The USO (United Service Organizations) Clubs in WWII were a
major component of keeping morale up for those in the military, along with
their dependents. From java hour, to wives craft club, to a class called Ball
and Chain for military couples, to basketball at Paris Jr. College there was
something to keep everyone occupied.
This 1944 USO Club program bulletin is from Paris, Texas.
The bulletin is part of the Melvin Mason Collection. Dr. Melvin Mason taught
English at Sam Houston State from 1962-1991. In he was drafted into the Army
from Roxton, Texas and sent to Chicago for training. WWII ended before he was
sent overseas.
A Religious History of the American
Servicemen and Servicewomen (GI’s) in World War II
By G. Kurt Piehler
Director, Institute on World War II and the Human Experience
Department of History, Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
kpiehler@fsu.edu
© 2011 by G. Kurt Piehler
My project seeks to understand the religious history of American servicemen and servicewomen in World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the armed forces adopted a series of policies that sought to promote the free exercise of religion, including a dramatic expansion of the military chaplaincy and the commissioning of an unprecedented number of Roman Catholic priests and Jewish rabbis as chaplains in an attempt to make the chaplaincy representative of the religious pluralism of the United States. Religious organizations played an important role in catering to the spiritual and recreational needs of GIs, most notably through the United Service Organization (USO) founded in 1940 by the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB),
National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Society, the Salvation Army, the
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).
My research at the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) from July 11th through July 15,
2011, provided a wealth of documentation about the early history of the USO and the pivotal role John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (JDR Jr.) played in overcoming a number of early difficulties this organization faced. The bulk of my research centered on examining the records of the Office of Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR) (Record Group 2), specifically, the files related to the USO in Series P –Welfare-General Files, and some of the files on the YMCA and World War II in Series RWelfare Interests-Youth.
The USO represented one of the high points of ecumenical cooperation during the war by bringing together Protestants (YMCA, YWCA, and the Salvation Army), Roman Catholics (National Catholic Community Service), and Jews (Jewish Welfare Board) behind a common mission of serving the recreational needs of American GIs at home and abroad. The USO implemented policies that stressed non-sectarianism in delivering recreational services and made special efforts to provide Roman Catholics and Jews with access to clergy when stationed in communities that lacked priests and rabbis (most notably in the South). At the same time, the USO faced a series of problems in the early years from ineffective leadership, intense rivalries between the constituent organizations, and the rapid pace of mobilization that would have strained the most efficient organization.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Role
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had a long-standing interest in the work of both the YMCA and the YWCA. During World War I he spoke to a number of army camps, including Camp Dix, New Jersey where he participated in the dedication of a new YMCA building.1 Both the senior leadership of the YWCA and the YMCA encouraged JDR Jr. to take an active role in the USO and proposed him as an at-large member of the Board of Trustees that was being established in 1941.2 Rockefeller not only joined the board, but made a substantial financial contribution of
$100,000 to the first national campaign.3
JDR Jr. served on the USO board throughout the war and into the immediate postwar era. As an active board member, on a number of occasions he offered space in the Rockefeller Center complex for USO meetings and functions. When absent from a meeting, Arthur W. Packard of the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) served as his representative. After attending meetings, Packard regularly reported the substance of meetings and other affairs to JDR Jr. Over the course of the war, JDR Jr. and members of his family contributed substantial sums to the USO. Moreover, he delivered a number of public speeches on its behalf, including one of his most famous in New York City in 1941, which included a statement of his personal philosophy of life.
New Dealers and Private Philanthropy
The mobilization of a large standing army and navy, after the fall of France, in the spring of 1940, lead to the exponential expansion of military and naval bases across the country. Small communities, especially in the American South, strained to accommodate the influx of young GIs and provide adequate recreational facilities. Outside of many bases, off-duty GIs usually encountered gin joints, brothels, and gambling dens. Army and navy leaders were concerned with rising venereal disease rates and sought assistance from private philanthropic groups.4
In late 1940, leaders of several organizations, including the Jewish Welfare Board, the
Knights of Columbus (quickly supplanted by the National Catholic Community Service), the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and the YWCA, that had participated in the World I federal agency, the Commission on Training Camp Activities, discussed the need to mobilize for this latest war. These organizations decided to merge their collective efforts and seek federal financial support and recognition. In the meantime, New Dealers in the Federal Security Agency, under the leadership of former Indiana Governor Paul McNutt, wanted the federal government to directly provide recreational services to GIs. In seeking a federal role, New Dealers stressed the efficiencies that would be gained by centralizing the delivery of services in the hands of a federal agency. Religious organizations stressed the precedents established during World War I and the need to add a spiritual dimension to this work.
In early 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that the USO would have primary responsibility for meeting the recreational needs of GIs stationed in the United States. In 1942, in a fundraising speech, JDR Jr. stressed the ideological significance of this decision, in a period when the future of the New Deal was hotly contested: “He made the choice despite strong pressure in administrative circles to put this vital task in the hands of the government under the WPA. To those American citizens who believe in private enterprise, the significance of the
President’s decision cannot easily be overestimated. The wholehearted support of the USO and the Red Cross would be a prime responsibility of all good citizens if for no other reason than because these two organizations represent the service of citizens by citizens, rather than by government.”5
Private funds did play an important role in creating the USO, and the organization’s first national fundraising campaign raised over ten million dollars in 1941. However, public funds were crucial to the creation of the USO and the organization actively sought federal monies to build the hundreds of USO centers that would dot the country. Initially, the Federal Security Agency and the USO had come to an agreement regarding the construction of USO centers, but the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for a different agency, the Public Works Agency (PWA) to build them. As a board member of the USO, Rockefeller was regularly informed of these efforts. For instance, Arthur Packard in reporting on the August 14, 1941 meeting, noted the attendance of Charles Taft, representing the Joint Army-Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation, and the comments he offered regarding the good working relationship that had been established between the USO and the PWA, and that fifteen million dollars in federal funds would be available for USO Buildings.6
Religious Ecumenicalism and Public Service
In the fundraising literature and press releases written during the war, the USO stressed the remarkable cooperation of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish sponsored organizations united behind the common purpose of serving the needs of American GIs. With some reluctance,
JDR Jr. agreed to serve as Honorary Chair of the Parents’ and Neighbors’ Division of the New York City fundraising campaign in 1941. In accepting this position, JDR Jr. also agreed to deliver a radio address on the evening of July 8, 1941 in support of the New York City house-tohouse solicitation campaign.7 In this program, JDR Jr. would be joined by Richard W. Lawrence, chair of the USO New York City campaign, New York Governor Herbert Lehman, Roman Catholic cleric Monsignor Robert F. Keegan, and U.S. Army Colonel Arthur W. McDermott. The speech offered by JDR Jr. would be the most famous of his career. In seeking support for the USO, JDR Jr. not only discussed the value of this new organization for providing servicemen with wholesome recreation, but he also elaborated on his philosophy of life that had guided him since he was a young boy. Regarding religion he declared his belief “in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name.”8 Rockefeller’s religious philosophy reflected the strong ecumenical sensibilities that struck a responsive chord, especially among Roman Catholic and Jewish listeners. In his statement, and also his work with the USO, he made clear his rejection of narrow sectarian sentiment, and his belief in tolerance of religious diversity.
The reaction to this speech was remarkable. Letters poured into the office of JDR Jr. at Rockefeller Center praising the speech. Support for his statement came from a wide range of various fields, including political, religious, educational, business and publishing. Princeton University President Harold Dodds, U.S. Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, and African
American leader and New Deal official, Mary McLeod Bethune, all sent personal letters to
JDR Jr. praising the principles he enunciated in the speech.9 D.R. Sharpe, Executive Secretary of the Cleveland Baptist Association thought of the statement of belief a “remarkably clear-cut and Christian document.”10 In a handwritten note, Archbishop, later Cardinal, F.J. Spellman observed that the “fundamental principles which you enumerated last night and which if only accepted and lived by men would insure peace and happiness for the world and for all us.”11 Praise came from a number of prominent Jewish leaders, including Robert W. Straus, John M. Schiff, and New York Times publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger.12 In a short one line letter Sulzberger wrote, “Just a line to let you know that your ten principles have become required reading in the Sulzberger family.”13
A public relations firm hired by JDR Jr. tabulated that two hundred and seventy-five editorials were written about the speech in virtually every state in the Union.14 The Daily
Worker published by the American Communist Party offered one of the few negative critiques of JDR Jr.’s speech, arguing that the stress on the development of individual character did not take into account the fact that “A man’s fate is determined by world-wide economic factors over which he has no control.”15 Requests poured in over the years to reprint the principles of living in journals and books. In September 1941, Boy’s Life published by the Boy Scouts of America, would be among the first major magazines to reprint JDR Jr.’s principles for living.16
Organizational Chaos and Sectarian Tensions
The rapid expansion of the USO in 1941 was plagued with problems that would soon be recognized by the U.S. Army, community leaders, the USO governing board, and JDR Jr. Part of the chaos stemmed from the need to build a central administrative office from scratch. Moreover, the involvement of the federal government added a further layer of bureaucracy and delay. Thomas Dewey who chaired the first national fundraising campaign sent a memorandum to the “Officers and Members of the Executive Committee” on October 30, 1941, informing them of an “increasing volume of mail which has been coming to me from important and influential people all over the United States, protesting in unqualified and vigorous terms about the manner of operation of the USO.”17
The promotion of religious values, together with the non-sectarian delivery of services, remained core principles of the USO. Behind a veneer of unity, the reports and correspondence in the Rockefeller papers suggest intense suspicion between many Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders.18 For instance, Roman Catholics leaders stressed that they were outnumbered by a board dominated by Protestant run organizations (i.e., YMCA, YWCA, and the Salvation Army).19 In turn, Protestant Church leaders associated with the Federal Council of Churches complained that the Roman Catholic hierarchy was directly represented on the governing body of the USO through the National Catholic Community Service, while they had no direct control of either the YMCA, YWCA, or the Salvation Army.20
To understand the problems facing the USO, JDR Jr. commissioned several individuals to report on the operation of the organization. Raymond Fosdick, who had chaired the World War I Training Camp Commission, provided JDR Jr. with an eleven page report, complete with five exhibits. In his report he stressed how difficult it is in practice to meld six different constituent organizations behind a common program proved in implementation. He observed that the “basic principle of organization seems to be that the leisure time of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish soldiers, when they got into town, can be taken care of only by Protestant, Catholic and Jewish agencies respectively—each for its own. One constantly hears the remark from agency representatives: “The Catholic soldiers in the camp (or the Protestant or Jewish soldiers, as the case may be) are entitled to U.S.O. service from their own agency.” The irony of this attitude for Fosdick is that the army commanders and the average enlisted man generally could care less which group was providing recreational opportunities. As he observed, “A dance is a dance and a bowling alley is a bowling alley regardless of auspices, and when a soldier talks to a girl, he is not interested in what church she goes to.”21
JDR Jr. played an important role in the Board of Directors in forcing the resignation of Harper Sibley as USO president, and replacing him with Chester I. Barnard. Sibley did not resign willingly, in fact, he argued that his resignation would not benefit the USO and feared it lent further credence to critics who perceived the organization as hopelessly disunited. In his handwritten letter to JDR Jr., Sibley acknowledged that “Unhappily, the USO is being criticized on all sides for appearing to be a divided instead of a united organization. I am afraid the separate Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish USO units do give this impression.”22 After Sibley’s formal resignation on March 11, 1942, JDR Jr. served on a three member search committees to find a suitable replacement. A number of candidates were proposed. James R. Angell of the National Broadcasting Company suggested William Allen White, and Rutgers University President Robert Clothier for the position.23 Former President Herbert Hoover recommended future Secretary of State Christian Herter. John D. Adams, Vice President of Brown University travelled to New York City to meet with JDR Jr., but decided against further consideration.24 JDR Jr. gave serious consideration to John Pomfret, who served as Dean of Vanderbilt University, and even wrote to the Chancellor of the institution, Dr. Oliver C. Carmichael, regarding the opening of the position. JDR Jr. asked Carmichael if Vanderbilt would consider loaning Pomfret with full salary for the unpaid position of USO President.25
The Army leadership’s displeasure with USO operations played a role in their decision to initially prohibit the organization from expanding operations to overseas theaters such as Australia in 1942. JDR Jr. journeyed to Washington, D.C. to attend a conference at the home of
General Frederick Osborn, on Easter Sunday, 1942, to discuss this issue. Osborn, in writing to JDR Jr. after the meeting, noted that USO operations demanded “a leadership of great strength and firmness. Good will and devotion alone are not enough.” He went on to observe “between the denominations, and the competitive quality of much of the work being done, I have acted to restrain the enthusiasm of the Army for their development of new fields, and have given those who never wanted the USO in the picture, opportunities for recrimination which greatly complicated our task.”26
Chester I. Barnard, President of New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, accepted the position as unpaid president of the USO. JDR Jr., together with W. Spencer Robertson of the YMCA, played a crucial role in swaying Barnard to accept the position and they developed an excellent working relationship during his tenure as president.27 Moreover, the association between JDR Jr. and Barnard continued after the war, and in 1948 the latter became President of the RF.
Barnard’s leadership did lead to improvements in the organizational structure of the USO and he gained the confidence of the Board of Directors. At the same time, Barnard’s leadership was not without controversy, most notably over the question of race relations. Although the USO would ultimately be a model of religious cooperation, its record on race proved much more complicated. Official national policy proclaimed non-discrimination, but USO clubs were generally segregated, and this pattern occurred even in many non-Southern communities. For the most part the USO was not on the vanguard of improving race relations.28
JDR Jr. supported Barnard in the controversy over distribution of the Races of Mankind pamphlet, coauthored by the anthropologists Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish. This pamphlet, distributed by the YMCA, had not yet been approved by the USO national organization. Barnard demanded removal of this pamphlet, and this issue would be considered by both the Executive
Committee and the full Board of Directors. In Barnard’s view, the pamphlet deserved to be removed because it had not been cleared by proper channels within the USO. In addition, he argued the controversial nature of the pamphlet which stressed the need for racial understanding and argued there was no scientific basis for viewing some races as inferior, and it would embroil the USO in an unnecessary controversy. New York City Judge, Hubert Delaney, the only African American board member, vehemently protested the removal of the pamphlet and argued that the USO had failed to promote the American ideals of equality and justice. Although Delaney garnered some support, in 1944, the majority of the board sided with Barnard and in the end Delaney resigned in protest.29
Religious Life of the GI
There are hints about the religious life of the American GI in the correspondence. For example, the changing mores regarding the observance of Sunday as a Christian day of rest are reflected in an interesting exchange between JDR Jr. and Margaret Cross. In a letter to JDR Jr., she complained that the YMCA and the YWCA were at a disadvantage because of their reluctance to hold dances on Sunday evening, while in “many of the USO buildings operated by the Catholics and the JWB, dancing on Sun[day] Evening seems taken for granted—and in some places the Y.W. [C.A.] when in a position of joint authority give in on the point.” She wondered if it was possible to implement religious programs on Sunday night for GIs that would be lead by a few women who rode a circuit.30 In his reply, JDR Jr. noted that Sunday evening services and other religious programs have been fading at many Protestant churches and wondered how many GIs would be interested in them. Moreover, he recalled a conversation with his son Winthrop, who was serving with the Army, about the resentment his men felt in one of the Southern camps when the USO building was placed off limits for a Sunday night dance.31
How do you preserve the free and individual expression of religion while still promoting ecumenicalism and inclusion? This issue came to JDR Jr.’s attention when Eleanor Wilson, who served as Women’s Activities Director of the Army and Navy Department of the YMCA, wrote to him asking for advice on this issue. The problem she wrote is that “we cannot meet the requests of USO volunteers and staff workers who are asking for prayer and devotional services that may be used at the USO meetings where Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups are represented.” 32 In response to this request, JDR Jr. wrote to Reverend Norris L. Tibbets, of Riverside Church for suggestions and ideas. In reply, Tibbets assembled a group of prayers and litanies that might be used by Protestants, Catholics, and Jews that JDR Jr. passed on to Eleanor Wilson.33
In conclusion, I want to express my appreciation for the support the RAC provided for my research. The material found at the Center has taken my research project the religious history of the American GI in many different directions. As a result of my investigation of these issues, it has made me even more sensitive to the difficulties of promoting the free exercise of religion while still ensuring religious pluralism. The remarkable degree of ecumenical cooperation among Protestant, Roman Catholics, and Jewish organizations in World War II was not easily achieved.
Editor's Note: This research report is presented here with the author’s permission but should not be cited or quoted without the author’s consent.
Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports Online is a periodic publication of the Rockefeller Archive Center. Edited by Erwin Levold, Research Reports Online is intended to foster the network of scholarship in the history of philanthropy and to highlight the diverse range of materials and subjects covered in the collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center. The reports are drawn from essays submitted by researchers who have visited the Archive Center, many of whom have received grants from the Archive Center to support their research.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and are not intended to represent the Rockefeller Archive Center.
ENDNOTES:
1 “The Sabbath in the Camps—John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (JDR Jr.) at Camp Dix” January-February issue, 1918, press clipping, Folder 570, Series P, Record Group (RG) 2 Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR), Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), Sleepy Hollow, New York.
2 Mrs. Henry A. (Mary S.) Ingraham to JDR Jr., March 10, 1941, JDR Jr. to Ingraham, March 20, 1941;
W. Spencer Robertson to JDR Jr., March 27, 1941; Walter Hoving to JDR Jr., March 28, 1941; JDR Jr. to Robertson, April 1, 1941; JDR, Jr. to Walter Hoving, April 1, 1941, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
3 Walter Hoving to JDR Jr., April 9, 1941; Arthur W. Packard to Hoving, April 21, 1941; Packard to JDR Jr., April, 21, 1941; and JDR, Jr. to Hoving, June 2, 1941, Folder 576, Box 52, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
4 H.A. Drum to Nelson A. Rockefeller (NAR), April 11, 1940; Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., June 28, 1940; Frank Knox to T.A. Rymer, November 12, 1940, copy, Folder 223, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
5 JDR Jr., “The USO, Its Background, Origin, Set-Up, and Why I Believe in It.” Talk at business men’s dinner, Thursday, March 19, 1942, at Rockefeller Plaza, 67th Floor, New York, NY, Folder 605, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
6 Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., August 14, 1941, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
7 JDR Jr. to Richard W. Lawrence, June 20, 1941, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
8 “To New York City Parents & Neighbors, An Appeal by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Manager
Robert F. Keegan, Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Colonial Arthur V. McDermott, With a foreword by Richard W. Lawrence,” July 1941, pamphlet, p. 7, Folder 585, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
9 Mary McLeod Bethune to JDR Jr., July 10, 1941, Folder 589; Harold Dodds to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 590; Claude Pepper to JDR Jr., July 12, 1941, Folder 591, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
10 D.R. Sharpe to JDR Jr., July 29, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
11 F.J. Spellman to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
12 Roger W. Straus to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941; John M. Schiff to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
13 Arthur Hays Sulzberger to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
14 T.J. Ross to JDR Jr., September 15, 1941, Folder 587, Untitled Document, Summary of Editorial and Editorial Paragraphs, (September 1941), Folder 588, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
15 “John D. Rockefeller, Dangerous Agitator.” Daily Worker (July 11, 1941), p. 6, clipping, Folder 589, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
16 “John D. Rockefeller’s Principles for Living.” Boy’s Life (September 1941), clipping, Folder 595, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
17 Thomas E. Dewey, Memorandum-To The Officers and Members of the Executive Committee of the USO, October 30, 1941, Folder 562, Box 50, Series P, RG 2 OMR , Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
18 Raymond Fosdick to Arthur W. Packard, April 27, 1942, and an undated confidential report made by Fowler Harper, Chairman of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation (before April 27, 1942), Folder 614, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
19 To Files from Lindsley F. Kimball, Memorandum, Subject: Interview with Monsignor McEntegart, May 15, [1942], May 18, 1942, Folder 614, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
20 Lindsley F. Kimball, “Community and Campaign Relationships of the United Service Organizations, Inc. As of August 15, 1942, unpublished report, Folder 613, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
21Raymond Fosdick, Confidential, Memorandum on the USO, April 23, 1942, p. 2, Folder 571, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
22 Harper Sibley to JDR Jr., March 9, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
23 James R. Angell to JDR Jr., April 10, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
24 Herbert Hoover to JDR Jr., March 21, 1942; JDR Jr. to James P. Adams, March 13, 1942; Adams to JDR Jr., March 13, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 25 JDR Jr. to Oliver C. Carmichael, April 10, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
26 Frederick Osborn to JDR Jr., April 7, 1942, Folder 611, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
27 JDR Jr. to Chester I. Barnard, April 9, 1942; JDR Jr. to W. Spencer Robertson, April 20, 1942; Barnard to JDR Jr., April 20, 1942, Folder 575, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
28 Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., October 6, 1941, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P; Ray Johns to Henry W.
Pope, March 4, 1944; Johns to Arthur Packard, March 10, 1944, Folder 563, Box 50, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. In his letter to Packard, Johns observed the facilities for African American GIs in Boston: “As you may know some of the Negro leaders in Boston have been urging the use of the centers in Boston by members of both races. The Boston USO Soldiers and Sailors Committee, under the leadership of Mr. Hodgkinson, experimented with having a few Negro hostesses there to dance with Negro Service Men. The Massachusetts State Law forbids the limited use of buildings on public property to any one race. The experiment did not prove very satisfactory to either the Negroes or to the white people who attended, although no objectionable instance occurred, as far as I know.”
29 Chester I. Barnard to Arthur W. Packard, January 29, 1944, Folder 563, Box 50, Series P, Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., Memorandum, March 10, 1944, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
30 Martha Cross to JDR Jr., (March 1942), Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
31 JDR Jr. to Mrs. Eliot (Martha) Cross, March 26, 1942, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
32 Eleanor Wilson to JDR Jr., December 19, 1942, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
33 Norris L. Tibbets to JDR Jr., January 9, 1943, Eleanor Wilson to JDR Jr., January 16, 1943, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.
