Between 1917 and 1918, approximately 24 million men living in the United States completed a World War I draft registration card. Nearly 20% of those registration were foreign born men. Men were required to register for the draft regardless of their U.S. citizenship status.
During World War I, more than 192,000 immigrants acquired citizenship through military service, accounting for more than half of all naturalizations in the United States during that period.
The following are from several historical databases of WWI Draft Registrations in the State of Rhode Island between 1917 and 1918. Extractions here include Cape Verdean, many being recent immigrants and African American men. During the World War I era, Rhode Island was home to one of the largest Cape Verdean populations in America. Cape Verde is an archipelago about 350 miles off the coast of West Africa and during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was a major connecting port between Africa and the New World. The Cape Verdean people are largely of mixed African and European ancestry.
View the list of Newport African American Draft Registrations between 1917 and 1918
African American WWI Draft Registrations
View the list of Cape Verdean Draft Registrations between 1917 and 1918.