Hotels and boarding houses, however, were only one phase of the matter. On the city streets, in the dance halls, in the soft drink parlors, wherever soldiers craved companionship, there the problem of the girl was to be found. It was most serious in the case of young girls fourteen to sixteen years of age, who were sometimes seen on the streets long after midnight, and it is to be remembered that in the Negro sections of the cities the streets were often dark and conducive to all forms of evil. Sometimes conditions were winked at by officials who opposed destroying the old order of things. In one case, after Government criticism, the local police made indiscriminate arrests in a pretended effort to clean up. This resulted in lawsuits which halted the work. Ignorant girls were brought into court, but those in higher places were seldom arrested. Even when arrests were made, the evidence revealed often brought a quick release. In one court a woman was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $1000 for leading girls astray, but within a few days, through the influence of unseen forces, she was again enjoying her liberty. A strange leniency also was often found in Southern courts in the case of colored girls whose conduct had brought them there; it did not seem to be required or expected that colored girls should live up to the same standards as white girls. Sometimes unsympathetic lawyers made sport of them for the amusement of crowded court rooms. They were not taken behind closed doors for protection, as were other girls charged with similar offences. Seldom, until near the end of the war, were there detention homes to which they could go and find a genuinely helpful guiding hand. Money appropriated by the Government for the establishment of detention homes in cantonment cities was seldom used for Negro girls. Instead they were usually placed in jail, or sent to the prison farm or the “stockade,” the home of the chain gang. The jails in which they were confined were, with few exceptions, demoralizing and a disgrace to the cities. The inmates lived in dirt and disease, sleeping on ragged, greasy mattresses on concrete floors and eating food prepared in the most unsanitary manner. In one instance colored girls were placed in a room 20 feet by 10, with their cots close together. An open toilet was in the back of the room, which was without windows or any means of ventilation except an electric fan. In such environment were placed many girls arrested for the first time. They associated with confirmed criminals and the living conditions and the treatment which they received made it well nigh impossible for them to lead a different life after being released. Sometimes they worked on the city farms, in the jails, or on rock piles in the jail yards. In one case they were marched through the streets to and from the work of cleaning the city cemetery.
Who were these girls who, in their early teens, found themselves in the clutches of the law? For the most part they were ignorant and were growing up without the influence of interested parents. Some could not read or write; frequently they were exploited. It is to be noted also that this concrete problem was often complicated by other social or economic forces. In practically every cantonment city orders were issued to prevent white soldiers from entering undesirable Negro sections. The enforcement of such orders, however, was difficult because of the frequent leniency of the guardians of the law. In one city a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce said, “The colored people will probably never get over the effect of the moral lapse due to the presence of the camp and the soldiers.” He grew eloquent in describing the depths to which the city had fallen and the difficulty of getting servants. Those who had formerly helped in some of the old families were now leading an easier life and wearing on the streets clothes of the most expensive style. Such a speaker apparently forgot that the exodus had made great drafts on labor, that many women were doing work formerly done by men, and that the increased wages had enabled many men to keep their wives at home.
Even when the moral situation was dark, however, all was not hopeless. Sometimes a wise and big-hearted judge gave justice tempered with mercy. Sometimes women, both colored and white, toiled untiringly in their effort to save girls from the folly of their ways. The attitude of the Negro people themselves was most important. Among them there was often found a strange lack of sympathy and interest. This was sometimes attributed to the attitude of officials who would not deal with them in a respectful manner. While this was often the case, there was also a feeling on the part of many good people that they could not afford to help such girls. One churchman who was asked for his co-operation said, “I don’t know whether I can afford to come to the jail,” and another, “My mind is on heavenly things; I haven’t any time for such work.” Gradually the situation improved, however, and we shall now consider some of the forces for moral betterment. One of these, the War Camp Community Service, will receive extended treatment in our next chapter in connection with the subject of Welfare Organizations. Just now we are interested especially in the influences that bore directly upon the Negro woman or girl who in one way or another was affected by the war.
GIRLS’ PROTECTIVE AGENCY
The Girls’ Protective Agency was active in several cantonment cities where Negro soldiers were stationed. Comparatively few colored women represented this organization, but those who did labored most effectively. The worker at Anniston, Ala., gave her entire time to colored girls. The Negro women of the city formed a co-operating committee composed of representatives from every church. The names of girls who were thought to be careless in their conduct were given to the one in charge and she visited the girls and their parents. In this way many were helped. The white workers also sometimes took an active interest in colored girls, especially those who found their way into the courts. Where grave problems arose from the intermingling of the races, every effort was made to relieve the situation for the good of both.
TRAVELERS’ AID SOCIETY
Representatives of the Travelers’ Aid Society often rendered genuine service to colored women visiting cantonment cities in search of their friends in the camps. They usually put them in touch with the local Y. W. C. A. or with representative women who could tell them of reliable places where they could stay. While some assistants were indifferent, most of them were impartial and took the same interest in providing for the Negro women who came to their cities as for the white women. This was especially true of a worker in Manhattan, Kansas, who labored earnestly for the colored girls who visited the railroad stations in order to meet soldiers. According to reports of reliable colored citizens, she talked to the girls as she would to her own daughters.
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.”