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.