., were a different breed from those of World War II, who came from the European battlefield.
The main group of prisoners in World War I came from within the U.S. and were classified as “enemy aliens,” those who had not completed the naturalization process. At the onset of the war, 3.5 million Germans or Austro-Hungarians living in the U.S. were unnaturalized. During the war about 4,000 were arrested, mostly on suspicion of spying or sabotage and a few for making pro-German statements.
The second group of prisoners included sailors and merchant men taken off German ships anchored in U.S. ports when World War I broke out. These were military men, properly called Prisoners of War.
The third group included the “trouble-makers,” radical members of the I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the World, the so-called”Wobblies”).
At the behest of President Woodrow Wilson, this diverse group was held in three prison compounds: Fort Oglethorpe, Fort McPherson, Ga., and Fort Douglas, Utah. At its peak, Fort Oglethorpe, the largest, held 3,400 prisoners.