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.”
IN FRANCE
As one traveled among the soldiers in France he saw in almost every
camp the Y. M. C. A. hut or tent. There were 7850 “Y” workers overseas,
1350 of whom were women. Of this large number 87 were Negroes and 19,
women of the race. Only three of these Negro women were in France
during the actual fighting, and not until the spring of 1919 did
others sail. At the head of the colored secretaries was Dr. John Hope,
president of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga., who was stationed at
the “Y” headquarters in Paris, where he helped to solve many problems
regarding the work. Traveling over France, he visited many units of
troops, saw their needs, and tried to meet them. There were hardly
ever more than 75 Negro secretaries in France at one time, and these
were scattered among nearly 200,000 Negro soldiers. They served with
the fighting units, with the troops in the service of supplies, and in
the leave areas. The fighting units of Negro soldiers were the 92nd
and 93rd Divisions, the latter comprising four regiments brigaded with
the French. It was in these units that the secretaries won deserved
praise for their service and courage. Airplane raids, bombardments,
and bursting gas shells did not slacken their ardor to follow the men
wherever they went.
H. E. Caldwell, with the 369th Regiment, was under shell fire longer
than any other Negro secretary. Matthew W. Bullock and Dr. B. N.
Murrell followed the 369th into the thickest of the fight and were with
it when it led the allied armies to the banks of the Rhine, a position
of honor accorded it because of its excellent service in the trenches.
Of Mr. Bullock it was said that when the fight was hardest and the
soldiers were wounded and dying, he was ever with his men encouraging
them to press forward to victory. Of Dr. Murrell we shall speak again.
T. C. Cook, of the 371st Regiment, was cited in orders for his bravery
in rescuing two wounded soldiers exposed in pouring rain and shell
fire. He succeeded in moving them to a narrow dug-out that was soon
afterwards filled with poisonous gas. In attempting to escape, he left
the dug-out only to fall unconscious in the open. On that morning of
the battle officers and men had entrusted to his care $35,000 of their
savings, which he carried on his back as he helped the wounded. When
he regained consciousness in a hospital behind the lines, he found
that the money had disappeared, but his anxiety was relieved when he
was informed that the colored sergeant-major of the regiment, whom he
had requested to guard the money in case of accident to himself, had
forwarded it to the Paris office of the Y. M. C. A. and that every cent
had been safely delivered. Of Secretary James G. Wiley of the 92nd
Division Lt. Col. A. E. Deitsch wrote: “During the occupancy of the
Marbache sector, he established an Association in the town of Atton
which was bombarded daily. Even when the German bombardment tore the
roof from the building and all civilians had left the vicinity, only
the soldiers necessary for the relaying of supplies and ammunition to
the front lines remaining, this man held on and served the soldiers
faithfully.”
Sometimes the Negro secretary served not only the men in one camp
but in several, even covering an area containing as many as 50,000
soldiers. Such a worker was J. E. Saddler, who was engaged in the
Chaumont region. The labor battalions which he served worked on the
roads, at bakeries, rail heads and ammunition dumps, often working
both day and night, one man doing two men’s work. At first Mr. Saddler
went on foot, walking 30 kilometers a day, carrying all the supplies
he could, and distributing them to groups of men doing road work.
Then he secured a motorcycle, and when that was completely used up
he obtained a Ford, with the aid of which he could reach more men.
Sometimes he organized schools, offering prizes to induce the men to
learn to write. Occasionally he conducted spelling bees, taking the
words from the _Stars and Stripes_. He was not a preacher, but
some Sundays he held as many as seven services. Dr. Murrell served in
the Verdun region where thousands of men were engaged in salvaging and
in burying the American dead. He, like Mr. Saddler, traveled about in
a truck with supplies. At Romagne, the site of the Argonne cemetery,
he and his staff did excellent work. Two huts were constructed from
sheet iron taken from German dug-outs. At night these were so crowded
that one could hardly move about in them. The men wrote letters,
played games, or gathered around the piano; they also had daily shows,
athletic contests, and the canteen was excellent. All such service was
of great value in building up the morale of the men and in relieving
them from the depressing effects of the grewsome work they were called
on to perform. At Liffol-le-Grand, M. R. Atwell had a hut which was
attractively whitewashed and painted inside. Pictures of Negro officers
and nurses were on the walls, and generally the work ranked with the
most efficient in France.
After the Armistice a splendid piece of work was done for the soldiers
at Issurtille by W. W. Waitneight, a white secretary, who in the
beginning was opposed to working with colored men. In the early days of
the camp these soldiers were not permitted to visit the “Y” buildings,
and no other place of recreation was provided for them. Finally a
captain, moved by the situation, asked for volunteers to help erect a
building. The “Y” furnished the lumber, some of the engineer regiments
supplied foremen, and the soldiers, including forty mechanics,
undertook to do the work. The site selected was in a bottom where the
entire camp drained, and at times the water was six inches deep on the
floor. In such an environment there was little enthusiasm on the part
of white secretaries to undertake the work; but the one who did found
the greater joy in the hearty appreciation of the men. Two thousand
were in nightly attendance, and from three thousand to thirty-five
hundred were served daily in the “Y” and in the wet canteen. The
work developed until it became the most popular in the camp, and the
secretary who at first doubted, learned to love the men and to work
untiringly for them. At Gierve, a white Baptist minister, Mr. Rankin,
served Negro soldiers in a spacious and well equipped hut, and he also
endeared himself to the men.
At the biggest base ports in France--Bordeaux, St. Nazaire, and
Brest--the Y. M. C. A. did a wonderful work. For months there were
20,000 Negro soldiers at Bordeaux alone, doing stevedore work. Some of
the first colored secretaries sent to France went to this city during
the period of active fighting. They and the army officers did not work
harmoniously together, and after some stormy days they were ordered
to Paris with recommendations to Y. M. C. A. headquarters that they
be sent to America. After investigation, however, they were sent to
other fields of labor, but meanwhile Negro secretaries in New York,
about to sail for France, were detained for months. The situation was
finally adjusted and two other men, B. F. Seldon and A. W. Shockley,
who went to Bordeaux, successfully co-operated with the officers and
worked among the white as well as the colored soldiers. At St. Sulpice
Mr. Seldon had charge of a hut that was well equipped, and Mr. Shockley
conducted a canteen that was said to be one of the cleanest in France.
Thomas Clayton, another secretary in the Bordeaux area, conducted
schools for 600 illiterate men. Twenty-seven men were sent from the
section to the universities in France, and thirty were sent to the
agricultural department at Bonn. At Anconia, also in this area, a big
hut was in charge of J. M. Price, a white secretary who served with
colored troops from the beginning. This hut had an auditorium seating
2000, a spacious sitting-room, a good library, and a large room for
games. Two shows daily were given the 10,000 men. They were encouraged
to save, and in one month $22,000 was sent to the States. Mr. Price
was a Southern man, but he was so much admired by the men and he made
such a favorable impression on the commanding officers that, when the
troops sailed for America, he was, against the rules of the Y. M. C.
A., allowed to sail with the men he had served.
The “Y” at St. Nazaire did one of the biggest pieces of work seen
anywhere in France. There were at times more than 50,000 Negro soldiers
at this base. The first colored secretary sent to France, Franklin
W. Nichols, worked here and had the honor of building the first hut
erected for Negro stevedores. Other pioneers were Rev. Leroy Ferguson,
J. O. Wright, William Stevenson, James H. Robinson, R. E. Williams,
and the three canteen workers who reached France before the Armistice,
Mrs. Helen Curtis, Mrs. Addie W. Hunton, and Miss Kathryn Johnson.
These workers left splendid records of achievement. During the last
months at St. Nazaire, Negro soldiers were served in four Y. M. C. A.
buildings operated by Negro secretaries and also in some conducted by
white secretaries. The huts of the former were located at Camps Dodge,
Guthrie, Montoir, Lusitania, and Camp I. That at Lusitania was the
largest; it had an auditorium seating 1800. The commanding officers
co-operated gladly, and the divisional secretaries in the area,
especially M. B. Wallace, showed fine spirit in helping to make the
work a success.
During the days of fighting and immediately after the Armistice, Negro
soldiers at Brest related stories of discrimination by the “Y” and of
its refusal to serve them. In the spring of 1919, however, the camp
commander and the divisional secretary declared that the men should
have a “fifty-fifty” deal. The organization conducted altogether
fifteen huts in Camp Pontenazen, one in Camp President Lincoln, and a
small room at the sorting yard. “Soldiers’ Rest” at Camp Pontenazen
was especially set aside for the Negro soldiers, though all soldiers
were served there. In March, 1919, B. F. Lee was sent to work in this
hut. He later became general secretary for the building, and four
canteen workers helped in the last days. In all the other huts at
Pontenazen Negro soldiers were also served. While some canteen women
were not enthusiastic about assisting them, the divisional secretary,
a Tennesseean, tried to give all men equal service, and one secretary
who refused to serve the Negroes was sent back to America. At Camp
President Lincoln Secretaries Fritz Cansler and Nelson were stationed
and did some very effective educational work. After prayer meetings
movies were advertised and these always meant a full house. At the
sorting yard, located on the docks at Brest, a group of Negro soldiers
ran a kitchen where embarking soldiers were fed and where stevedores
working on the docks got one meal to prevent the necessity of returning
to camp; they also had a secretary. In the city of Brest Negro soldiers
were served at both the Y. M. C. A. restaurant and the big cafeteria,
and generally the improvement in the conditions at this base accounted
for a more favorable impression than that borne away from some other
places.
There were many other instances of devoted service. “Y” work was
by no means easy. Many army officers looked upon any secretary with
disfavor. On the other hand, the secretaries themselves were not always
infallible, nor were their words and actions unerringly discreet.
Hundreds of entertainers who went overseas visited the soldiers in all
branches of the service. Among these there were no theatrical people of
color, nor any of the leading singers of the race. However, during the
last months there was a religious entertaining unit composed of Rev.
H. H. Proctor, who spoke, J. E. Blanton, song leader, and Miss Helen
Hagan, a noted pianist. These helpers carried cheer wherever they went.
The few Negro women who went to France as canteen workers exerted a
great influence for good. While many officers and secretaries were
opposed to having women serve the men, their presence was like the
calming of a great storm. They built up the morale instantly, as was
noted in every camp to which they were sent. Once or twice, as when
Mrs. Hunton first appeared at St. Nazaire, some of the men cried for
joy. The men loved, protected, and honored these workers for what they
represented, and one of them said that she had to go to France to be
truly proud of the fact that she was a Negro woman.
The work of the canteen women received probably the greatest praise in
the leave areas. This work was conducted in the Department of Savoie,
among beautiful mountains and lakes conducive to rest and relaxation;
and Chambéry, Challes les Eaux, and Aix les Bains were the leading
cities. Aix les Bains is noted for its baths, used by the Romans
and visited by tourists from all over the world. Chambéry, used as
headquarters, is an educational center with colleges and art museums.
On the outskirts of the city overlooking the valley below is the home
of Jean Jacques Rousseau; and from there one might view also the cross
of Nivolet and a chain of snow-capped Alps. Seven miles away is the
famous Pass where Hannibal with his army crossed the Alps. To this day
the road said to have been built by him is in perfect condition. To
such an environment the Negro soldiers came, and they were welcomed by
the citizens as men who had helped to save their country. They stood
in the Pass, viewed Lake Bourget below, and the Italian Alps in the
distance. Here also it was that the secretaries, under the direction of
William Stevenson and Mrs. Curtis, did some of the best work in France.
Other places of interest visited by the soldiers were the St. Bernard’s
Pass, Mt. Revard, and the Church of the Black Madonna. The last place
was the most interesting of all because of its unusual sight. Inside
the church is a small figure of the Madonna with a black child in
her arms. The robes are of gold studded with diamonds, and pictures,
crutches, canes and other tokens of thanks have been left here by
people who have been blessed and healed. Once when the town was
destroyed by a mountain slide, only the church stood, and the presence
of the Madonna was thought by the people to be responsible for the
miraculous escape. Here the Negro soldiers were more than welcome and
the keepers felt honored by their visits.
Altogether more than twenty thousand soldiers visited this leave area,
coming from all parts of France. They were selected from the various
organizations in the A. E. F. and sent for periods of from seven to
fourteen days. Before they arrived some unpleasant propaganda was
spread about them, but they made a highly favorable impression. The “Y”
headquarters was a spacious building, splendidly equipped. There were
band concerts, and on Sunday afternoons there were refreshments in the
beautiful garden, with representative people of the vicinity assisting
in the serving. Because of the good conduct of the men and the success
of the secretaries in establishing such fine relations between citizens
and soldiers, the Governor of Savoie gave a farewell reception,
including a public meeting in a theatre and an entertainment in his own
home afterwards; and letters were written by the mayors of all three
towns and by leading citizens to praise the work and to express regret
at its closing.
While thousands of soldiers visited the leave areas, tens of thousands
went to see Paris the Beautiful. Naturally officers and welfare
workers as well as the men in the ranks desired especially to see this
great city before returning to America. Ordinarily three-day leaves
were granted, and each day in the spring of 1919 brought hundreds
of soldiers to the city. In order that the limited time might mean
as much as possible to the men, the Y. M. C. A. organized wonderful
sight-seeing programs, including all the famous places of historic
interest. With every party there were efficient guides, and the Negro
soldiers, like all the others, appreciated fully and thoroughly enjoyed
the never-to-be-forgotten experience.
* * * * *
CRITICISM OF THE “Y”
The work of the Y. M. C. A. in American camps was so conducted that
it met with comparatively little criticism. Headquarters could be
easily reached for the adjustment of any question arising over the
Negro, and during the war public sentiment was more decidedly against
discrimination than in peace time. Such matters as arose generally
grew out of the attitude or action of individual wearers of the red
triangle. At Camp Greene, Charlotte, N. C., for instance, there were
10,000 Negro soldiers. Five “Y” buildings in the camp were located in
areas allotted to these men, but in no case were they allowed to use
the buildings except possibly for stamps and paper. A sign over one
read “This building is for white men only,” and the secretary placed
outside the building a table that colored men might use in writing
letters. In Camp Lee, Petersburg, Va., a prayer meeting was conducted
in an area where Negro soldiers were located, but a soldier with a
rifle on his shoulder was doing guard duty, pacing in a circle around
the group to see that no Negroes attended. The comments made by the
Negro soldiers under the circumstances were interesting. In some camps
the soldiers of both races used the same building, playing games
together, attending the same picture shows, sometimes playing in the
same orchestra, and even writing letters for one another. Such friendly
contact was looked upon with disfavor by some secretaries, and they
introduced discriminatory measures, which naturally led to friction.
It was from overseas, however, that the severest criticism of the
organization came. During the spring of 1919, in every shipment of
soldiers that landed on American shores there were those who denounced
the “Y” for something it had or had not done. The Negro soldiers
did their share of the criticising in spite of the fact that the
organization had done much to help them. Why, then, did they criticise
it?
First of all, the “Y” appeared to have no definite policy regarding
Negro soldiers in France. Endeavor was left mainly in the hands of
divisional or regional directors, and these men inaugurated such
policies as they thought best, and a most careful investigation
indicates that some secretaries resorted to discrimination and
segregation more than the men in any other organization and even more
than the army with its military caste. Sometimes such an attitude was
assumed even by ministers of the gospel. The general situation was
described, very accurately, by one regional secretary as follows:
“About 25 per cent of the white secretaries served the colored soldiers
gladly, about 25 per cent served them half-heartedly, and about 50
per cent either refused to serve them or made them feel they were
not wanted.” When soldiers were building the Pershing Stadium for the
allied games, the “Y” served for months all the men in the order in
which they appeared for service. One day a young Southern woman was
sent out as a canteen worker. The soldiers lined up as formerly. All
went well until a colored soldier in the line was reached. The young
woman asked him to get out of the line. He said he was an American
soldier and would not get out of the line. Thereupon she closed the
canteen. A noted divine from Atlanta, Ga., was for a time in charge
of one of the three-day conferences for new secretaries in France. At
the close of one of the sessions a colored canteen worker told him she
had enjoyed the discussion. “I am glad you enjoyed it,” he said, “but
we don’t mix in the States and you must not expect to here.” All such
incidents could be multiplied hundreds of times, and because of them
there grew up in the hearts of the Negro soldiers a contempt for the
general organization that made such things possible.
An interesting sidelight was afforded by the fate of what was known
as the “Honey Bee Club.” A Negro soldier who was sentenced to death,
just a few days before his execution asked a “Y” secretary at Brest to
come and pray with him. After four days of struggle with the soldier
and himself, the secretary felt that he too was changed and should
work in some large way for the good of the Negro men. He began with
prayer meetings among small groups that had been somewhat neglected,
and at one such meeting he told the story of the Honey Bee that
was busy and successful and another about birds that preyed on the
undesirable things of the world. Using with telling effect the lesson
drawn from the experience of the soldier who paid with his life for
the undesirable, he asked, “How many of you would like to be the
Honey Bee?” All responded with raised hands. Soon afterwards he was
given permission by the Paris office to devote all his time to the
organization of Honey Bee clubs. When it became known, however, that
membership was to be limited to Negro soldiers, opposition developed.
The colored men felt that if the club was capable of doing so much for
them, white soldiers in France should not be denied a share in its
blessings. The original idea was undoubtedly to help the Negro soldier
in France, but the method by which the idea was developed did not meet
with approval, and accordingly, in most cases, it was either opposed or
treated with indifference.
In spite of all the criticism, however, the fact remains that the Young
Men’s Christian Association did more for the recreation, entertainment,
and educational development of Negro soldiers than any other welfare
organization in the course of the war. Through its agency thousands of
men learned to read and write. Moreover, it is to be remembered that
it was the “Y” that sent Negro welfare workers to France, including
nineteen women for canteen work, while other organizations faltered.
Such effort did not materialize without hard work on the part of the
Negro people and their friends. However, it did materialize, and the
Negro workers were a credit both to the organization and to their
race. In a talk to a number of them at a banquet in Paris, E. C.
Carter, head of the Y. M. C. A. overseas, said in summing up their
work: “No group of secretaries has been more successful, nor has any
work been on a higher level. I have been impressed most by your spirit.
Sometimes you have met with difficulties and have been insulted by
workers with the red triangle on their arms, but through it all you
have shown the spirit of true greatness as did the Master.”
* * * * *
During the World War not only the Y. M. C. A. but other leading
religious and social organizations in America aided the War Department
in providing for the welfare of the soldiers, both inside and outside
the camps. We may now consider briefly the Salvation Army, the Knights
of Columbus, the large agencies within the army itself, passing
on to War Camp Community Service, the Red Cross, and also to some
consideration of what was done by the Negro Church and the Federal
Council of Churches.
SALVATION ARMY
The Salvation Army did little or no work for Negro soldiers in American
camps, but when the men returned from France they spoke about the
service the organization had rendered with an appreciation akin to
reverence. This agency did not have great buildings and hundreds of
workers distributed throughout the camps, but it did have here and
there faithful representatives imbued with the spirit of service. One
of its largest huts was at St. Nazaire, and here the relation between
men of different races was of the most cordial sort. The Salvation Army
workers stated that on no occasion had there been any trouble, and
this example well illustrates their spirit and it explains the deep
appreciation that the Negro soldiers had for their organization.
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
The Knights of Columbus erected their first building for Negro soldiers
at Camp Funston, Kan. This was opened on December 1, 1917, with
Clarence Guillot as executive secretary and two assistants. Religious
services were conducted every Sunday for the four hundred Catholics in
the camp, with communion every Sunday morning. One of the two chaplains
was always available for consultation, there were excellent library
facilities, and also special effort for recreation. In Camps Taylor,
Dodge, Meade, and Beauregard (at Alexandria, La.) buildings were also
provided. At Camps Dodge and Beauregard white secretaries were in
charge, while at Taylor and Meade Negro secretaries conducted the work.
The building at Dodge was visited by both white and colored soldiers,
and the kindliest feeling was maintained. At Beauregard a mess hall was
renovated and attractively furnished for the large Catholic element
there. The building at Camp Taylor, which was beautifully furnished
and adequately equipped, was first used by white soldiers, but when
they left the camp and Negro soldiers were moved into the area, it
was turned over to them. At Meade there was a small but attractive
portable building. The work was similar to that at Camp Funston. Not
all secretaries were in sympathy with the liberal policy that seemed to
be intended by the organization, but those who were not were sometimes
transferred.
The Knights of Columbus had a small building for Negro soldiers at
Tours, and there was also special provision at Romagne, where the
soldiers were reburying the dead. After a tent was erected and supplied
with tobacco, chocolate, gum, packages of cakes, stationery, and other
such things, the secretary came to the Y. M. C. A. hut and addressed
the soldiers, informing them that the K. C. tent had been erected and
that to it they were very welcome. The next morning a hundred white and
colored soldiers were in line at it receiving supplies. When the camp
commander instituted a policy of segregation, the K. C. was compelled
to adopt it or leave camp. It chose the former course and put up signs
accordingly. When these signs appeared some of the soldiers pulled them
off and pulled down the tent, and there was a riot.
The Knights of Columbus were criticised for the procedure at Romagne,
which was contrary to the general belief as to the policy of the
organization. As has been shown, however, while only a small number of
Negro secretaries were employed and in only a few camps was there any
special effort to serve Negro soldiers, they were generally admitted to
K. C. buildings and in general the organization impressed them by its
catholicity of spirit.
AGENCIES IN THE ARMY
In addition to the work of the welfare organizations in the camps,
the Army also contributed something to the pleasure of the soldiers
by providing for athletics and socials. Holidays were usually given
on Wednesdays, Saturday afternoons, and Sundays, though in the
non-combatant units these were not always observed. In the combatant
units where athletic officers were selected, there was competition in
baseball, basket ball, or football, and occasionally a track meet was
held. For the most part, however, organized effort in athletics was
hardly ever successfully carried out among Negro soldiers, largely
because of the failure of the officers to realize the need. There were,
however, exceptions. An enviable record was made by the stevedore team
at Camp Alexander, Newport News, which defeated all the teams, white
or colored, in the various camps on the lower peninsula of Virginia.
One of the best examples of athletic competition in non-combatant units
was seen in the depot brigades at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga. Three
fields were provided for the men and the teams were well equipped by
their organizations with suits and materials. During the baseball
season two scheduled games were played each week. The two battalions
represented, which formed and marched to the field, always furnished
an enthusiastic crowd. Games were also played with the colleges and
the Federal Prison team in Atlanta, and there was a big field and
track meet. They also had representation in the Camp Gordon meet. In
another camp a regimental cross-country run of two miles was held.
One hundred and thirty-five men entered and one hundred and twenty-six
finished. Boxing was also a source of recreation, and in some camps
men were selected for a special class. These later became instructors.
Boxing contests and exhibitions were held each week, and in some of the
stevedore regiments “battles royal” were conducted. Wrestling was also
introduced, but it was not as popular as boxing and did not receive
much encouragement.
In Western and Southern camps only a small number of Negro soldiers
frequented the Liberty theatres and Y. M. C. A. auditoriums. In the
South they were not always permitted to attend. In some places they
built their own amusement houses and furnished their own entertainment,
as at Camp Travis, Texas. Here there was a minstrel troupe composed of
exceptional talent, most of the men having been stars in the profession
before being drafted into the army. They gave weekly shows in the camp,
and during the warm weather they played in an open air theatre on the
hillside, with thousands of white and Negro soldiers attending. They
also played in the city theatre in San Antonio, as well as elsewhere
in Texas; and they were accompanied by a forty-piece band which was
considered the finest in the camp. One tangible result of the work of
these entertainers was the erection of a beautiful recreation house at
a cost of $6000 with funds raised entirely by their work.
Two other notable examples where provision was made for the recreation
and entertainment of Negro soldiers were found in the 92nd Division.
One was at Camp Funston and the other at Camp Upton. The theatre at
Camp Funston was first planned for the soldiers of the 89th Division,
who already had three theatres and a moving-picture show. General
Ballou accordingly used his influence to have the new one erected for
the use of the headquarters section of the 92nd Division, and the
money for the material was furnished by the Government. The soldiers
furnished the labor, with the exception of a foreman, an expert
carpenter, and some interior finishers. The building was wired by a
master electrician, who was drafted from St. Louis; it seated more than
2500; and it was the most beautiful and conveniently arranged theatre
seen in the camps. The “Buffalo” auditorium at Camp Upton was built by
the soldiers of the 367th Regiment, with the assistance of friends.
It was designed for both instruction and recreation. The total cost
was $40,000. Of this amount the officers and men subscribed more than
$14,000, and they conducted a campaign to raise the balance in New
York City. Within the building there was everything from religious
services and lectures to preliminary instruction in the use of the
bayonet, moving pictures and vaudeville. This auditorium was a great
factor in building up the fine _esprit de corps_ of the “Buffalo”
regiment; and the three outstanding examples which we have recorded are
representative of what was done with the co-operation of officers in
the different camps for the recreation and entertainment of the Negro
soldiers.
NEGRO CHAPLAINS
It mattered not how ignorant a Negro soldier was, or how difficult his
life had been, he believed in God and in the efficacy of prayer. There
was something about his religion that was satisfying and genuine, and
no one could attend his services and hear him sing and pray without
being touched. In writing to his family and friends he usually asked
for their prayers. “Tell them all to pray for me and that I am trusting
in the Lord,” said one in dictating a letter, and another: “Tell them
not to worry about me now. I am happy and contented. I have prayed
constantly and have now no fear of death. Whatever happens will be all
right. Tell them to pray for me.” On one Sunday night at Camp Jackson
several white soldiers came into one of the religious services at the
colored “Y,” and they joined heartily in the singing. After the meeting
they told the secretary that they were leaving for France the next
morning and had come to the meeting in order to get a little nearer to
God.
Such being the general situation, importance attached to the man who
became the religious guide in time of stress. The average minister
was hardly adapted to the work of chaplain, because his experience
had not prepared him to have an understanding and appreciation of the
problems of the men in the new situation. Some who were fitted were
pastors of leading churches and in most cases it was impossible for
them to get a leave of absence. Besides the difficulty of securing
competent men, there was also opposition on the part of many officers
to having Negro chaplains in their organizations. When the efforts
of the Federal Council of Churches resulted in increasing the number,
they found difficulty in serving the Negro men because several of them
were kept in one camp and often in one organization. At Camp Meade,
for instance, at one time there were three Negro chaplains in the 1st
Development Battalion. When this battalion was disbanded in December,
1918, two of the chaplains were assigned to the 4th Battalion, where
there were already one Negro and two white chaplains. At Camp Travis
three Negro chaplains were found serving one organization, and at both
Camps Taylor and Sherman there were several chaplains with a small
number of soldiers. At the same time there were throughout the South
Negro organizations without any chaplain at all, except a machine-gun
group at Camp Hancock and a part of the 157th Development Battalion at
Camp McClellan, which units were served respectively by a white and a
colored chaplain.
The work of the chaplains who remained in the States consisted in
conducting religious services and in educational work, visiting
the sick in the hospitals, aiding the soldiers in securing their
allotments and allowances, and often adjusting difficulties. A number
of white chaplains served Negro soldiers, especially in the labor
organizations and in one instance in a fighting unit, the 371st
Infantry. Many of these men were sincere and conscientious, yet they
were not able to influence the men to any great extent. One said that
he felt the soldiers would rather have one of their own race for
a religious leader. At first the soldiers would not go to him with
their difficulties, but as he worked among them they came to have more
confidence in him, and a few began to seek his aid in the matter of
securing their allotments and allowances. His most effective work,
however, was in conducting schools for the illiterate. In general it
was not impossible for the white chaplain to enter into the life of
the Negro soldier, if he dealt with him as man to man and was a living
example of his teachings.
To be a Negro, however, was by no means the only requisite of a
successful chaplain for Negro troops. Personality and moral force also
counted. Because care was not exercised at first in the selections
for Negro soldiers, a great opportunity was lost to serve them in
their darkest hours, when both physical and moral dangers surrounded
them. Some workers, however, won the hearty commendation of both
officers and men. Whether in America or in France, they gave of
themselves freely for their comrades. Such a man was Allen O. Newman
of the 366th Infantry. Soon after joining his regiment he won his
way to the hearts of the men by his genuine appreciation of their
difficulties. When they were in training at Camp Dodge he became one
of them. He ate with some company daily and afterwards gave a short
talk on patriotism or morality. He was also regimental song leader.
A chorus of two hundred and fifty men that he developed gave several
concerts in the city of Des Moines. Chaplain Newman accompanied his
regiment through France, and in the front line trenches he visited
and comforted them constantly. Chaplain H. M. Collins, who served the
stevedore organizations at Camp Williams, Issurtille, was a genuine
“big brother” to his men. The commander, in speaking of his work, said
that he had been the greatest factor in helping to better conditions in
the camp. He remained until the last Negro soldier started for America.
Altogether the sixty Negro chaplains who served during the war made
a real contribution in building up the morale, the morality, and the
loyalty of the Negro soldier.
BASE HOSPITALS
In the National Army cantonments there were at times from 40,000 to
60,000 men. As a part of the equipment of these camps great base
hospitals were erected and supplied with the most modern improvements.
Negro soldiers shared with others the blessings of wonderful
discoveries in surgery and preventive medicine. Even in camps where
living conditions were unsatisfactory, in the base hospitals they were
well treated. Sometimes, as at Camp McClellan at Anniston, there was
such a marked difference within the hospital from the general situation
in the camp, that the men asked questions in their wonderment. Of
course there were exceptions, but whether in the North, the South, the
East, or the West, there was usually to be found among the doctors and
nurses the spirit of the Great Physician and the desire to heal all
men.
RED CROSS. NEGRO NURSES
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.
WAR CAMP COMMUNITY SERVICE
Raymond B. Fosdick, chairman of the Committee on Training Camp
Activities, said in writing about the work of the Commission: “It is
our task, in the first place, to see that the inside of the sixty-odd
army camps furnish real amusement and recreation and social life. In
the second place, we are to see to it that the towns and cities near
by the camps are organized to provide recreation and social life to
the soldiers who flock there when on leave. The Government will give
the men while they train every possible opportunity for education,
amusement, and social life.”
Negro soldiers were a part of the army for whom recreation was an
essential. In most places, however, the pool rooms and the ice cream
and soft drink parlors very frequently were but meeting-places for
the soldiers and girls, and the boarding and rooming houses were
especially questionable. Public dance halls were hardly ever adequately
supervised. In Charlotte, for instance, where two public halls were
conducted, the most popular one was open and crowded every night. A
policeman acted as doorkeeper and received all tickets. Little effort
was made to control the conduct and none to supervise dancing.
The War Camp Community Service came into being to organize the social
and recreational facilities of the communities adjacent to the training
camps and to furnish the best possible places for the soldiers in their
free time. City organizations were impressed with their responsibility
for showing genuine hospitality to the men, and invariably they
co-operated. In the beginning there was very little effort to provide
centers for Negro soldiers. Within the first seven months that Negro
soldiers were in the camps in only one city did the War Camp Community
Service make provision for their entertainment. In May, 1918, however,
eight clubs were opened in different cities, and in all cases these
were the best places that provided wholesome amusement, and usually the
only available places.
While discussion was going on as to whether Negro soldiers would be
permanent and whether it was necessary to establish clubs for them,
R. B. Patin, executive secretary of the War Camp Community Service
at Des Moines, established the first club for Negro soldiers.
The Lincoln School, a large three-story building, was secured by
the Community Service and the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, and
Herbert R. Wright, a lawyer and former consul of the United States in
Honduras and Venezuela, was placed in charge of the club, which had
a spacious reading-room, well supplied with writing materials, and a
music room with piano, victrola, and numerous records. There was also
an up-to-date cafeteria, as well as a bootblack parlor and a well
conducted pool room. Citizens were invited to the band concerts in the
auditorium, as well as to the socials of the various companies in the
366th Infantry.
Two of the largest community centers for Negro soldiers were located
at Washington, D. C., and Baltimore, Md. During the summer of 1918 a
well equipped “Soldiers’ Club” was established in Washington; it was
conducted by J. B. Ramsey and the co-operation of the community was
more effective than in any other center visited by the writer. Some
form of entertainment was given practically every evening by club or
church organizations; on Sundays many wounded soldiers at the Walter
Reed Hospital were taken to church and then to dinner; and on Christmas
Day, 1918, and New Year’s Day, 1919, there was very special hospitality
and entertainment. The center in Baltimore was opened July 20, 1918,
and was in charge of Dr. W. H. Weaver, a Presbyterian minister. The
club was visited by soldiers from Camp Meade, Camp Holabird, Curtis
Bay, the Canton warehouses, and Edgewood, and its chief feature was
its sleeping-quarters accommodating two hundred men. For these the
fee was 25 cents a night and they were the most attractive found in
any center for Negro soldiers. The men at Camp Upton had access to the
recreational facilities of New York, and while a club was established
for them in Harlem, they did not depend upon the community center as in
most other places. At Camp Devens in Massachusetts the soldiers’ clubs
were open to all men in uniform irrespective of race.
So much has been said about racial goodwill in Virginia that it was
surprising that there should be in this state in the beginning an
indifference that was very close to opposition to the establishing of
clubs for Negro soldiers. After the first eight months of war, however,
the need became so urgent that clubs were established at Petersburg
and Richmond for the soldiers at Camp Lee, at Alexandria for those at
Camp Humphrey, and at Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton
for the sailors and soldiers in the various camps and training stations
on the Lower Peninsula. At Petersburg, on account of the opposition of
the local ministers, dancing was not included as a part of the club
entertainment. At Alexandria an Odd Fellows Hall, owned by Negroes, was
donated to the Community Service without rent. The first club erected
at Newport News proving altogether inadequate, eighteen city lots were
purchased and a new building costing $25,000 erected. A staff of six
secretaries was employed. To furnish the building at Hampton, Negro
citizens raised $1,000, an effective program being carried out under
the direction of Miss Elizabeth Martin. The success of the work in
Newport News and Hampton was largely due to the sincere effort of J. L.
Einstein, director of community work on the Lower Peninsula.
In Columbia, S. C., community work was influenced by local sentiment
and it was more than a year before a club was provided for Negro
soldiers. At Spartanburg and Greenville there were small clubs which
were principally bureaus of information, and at Greenville the colored
committee especially opposed dancing. At Charlotte, where a hotel
was renovated and made into an attractive club, the Negro ministers
gave their moral support, and clubs of colored women aided greatly.
In Atlanta it was said that the Negro soldiers were not “stationary
enough” for a club, though thousands of them were constantly at Camp
Gordon during the first year of the war. It was necessary at length for
the War Department to intervene on behalf of the men and a club was
finally established November 15, 1918, after fifteen months of waiting.
When it was established the colored committee objected to dancing,
pool and card playing, thus eliminating the forms of recreation that
the soldiers especially enjoyed. In Augusta, near Camp Hancock, more
than $3,000 was spent in renovating a two-story hall, and the club was
in charge of a liberal Baptist minister, Rev. R. J. McCain. At Macon,
near Camp Wheeler, club rooms were secured in the Pythian Temple. At
Anniston, near Camp McClellan, the man employed as janitor was expected
to do the executive work and very little was done by way of carrying
out a constructive program. At Hattiesburg, Miss., a committee of
Negro men raised $100, rented and furnished a small rest room for the
Negro soldiers when they were first sent to Camp Shelby; later the War
Camp Community Service renovated the Masonic Hall with two floors and
attractively furnished it as a club. At Alexandria, La., near Camp
Beauregard, a club was opened in the Masonic Hall and repaired by the
Community Service at a cost of $1,000. At Little Rock the club was in
the Taborian Hall, a modern, well located building. The Negro citizens
paid the rent of $10 a month, while the Community Service equipped the
room. A soldier from Camp Pike was in charge. Effective work was not
done at this center because of lack of co-operation with the citizens.
The state of Texas was generally behind others in the work. At Camp
Logan, Houston, Camp MacArthur, Waco, and Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, there
were no centers. $5,000 was placed in the budget at Fort Worth for a
club, but it was cut out entirely, and the Negro people felt keenly the
attitude toward Negro soldiers after they had contributed generously
toward the various “drives” for the war. At Camp Travis in San Antonio,
after eight months had passed, the Negro citizens purchased a site and
gave it to the War Department for as long a time as it might be needed.
The War Camp Community Service appropriated $10,000, and a building was
opened at Christmas, 1918. When this was no longer needed for war work,
it was turned over to the colored people and used as a public library.
All told this work gave to many Negro people a new conception of well
organized and supervised recreation for the young people. Scores of
men and women were employed as secretaries and tens of thousands of
dollars spent in promoting the work. Realizing that the development of
recreation centers for Negro girls was a part of the bigger problem
from the standpoint of the soldiers, the War Camp Community Service did
not confine its activities to maintaining clubs for soldiers but also
established centers where there were persons who gave their entire time
to girls. In the cantonment cities the young women were organized into
patriotic leagues and clubs, and these co-operated with the soldiers
in giving entertainments and socials, and in those cities where the
work for girls was most active there it was that Community Service as a
whole was most successful. When the first soldiers’ club was equipped
at Des Moines, one of the chief factors contributing to its success was
the organization also of four girls’ clubs with a total membership of
one hundred and thirty. There was a chaperone for each club; gymnasium
classes met twice a week, and at the close a demonstration in folk
games was given. At Chillicothe the club room was located under an
Episcopal mission and was beautifully furnished. In Baltimore the
whole effort was handled with unusual success, and no young woman was
admitted to the parties without a card from the hostesses. The work
in these three places was typical. Sometimes employment departments
and classes in cooking and sewing were conducted. All such effort
gave the young women better protection and at the same time afforded
them social contact in a wholesome environment. It also gave to the
different communities a deeper sense of responsibility for the welfare
of the Negro girl.
THE NEGRO CHURCH
In the cantonment cities, especially in the South, there were numerous
representative Negro churches. A few of these had adequate facilities
for the entertainment of soldiers, but many were too poorly located or
equipped to conduct social centers. The ministers’ unions or alliances
always endorsed the war work for the soldiers, but rarely was there
organized effort on the part of the churches. On one occasion in
Columbia, S. C., the ministers’ alliance assumed responsibility for the
money contributed by the citizens for a flag presented to the 371st
Infantry. Some important factors contributed to the general situation.
In many cases at the beginning the welfare agencies in the cantonment
cities showed a tendency to ignore the Negro citizens. Another
difficulty was found in the uncertainty as to the soldiers’ presence.
Numerous cases occurred where elaborate arrangements were made for the
men and they did not arrive at all. In such a case of course either
the church or the camp authorities had failed to do what was necessary
for the most complete co-operation. Sometimes when rest rooms were
provided by the churches, the soldiers were not enthusiastic about them
because of the limitations placed upon them. Excellent concerts and
well ordered socials were sometimes given by the churches, however,
and soldiers were frequently invited to dinner at the homes of members
of congregations after the Sunday services.
The best co-operation in any cantonment city between the Negro
churches and the camp authorities was probably that in Atlanta. The
Congregational church here had a spacious basement, a good library and
a well equipped gymnasium, and a trained worker organized and worked
with the girls’ clubs. A special Sunday afternoon service was held and
after this there were refreshments. Other large churches in Atlanta
were also active. San Antonio followed closely in such endeavor;
and in Augusta, Ga., one church sent a wagon load of watermelons to
the soldiers, and another twenty gallons of ice cream. In all the
cantonment cities ministers from the various churches preached in the
camps and they often took with them their church choirs. Some of the
national religious bodies sent camp pastors to the soldiers, and these
men sometimes spent as much as three days a week addressing those in
uniform and visiting the hospitals.
FEDERAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
The General Wartime Commission of the Churches was constituted by the
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America soon after the
nation entered the war. This commission was composed of more than a
hundred men chosen from the different religious bodies which were
dealing with the problems raised by the war, and its activities were
conducted through committees charged with specific phases of war
work. Reports of conditions in the camps led to the Appointment of a
Committee on the Welfare of Negro troops. This consisted of Bishop
Wilbur P. Thirkield, chairman, George Foster Peabody, Dr. R. R. Moton,
Dr. James H. Dillard, J. R. Hawkins, Thomas Jesse Jones, Rev. M. Ashby
Jones, Bishop R. E. Jones, Robert E. Speer, Rev. Henry A. Atkinson,
Rev. W. H. Jernagin, and Rev. Gaylord S. White.
In order that the Committee might have definite information for its
work, two Negro men, Charles H. Williams and Rev. G. Lake Imes, were
appointed as field secretaries. Of their work Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones,
executive secretary of the committee, wrote as follows: “One of
these, financed by the Phelps-Stokes Fund, made careful observations
of conditions in and about the cantonments where colored soldiers
were located. The reports prepared by this worker showed such a
thoroughness in ascertaining the truth and such a constructive point
of view in the recommendations made as to win the cordial approval of
the War Department and all the agencies co-operating in the care of
the soldiers. The second worker devoted his time to the study of the
churches in their relations to colored soldiers. On the basis of these
observations he assisted the churches to plan their activities so as
to be of real help to the soldiers in the community.” The reports of
the field secretaries were sent direct to the War Department and on
the basis of them conferences were held with the Secretary of War and
the various welfare organizations. It was in this connection that the
Special Assistant to the Secretary of War, Dr. Emmett J. Scott, labored
unceasingly to remove discrimination and adjust difficulties. Members
of the committee, though in an unofficial capacity, often assisted
directly. Bishop Thirkield visited various camps and cantonment cities
and conferred with army officers, chambers of commerce, and Rotary
clubs, always with a view to improving conditions. Mr. Peabody on a
number of occasions went to Washington and conferred with the President
and the Secretary of War with reference to the Negro soldiers. In a
most uncompromising manner he always advocated a square deal. Dr.
Moton was frequently called into conference with President Wilson and
Secretary Baker and was also asked to go to France to investigate the
situation when damaging reports had been spread in both America and
France with reference to the conduct of Negro officers and soldiers.
Dr. Jones was also called into conference and toward the close of the
war went to France under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A.
Thus, while there were many difficulties and an enormous amount of
work to be done in the different welfare agencies--whether the Y. M.
C. A., the Red Cross, the Community Service, or some other--there were
loyal souls who were laboring unceasingly for the comfort of the Negro
soldier and also for the final consummation of victory for the great
cause in which all were engaged.