Y. W. C. A.—HOSTESS HOUSES
The Young Women’s Christian Association established constructive work in cantonment cities by organizing the best girls into clubs and patriotic leagues for various kinds of war effort. Such endeavor was in the field of preventive rather than of constructive work. That at Louisville is fairly representative of what was done in the cantonment cities. Here an attractive building was secured and placed in charge of an executive secretary, who was assisted by a girls’ worker. Clubs were organized among the employed girls and school girls, and Bible, cooking, and French classes conducted. Five hundred women and girls were organized into twenty-six circles, with a captain over each circle; and an information bureau was conducted for the soldiers.
Of the various kinds of service rendered by the Y. W. C. A. the erection of fifteen hostess houses in the various camps was the greatest achievement and filled one of the greatest needs of the Negro soldier and his women folk. It is doubtful if any other welfare work gave more pleasure. Rightly was the hostess house called “a bit of home in the camps, a place of rest and refreshment for the women folks belonging to the soldiers, a sheltering chaperonage for too-enthusiastic girls, a dainty supplement to the stern fare of the camp life of the soldiers, a clearing house for the social activities which included the men in the camps and their women visitors.”
While the need was always great, the development of hostess houses for Negro soldiers and women was very slow. Camp commanders often failed to see the need of such an addition, and the uncertainty of Negro soldiers’ definitely remaining a part of camp organizations was usually given as the reason for delay. At length, however, through the untiring efforts of Miss Eva D. Bowles, leader of Y. W. C. A. work for Negro girls, her co-workers, and the War Work Council of the Y. W. C. A., these buildings came into being. The work was started at Camp Upton, N. Y., where barracks were used as temporary quarters. Later the first hostess house for Negro workers was erected in this camp. It was well located, attractively finished, and splendidly equipped. Five efficient secretaries were employed. Every evening the house was crowded. The soldiers were served at the cafeteria, or they read, wrote letters, sang, played, or mingled with their comrades. For some of the men it was the most wholesome environment they had ever enjoyed. The second hostess house was erected at Camp Dix, N. J. It was a spacious building, beautifully furnished and arranged, and the New Jersey Federated Clubs of Colored Women spent $1200 in helping to furnish the building. The third was at Camp Funston. Late in the spring of 1918 barracks were used here, but in the course of the summer a hostess house was completed just outside the camp and three secretaries were employed. Perhaps the largest and most attractive house was at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio. When it was opened the sergeants in the various companies of Negro soldiers entertained their men in it in order to make them interested. At the suggestion of the hostesses a Christmas tree was secured by the Y. M. C. A. secretary and a Negro officer, and put up for the men by the co-operation of the fire and electrical departments in the camp. The need was greatest in the Southern camps because these were visited by hundreds of Negro women daily. By the fall of 1918 houses were at both Camp Gordon and Camp Jackson. The building at Gordon was situated just beyond the street car station outside the camp. The one at Jackson was well located in relation to the headquarters group of buildings. Both had unusually large porches. At Camp Jackson the settees used in the yard were built by soldiers. Two of the last houses opened for Negro men were at Camp Meade, Md., and Camp Alexander, Newport News, Va. Returning soldiers held their farewell socials in these buildings.
In every camp the soldiers showed a fine spirit in visiting the hostess houses, especially in regard to conduct. They looked upon the secretaries as their friends and ofttimes went to them with their troubles. In turn those in charge not only served the women visitors, but brought comfort and cheer to many a heartsick soldier, and they gave many a commanding officer and welfare worker a new conception of the ability and worth of Negro womanhood. In one case the executive secretary was known throughout the camp as “Mother,” because of her understanding heart and her large appreciation of the problems of the men.
Negroes were highly commended for their loyalty in aiding the Government and for their willingness to co-operate with all welfare agencies during the war. There were, however, some workers who, though they rendered great service, did not always receive the plaudits of the crowd because they worked more humbly and did not always have the backing of a great organization. Among these were those women who went out into the highways and byways in order to help girls and lead them into the noblest life. Sometimes their work was difficult, for public officials did not always welcome them; but initiative and tact told, and we must speak of three such women who were representative.
The first was Mrs. R. T. Brooks, who when the war began was working for the associated charities of Columbia, S. C. Her experience in dealing with poverty and with lives that had been wasted or whose opportunities had been lost, prepared her to meet the problems following the establishment of Camp Jackson. Day and night she was seen in all parts of the city on the watch for those whom she might help, and the little pay she received was often divided with those who needed aid. She was respected by judges and policemen in the court room, where she often went to intercede for some erring girl, and one of the leading lawyers of Columbia said of her work, “Mrs. Brooks is the most efficient worker, white or colored, in the city.”
In Little Rock, Ark., a few years before the war, a fourteen-year old Negro girl was arraigned in court, charged with murder and seven other offences, any one of which, if proved, would have given her a prison sentence. The case aroused the colored women of the city, who followed the trial with interest. The city attorney who was conducting the case had little belief in Negro womanhood, but before the case was summed up a number of the women called on him and presented the girl’s side. The conference bore fruit, for the attorney, who had been violent in his attack, at the end of his argument asked for mercy, showing how environment had played a large part in the unfortunate girl’s life.
After this trial the Negro women of Little Rock, with the permission of the court, appointed and for two years paid the salary of Mrs. Maggie A. Jeffries, who looked after the interest of Negro girls. When soldiers came to Little Rock, her experience had prepared her for the emergency. Her work received the most enthusiastic approval of numbers of prominent citizens, and through her aid the work was formally taken over by the city, and all probation workers used the same office. Many a time this earnest helper pleaded with the judge to turn some erring girl over to her, and she found honest work for the girl or bought a ticket and sent her home to her parents.
It was realized and often admitted by policemen and judges that a well trained Negro woman with police authority could render invaluable service with the problems of the Negro girl who appeared at court, but generally such power was denied. Mrs. Mary Colson, of Des Moines, however, was given such authority, being commissioned by the Governor as a member of the secret service of the state. She also received a certificate from the Policemen’s Institute, a course of lectures given to the Des Moines police. When Mrs. Colson was first appointed many a policeman treated the appointment as a joke, but before long she was able to prove her worth, and she became a force that helped hundreds of women and girls to make a new start. It was not her prime mission to arrest, and she did so only in extreme cases. Her work was as blessed as it was far-reaching.
CHAPTER VI
THE “Y” AND OTHER WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS
No organization ever employed a greater number of workers to serve men without cost than did the Young Men’s Christian Association during the Great War. Millions of dollars given by the American people were spent in carrying out its program of service. Wherever there were American soldiers, in the camps at home, at the base ports, on the battle front, in leave areas, or behind the lines in France, there they were followed and served by the Y. M. C. A. Some of the workers even followed the troops “over the top,” sacrificing life itself in their endeavor to give comfort and cheer to the men.
Negro soldiers shared in the “Y” service both at home and in France. At first they were somewhat overlooked, but through the efforts of Dr. Jesse E. Moorland and his associates provision was made for them. In the National Army cantonments large “Y” huts with six secretaries were maintained,—building, business, religious, educational, physical, and social secretaries,—each of whom developed his particular line of work. Sometimes a second building or tent was used. The secretaries met in the general Y. M. C. A. conferences held weekly with the camp secretary, who usually co-operated in every possible way.
The effectiveness of the work depended largely upon the efficiency and ability of the building secretary to co-operate with his staff and the camp officials. Often these secretaries not only effectively supervised the work in their buildings, but they also watched the morale of the soldiers and held conferences with commanding officers for the purpose of improving unsatisfactory conditions. The business secretary conducted the stamp and money order business. This alone in some camps amounted to sums ranging from $150 to $200 a day. Lectures were given to the men on the value of saving and they often bore fruit. At Camp Dodge $10,000 was sent home by the soldiers in one month. The educational secretary worked mainly to reach the men who could not read or write. In Camp Dodge, where perhaps the most successful work was done, 2300 Negro soldiers learned to read and write and to do simple work in arithmetic and drawing, using implements of warfare as models. A business course and instruction in French were offered to those men who had sufficient education.
Colonel Bush, who was in charge of the educational work at Camp Dodge, ordered all illiterate men to attend school, and the rule made by many company commanders that every man must sign his name before drawing his pay, served as a great incentive to study. This school for Negro soldiers in the 366th Regiment was well organized, with the educational secretary, George H. Fortner, as superintendent. Each company represented a part of the school, with a lieutenant as head, and non-commissioned officers, who did the teaching, as assistants. For every fourteen men a teacher was furnished, and there were ample materials. Educational lectures in the different camps were also appreciated, as well as the circulation of books. Naturally the success of all such work as this depended primarily on the initiative of the secretary and his co-operation with the camp authorities.
The physical secretary’s work was to promote athletics, chiefly games, boxing and wrestling. In camps where there were combatant units the athletic officers and the physical secretaries co-operated, and there the best organizations were found. In non-combatant units effective athletic work was seldom found, partly because of the nature of their organization. However, in some of these, teams were organized, and the secretaries were able at times to get outside agencies to provide equipment. The women of Cuthbert, Ga., gave basket ball equipment for two teams and a shooting gallery costing $44. As a result there was organized a team which played Morehouse College and the Columbus Y. M. C. A.
The work of the social secretary was of great importance. He it was who furnished relaxation and entertainment after the arduous tasks of the day. Moving pictures, given from two to five times a week; programs, consisting of singing, dancing, stunts, and recitations, by talent in cantonment cities or by company entertainers; concerts, by bands or great singers; and addresses by famous speakers, filled the “Y,” even the windows and rafters, with men at night. Of such service no group was more appreciative than the Negro soldiers. Members of the race in cantonment cities co-operated splendidly, and schools sometimes sent quartets or orchestras. Sometimes there were Christmas trees hung with presents ranging from tooth brushes to wrist watches, and with each present was a bag of popcorn and a personal letter. On one occasion when more than a hundred white soldiers were present at such a festivity, they also received presents. Many of the entertainers on the “Y” circuit were also enjoyed by the men, though too often in some camps their programs happened to be given in every building except the one attended by the Negro soldiers.
The religious secretaries were usually ministers of considerable experience. Negro soldiers had high regard for things religious. Bible classes were conducted every Sunday morning, and were followed by preaching, sometimes by local ministers. Weekly Bible classes or prayer meetings were also held, and sometimes “sings” or testimonial meetings. At these meetings the soldiers often took a stand for Christ, and in such cases the secretary wrote personal letters to their families, informing them of the fact and asking them to write letters of encouragement. The many personal interviews which these secretaries had with the soldiers gave them some of the best opportunities of rendering service.
In the smaller camps things were not always as well appointed as in the larger ones. No big program could be carried out, though religious and sometimes educational work was conducted. In the South, moreover, the colored secretaries most frequently did not attend the general “Y” conferences. In spite of all discouraging circumstances, however, the development of the work was rapid. What was done at Camp Hill, Newport News, Va., shows what was possible after an unpromising beginning. In October, 1917, two Hampton students, W. D. Elam and E. M. Mitchell, went to serve 4500 men, using an army tent for the work. The tent was destroyed in a storm and was replaced by a smaller one, 16 by 16, in which three men lived and where there were, in addition, a stove, a victrola, and a piano. Stamps and stationery were handled, and small meetings held. This was the extent of the facilities in one of the coldest winters Virginians had ever seen. In the early spring, however, a barrack was secured through the aid of the officers, and in April a large “Y” building was dedicated with a full staff of secretaries and all necessary equipment. Here, as elsewhere, the soldiers were served in numberless ways; and when the time came to go to France, there was chocolate or lemonade, with sandwiches, and the secretaries accompanied the men to the port of embarkation, where they separated from each with a touching farewell and a most fervent “God bless you.”