When American men were called to service, women throughout the country enrolled as Red Cross members and worked for the organization in various ways, rendering every service that would make life more comfortable for the soldiers. They not only served as nurses but also as canteen workers; and they knitted, sewed, and made bandages. Hundreds of qualified and registered Negro nurses gladly offered themselves for service. The Red Cross appeared to be willing to use these nurses and at times greatly needed them, but for some reason it was difficult for them actually to enroll for service. Considerable correspondence with reference to the matter passed through the office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, and at last, after the Armistice was signed, some Negro nurses served at Camps Grant and Sherman. The first five called by the Red Cross were on duty in Washington at the time, but on two hours’ notice they were traveling to Camp Stuart, Newport News, where they were put on duty in the base hospital to serve four weeks as a trial. They had every consideration and courtesy, and the commanding officer said of them that he had never had more competent nurses and that their conduct was above reproach. After this trial at Newport News, four more were added and all were sent to the base hospital at Camp Sherman, where they were provided with a modern home. They worked in the wards on both day and night duty with the white nurses and served all the soldiers, and because of their efficiency they won the respect of all. Colored nurses were assigned to Camp Grant where they made a similar record.
Important in this general connection is the matter of the general relation of Negro women throughout the country to Red Cross work. In the North and West they joined the organization and worked in more or less complete harmony; but in the South they had difficulty in becoming members. Yet it was in the South that their services were most needed. The whole matter is important as a study in effort toward racial co-operation, and we shall refer to the experience of three representative cities.
In Atlanta the colored people were willing to work, because there were thousands of Negro soldiers at Camp Gordon, some of whom were their sons. Several attempts were made at first to work, but the Atlanta chapter assumed an attitude of aloofness. When the Red Cross launched its campaign in October, 1917, the Negro people were not asked to take part until only two days were left. They objected at first but finally decided to do what they could in the remaining two days. A committee of the most influential men was formed and this raised $400. They also contributed eight dozen sheets and eight dozen pillow cases. The money was turned over to the Atlanta chapter, with the names of all persons who contributed a dollar, the understanding being that this would go as membership fees in the branch which they would be allowed to form. They elected temporary officers and applied to the president of the Atlanta chapter for the complete organization of a branch, but were met by a policy of evasion. Meanwhile the women were eager to do knitting for the soldiers and they secured some yarn; but the next morning the young woman who received the yarn was called up over the telephone and asked to return the wool she had received, as the Red Cross was “not giving wool to new organizations.” Further effort on the part of the colored people at length brought forth a formal letter giving them authority to establish a branch, but because of certain conditions specified in the letter and the previous attitude of the chapter in Atlanta, the Negro people in this city did not finally co-operate in any large measure.
The attitude of the Red Cross in Little Rock was in the beginning similar to that of the Atlanta chapter, but there was a feeling on the part of some of the white people that they should utilize the efforts of the Negroes because they represented so large a part of their total strength. W. H. Holt, a representative citizen, believed that some satisfactory adjustment could be made and took charge of a campaign to raise $15,000 among the colored people. Instead of $15,000, $22,000 was raised. This result changed the situation entirely. The Negro branch was immediately recognized and rooms were opened in the county courthouse in which various kinds of Red Cross work was done by the colored women.
Very different was the case in Greenville, S. C., where was found the most liberal attitude in any Southern city. The Negro women were organized in a branch and did the same work as that done by the members of the white branches. They made comfort-kits for every drafted man sent from Greenville, as well as other articles desired by the Red Cross, and they gave $100 to the Y. M. C. A. for the South Carolina boys at Camp Jackson. They were enthusiastic about the work. The fine spirit of co-operation shown in Greenville was due in large measure to the attitude of Mrs. W. G. Sirrine, chairman of the local chapter, who believed heartily in the assistance of the Negro women and finally said of them, “They have responded to every call.” In general the work at this place was an example of what was possible in teamwork between the races when there was hearty good will and when all were striving for a common cause.
In every cantonment city in the South toward the end of the war there was some form of co-operation between the Red Cross and the colored women. The organization often aided the families of Negro soldiers when they were in need, as was necessary in the case of the soldiers at Camp Knox near Louisville, Ky. The service records of more than a hundred men were lost. Although they had been in the army for months, their families had not received a cent of their allotments or allowances. The Red Cross representative in Louisville took up the matter with the commanding officer, and he saw that the claims were paid immediately. This was only one of thousands of cases of such assistance.
RED CROSS CANTEEN SERVICE
Over 65,000 women enrolled in the seven hundred American Red Cross canteens. This service consisted of canteen kitchens, medical supplies, and small transfer hospitals. It was organized to stimulate the morale of the soldiers and to make them feel that the people of the country appreciated the loyal manner in which they had responded to the country’s call. In some of the chapters there were organized Negro canteen auxiliaries, and these did very effective work in such centers as Hamlet, N. C., Greenville, S. C., Montgomery, Ala., and New Orleans. At first there was some objection to the wearing of the uniform by Negro women, but in the centers mentioned they wore it and did regular work for the soldiers passing through on the trains. At Montgomery there was a canteen room at the station for colored soldiers, and in New Orleans there was a well equipped auxiliary with headquarters on the ground floor of the Pythian Temple owned by Negroes. In the beginning it was said in some places that the canteen workers failed to serve Negro soldiers, and to some extent this was true, but it was by no means the rule. The policy was to render service to all officers and enlisted men without distinction. On one occasion six hundred Negro soldiers stopped at a town in Arkansas. They had come direct from the farms in Louisiana, and were timid and uncertain when they arrived, but they felt very different when they left. As the local paper said, “The interest shown in them here made new and fighting men out of them. It will be a long time before the American Red Cross will perform a better service, or one that gives the good women, both white and colored, more pleasure.” Another time, as a train stopped at the station in Charlotte, N. C., a canteen worker came to a car window and asked the Negro soldier in the car to have a cup of coffee and a sandwich. He refused at first, but she insisted, passing the refreshments to him, and as the train pulled out she uttered a hearty “Good luck!” and “God bless you!”
Not only in America but in France also the Red Cross served these men. At Thiaucourt the canteen was in charge of a young woman who gave away large quantities of supplies, such as towels, summer underwear, shaving sticks, razor blades, gum and chocolate. In this instance the Negro soldiers shared almost entirely in the generosity, but this was only one of many, many cases of whole-hearted and highly appreciated service.