| OCR Text |
Show Women Are Not Only Behind America's j Defense Program They Are Part of It! Britlpe and Fancy Hats Are Discarded in Favor Of Hard Work. By JANET CUPLER (Releawd by Western Newspaper Union.) You have probably heard it said with great enthusiasm that the American women are doing their part in the nation's war effort. And, by way of explanation, you have probably prob-ably heard it said that "morale "mo-rale is a woman's business" and that there is something called the "home front" on wnich women are best qualified quali-fied to wage their own particular partic-ular kind of battle. But there seems to be some doubt as to just what part women are actually playing in this war. There is doubt, too, as to what "morale" and the "home front" have to do with it. Most of us are aware that the "home front" involves battles of production, pro-duction, of food, clothing and housing, hous-ing, of protection from attack, of the constructive and determined courage cour-age we refer to as "morale." Morale Mo-rale is, of course, not exclusively a woman's business any more than the opportunity to fire a gun at the enemy is a man's exclusive right. But behind every shot fired on the battlefield lies a series of duties that make that shot possible. And it is those duties that women have been performing, willingly and with admirable ad-mirable skill. Without the proper food a nation, as well as its armed forces, cannot survive. Therefore, a large part of the national defense program and the work of women's organizations is being devoted to food. The Office of Civilian Defense offers consumers' consum-ers' information and classes in nutrition, nu-trition, and all who can are urged to plant gardens. The "Victory Program" Pro-gram" of the 4-H clubs helps members mem-bers to grow and preserve food and teaches them how to prepare foods having a high vitamin content. Learn to Repair Clothes. The Senior Service Scouts, Girl Scouts of high school age, are learning learn-ing the principles of nutrition, emergency emer-gency outdoor cooking and gardening. garden-ing. The Camp Fire Girls' defense project, called "Fortifying the Family," Fam-ily," is a three-part program of which the most important part is "family food." The girls prepare a "dinner for a dollar" which serves four. On the "home front" clothing and housing are next in importance to food. Shortage of materials makes it increasingly necessary to care for what we already have. In the "family "fam-ily service" program of "Fortifying "Fortify-ing the Family" Camp Fire Girls are urged to repair furniture and other articles and help keep the house clean. The senior Girl Scouts are learning to clean, repair and Agnes Rosrle, the first Red Cross nurse railed to active army duty. remodel clothing for emergency distribution dis-tribution and to assist at housing information in-formation centers and air raid shelters. shel-ters. The Red Cross "home service" serv-ice" helps families of enlisted men and is prepared to care for the victims vic-tims of disaster. The 4-H "Victory Program" also includes helping to make and repair clothing. And the OCD has an "emergency food and housing" division. This has at various times been called a "war of production" and a "war of nerves." It is certainly at all times a war of production. On the farm and in the factory, women are taking the place of men called into the service. Schools and colleges col-leges are offering many types of defense de-fense study. The University of Chicago, Chi-cago, for example, is training women wom-en in business administration. At Stevens college, in Missouri, the girls are studying mechanics. And the NYA is training young women for work in defense factories. The 4-H clubs' "Food for Free- ir i l , v - :': 1 ft-- -t i irrirr1nnir rft- iriWrmMO fy j-ffnj This young member of an NYA center is one of many skilled machinists. ma-chinists. dom" program is designed to train girls as well as boys to assume a larger responsibility for the management manage-ment of farms where there is a shortage of labor. Both the Camp Fire Girls and the Girl Scouts are learning to care for younger children chil-dren and to do routine household work to leave their mothers and older sisters free to work in factories fac-tories or at other defense tasks, j If we have not yet had to face j the test of a real "war of nerves," j we have at least had ample proof of the need for maintaining a high ! national morale. Health, recreation, ! congenial working conditions and a courageous outlook ail contribute to the maintenance of a high morale. Health and Recreation. The OCD offers a national health and recreation program for women. The Red Cross voluntary services for women include recreation work with convalescents. The Camp Fire Girls' "Fortify the Family" project offers a plan for "family fun," and the Girl Scouts and the 4-H clubs also emphasize the importance to national na-tional defense of health and recreation. recrea-tion. Such organizations as the U.S.O. and Bundles for Bluejackets are concerned chiefly with the comfort and recreation of service men. The U.S.O. operates'canteens in railroad stations, furnishes recreation centers, cen-ters, and acts as co-ordinator between be-tween private families and the service serv-ice men invited to their homes for dinner or entertainment. The Red Cross also operates canteens wherever wher-ever and whenever needed. The Camp Fire Girls have been sending cookies, cake and candy to service men through their public relations re-lations officers. The Service Scouts work in canteens operated by such recognized agencies as the U.S.O. And Bundles for Bluejackets is planning plan-ning a recreation program for men in the naval services. When the United States entered the war, the Bundles for Britain organization or-ganization "adopted" the navy, the marines and the coast guard under the name "Bundles for Bluejackets." Bluejack-ets." As such it provides comfort kits (containing razors, pencils and other small items) and knitted garments gar-ments for men in those branches of the service and was probably the first organization to do knitting planned especially for the navy. One of the major problems of the national defense program has been that of fitting the right person to a job. Recognizing that need, another anoth-er women's organization, the American Ameri-can Association of University Women, Wom-en, is devoting its eflorts to helping its members find the kind of defense work for which they are best suited. Since many members of the A.A.U. W. are teachers, they have been successfully suc-cessfully furnishing libraries for service men, who are apparently more interested in text books especially in mathematics, history and Spanish than in fiction. Finally, there is the splendid work being done in overseas, hospital, ambulance am-bulance and other special services, the importance of which cannot be overestimated. The Red Cross volunteer vol-unteer services include the motor, nurse's aide and recreation corps, all prepared to serve either at home or in the field, and throughout the country hundreds of thousands of women are rolling bandages, sewing and knitting for the Red Cross. Army nurses have already been sent overseas with our armed forces, and Red Cross nurses and staff workers are stationed in many ' parts of the world. While not exclusively a woman'! organization, the British American Ambulance corps has many women volunteers. The work of the corps , has, until the present emergency, j been largely overseas, but New York city, Philadelphia and San Francisco have already been provided pro-vided with ambulances, and units will be sent to other cities as they are needed. The activities of the American Women's Voluntary Services group is chiefly localized In the eastern states, although the work of the I A.W.V.S. is similar to that being J done by other volunteer organizations organiza-tions in teaching air raid precautions precau-tions and other defense activities. i Above all, each of these organizations organiza-tions is doing its part in the na-1 tional defense program, and each is j helping the others. The Camp Fire ! Girls have been knitting for the Red Cross, and at Christmas they filled hundreds of comfort kits for Bun-1 dies for Bluejackets. The Girl Scouts' senior service program includes in-cludes training in defense activities and in aiding the U.S.O. and the Red Cross. The Red Cross first aid courses are offered as a defense measure. And the 4-H "Victory Pro-1 gram" stresses the practice of democratic dem-ocratic principles as well as the need for giving assistance to the Red Cross and the U.S.O. There is some duplication, of effort, ef-fort, of course, especially by the various motor corps. But on the whole the effort of all groups is directed to the same end national defense. A discussion as brief as this cannot can-not possibly include all the work I - Nf. ! Stevens college students learning how airplane engines are made. being dono by women in their homes, local communities, churches and clubs. But the work of the organizations or-ganizations already discussed is representative. rep-resentative. Whether they knit, serve overseas, work in factories, drive ambulances or just do their everyday jobs cheerfully and well, the American women are not only behind the war efTort but definitely a tangible, efficient and indispensable indispensa-ble part of it. Bridge, fancy hats and even petty squabbles have been discarded in favor of hard work. Those who still j look upon the war as an inconvenient incon-venient interruption of their otherwise other-wise comfortable complacency are the exception rather than the rule. Buy Defense Bonds |
