Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Floating ” Oakland, California 2010 Fall Edition INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Roosevelt’s WPA Battles Catastrophic Floods and Fires Roosevelt & Child Care By Edward I. Bloom Making the case for working mothers during the war years It should be remembered that the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a pro- by Paulette Langguth ...... 2 gram of FDR’s , was not a make-work program for the chronically unemployed, as some of its critics claimed. In fact, the program was conceived Marti’s Musings… and implemented to provide work on badly needed projects for many communi- A Scrimshaw Sailor ...... 3 ties throughout the country, thereby pumping money into the local economy and providing employment for those unable to find work. Additionally, it provided an Notes from the Archives… in-place workforce to respond to emergency needs including those caused by the FDR Visits the Port of Oakland Great Flood of the Ohio Valley in 1937, and the long-standing underground coal “Found” photos and a rare look fire in eastern Ohio. at FDR’s review of the US Fleet by Hank Laney, Curator . . . . 4 In March of 1937, early spring floods followed an unusually heavy rainfall and snow melt, causing massive flooding from New England to the Ohio River, and WWII Day of Remembrance ultimately leaving more than 500 people dead and nearly one million homeless The Potomac sails back into his- in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. Along with the Army Corp of Engineers tory to honor America’s Greatest Generation continued on page 3 by Brad Bunnin...... 5

Friends of the Potomac RED AND WHITE FLEET PARTNERSHIP The most important page in this issue...... 7

Potomac Association 2010 Cruise Schedule President Carla Betts, Still lots to choose from before and Red and White the season ends – come cruising Fleet CEO Thomas with us now! ...... 6 Escher “tie” the ribbon Special Offer for the new partnership. Discount coupon for Potomac cruises. Offer good through November 11, 2010

POTOMAC LINKS: “Mr. President” Visit the USS Potomac on holds a conference Facebook aboard the Potomac Events and Cruises with delegates from Student Tours the Event and Travel industry. Private Charters Become a Friend of the Potomac and Child Care: Eleanor met with Henry Kaiser and his son, Edgar, while Finding Friends in Private Industry visiting the Kaiser Company Shipyard in Portland, Oregon By Paulette Langguth (where women made up 60 percent of the work force). Un- der the leadership of Edgar Kaiser, plans were put in place In 1942, President Roosevelt, at Eleanor’s urging, approved to construct a spectacular child care center, complete with the first government-sponsored child care center under the the newest play equipment, the most sophisticated teaching Community Facilities Act. This Act provided local aid to devices, a cafeteria staffed by nutritionists, and an infirmary war-impacted communities for schools, hospitals, water and staffed by nurses and doctors. The Swan Island Center was a sewers, and recreational facilities. Six additional centers Head Start program a quarter of a century ahead of its time. were funded in Connecticut, Texas, and North Carolina, but In its first year of operation it served nearly two thousand the total number of children covered was only 105,000 when children, and its success stimulated war plants and shipyards there were an estimated two million who needed care. nationwide to provide child care. It was estimated that each child care center serving forty mothers made possible eight In 1943, the absentee rate for wom- thousand productive worker hours monthly. Locally, the en working in war industries soared, Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA had 14 child care sites greatly affecting production. Never during the war years. When the shipyards closed and federal one to be content working quietly be- funding for child care dried up, there were still many women hind the scenes, and being a long-time who wanted or needed to continue working. The Richmond advocate for women working outside community lobbied the federal and state government to con- the home, Eleanor Roosevelt set out to tinue the funding. California became one of only a few states bring about changes that would result that continued to support child care after the war. in benefits for the thousands of women working to support their country, their armed forces, and Though the needs of their families. To identify issues affecting working women, working mothers were Eleanor traveled across the country from Portland, Maine, never fully met, nearly to Portland, Oregon, conducting interviews in shipyards $50 million would be and plants. She found that the demands of traveling miles spent on child care be- to get to work, holding down a full-time job, and providing fore the war came to care for children, was overwhelming the workers. Women an end, $3 million for reported that they often had to miss day shifts in order to construction of new purchase groceries - if they waited to shop at the end of the centers and $47 million day, the shelves were nearly empty and the stores ready to for operating expenses. close. Following her interviews, Eleanor proposed a num- By the summer of l945, Day Care at Kaiser Industries ber of creative solutions such as staggering the opening and more than a million and closing times of the factories, keeping banks and department a half children would be in child care programs. stores open at night, encouraging butchers to hold back part of their meat supply until 6 PM, and asking war plants to *While the United States government was actively recruit- hire personal shoppers for the women to take their orders ing women workers during WWII, there were segments of in the morning, and have the filled grocery bags waiting at society strongly opposed to married women being employed the door at the end of the shift. In addition, her fact-finding outside the home. In 1943, The Catholic World published established that: an editorial that stated, “Women who maintain jobs outside their homes… weaken family life, endanger their own mari- • More than three million women had entered the tal happiness, rob themselves of man’s protective capabili- work force for the first time between 1940 and 1942 ties, and by consequence, decrease the number of children.” • Three million more were expected to enter the New York’s Mayor LaGuardia argued, “The worst mother is workforce before the war was over better than the best institution.” And the Minneapolis Chief • 75 percent of these women were married of Welfare, John O. Louis, proclaimed, “The child should • 60 percent were over the age of 35 be cared for by its own mother, and only in those instances • More than 33 percent had children under the age of 14 where inadequacies of physical surrounding or mental and moral environment make it absolutely necessary should the Armed with this impressive data, Eleanor stepped up her child be placed outside the home.” campaign for child care. She was convinced, and rightly so, that without adequate child care programs children would be Sources: by at risk and face the very real dangers of neglect.* Links: www.richmondmuseumofhistory.org www.kaiserpermanentehistory.org -2- WPA Battles continued from page 1 and the National Guard, the WPA was an immediately available resource used to fill sandbags along levees and provide food and emergency shelter for the flood refugees. The WPA bypassed bureaucratic regulations that bogged down the railroads by renting trucks to ship needed surplus commodities, food, and clothing to the flood areas. WPA carpenters assembled lumber in the streets and hastily built fleets of rafts, avoiding more red tape while waiting for the Coast Guard to bring small vessels to the flooded areas. Over 200,000 WPA workers were used during the cleanup, from West Virginia to Tennessee, to build sanitary privies over sewer manholes, construct wooden catwalks to bring in emergency supplies, clean refuse from city streets, haul away garbage, and set up field kitchens. In addition, WPA sewing rooms provided needed clothing to those who had lost everything.

The underground coal fires in southeastern Ohio, primarily around New Straitsville, had been raging for more than fifty years, and probably started at the time of a labor dispute in the 1880’s. All efforts to put out these coal fires had failed. The WPA was engaged to assist in the effort, and on October 10, 1936, digging on the first of three large open trenches was started. The plan was to excavate coal ahead of the fire and then to fill the trench with a non-flammable mixture of clay, mud, and rock, creating the equivalent of a firebreak.

Each trench was 25 feet wide and ranging in length from 525 feet to a mile-and-a-half. WPA workers followed the earth- moving machines, removing by hand all flammable materials left behind, and delivered any usable coal to families on relief. In the spring of 1937, work on the trenches was completed, and by April the first of the coal fires approaching the smallest of these open trenches was finally stopped. The firebreak created by the two larger trenches had successfully put out all the remaining coal fires by January of 1940.

Today, as we follow the cleanup for the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, it is valuable to recall an earlier period when the WPA was used to address major disasters.

Source: American Made, the Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work – Nick Taylor Link to - FDR “chit” to Harry Hopkins about Works Program, July 6, 1938 Link to Archives – www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/tully.html Link to previous article on the WPA by Edward I. Bloom MARTI’S MUSINGS…Remembering a true Scrimshaw Sailor

Recently, I was most saddened to hear of the passing of long-time volunteer and friend of the Potomac, Bruce Waygood. Bruce was a one-of-a-kind personality with a heart as big as the Pacific. Ask Bruce to find something ship related on the waterfront, and the word “cum- shaw” comes readily to mind. He was truly one of the funniest, dearest, and most talented of the Potomac’s incredible volunteers. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.

Our own “Mr. President,” Dr. Kurt Lauridsen, sums it up: “Thank you for sharing this very sad news. I recall a section in Reader’s Digest when I was a kid called The Most Unforget- table Character I Have Ever Met. Surely Bruce would qualify for that section. He was certainly an outsized personality.”

“Very much a great sailor, he was equally talented with salty language. He could produce a great and grumbling facade that would scare anyone off, and yet, he was an extraordinarily humane man with a deep belief in the goodness of the ordinary person. I heard that salty talk more than once when he saw an injustice to the common man. He introduced me to the Jer- emiah O’Brien and Admiral Tom Patterson, and thus gave me many enjoyable trips aboard that ship. I once had the privilege of touring his warehouse on the docks. What an amazing collection of ‘things.’ I thought it best not to ask where it all came from. But I still have a ship’s wheel in my den thanks to that visit.”

“I will miss him.”

-3- waterfront. Wait- FROM THE ARCHIVES ing for him at the By Hank Laney, Curator Port was the USS Houston which FDR Visits Port of Oakland he would board to review the fleet. It Few people know about the Presi- was most impres- dent’s historic visit to the Bay Area on July 14, 1938, and his sive and had been boarding the cruiser USS Houston at Oakland for a review of gathering in the the US Battle Fleet in the San Francisco Bay. Bay for hours. All shipping traffic Navy Band playing as FDR arrives After arriving in Crockett by train, FDR joined a 25-car was halted and fer- cavalcade that traveled rapidly through Vallejo, San Rafael, ry routes changed. The ships, consisting of 8 battleships, 9 and on to San Fran- heavy cruisers, 35 destroyers, 5 light cruisers, 7 submarines, cisco. His only stop and 1 carrier with 5 auxiliary vessels, stretched in four rows at this point was from the Bay Bridge to Hunter’s Point. at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. As As the President boarded the USS Houston, more than 30 the President’s car ships boomed a simultaneous 21-gun salute. The cruiser crossed the Golden then left the dock Gate Bridge a huge for a two-hour re- “welcome” banner view. Individual hung from the south salutes were given tower. There was a as the Houston daylight fireworks passed among display and a 21- the rows of ships gun salute from the in review. An- FDR crosses Golden Gate Bridge into SF Presidio. other mass salute marked the Presi- Tens of thousands waited along the parade route down Van dent’s departure FDR arriving at gangway to USS Houston Ness Avenue, while another 50,000 cheered the President in from the Houston. his bunting-draped car when he arrived at the Civic Center. In all, 672 guns were fired for multiple salutes such as never The crowd’s enthusiasm was marked by banners, cheers and heard before in the Bay Area. yells, and all along the route FDR responded with his famous grin and a great deal of exuberant hat waving. Some 1,000 At 10 PM, the President left the cruiser and went by car to luncheon guests awaited his arrival on Treasure Island. Since the Oakland Mole where his train was waiting. He traveled his motorcade was running late, the Secret Service agents or- that night to Yosemite, touring the park the next day. Leav- dered that lunch not be served until the President was seated. ing Yosemite, the President traveled by train to San Diego At the luncheon, the President gave a broadcast speech that where the USS Houston was waiting to take him through the emphasized his hope for a permanent international peace, Panama Canal. and a reduction in world armament. “We stand to meet them,” he said, “and encourage them in any efforts they may I first learned about this visit when I came across- anun make toward a definite reduction in world armament.” As marked envelope in our archives containing a number of he appealed for world armament reduction, the President dated snapshots of his arrival at Oakland. Some notes on promised that the Mare Island Navy Yard would have a $20 the back of the photos indicated that they were of FDR’s million cruiser contract. At the same time, FDR pointed out arrival at the USS Houston. I had not heard of this before. that the US outlay for armaments was still far less than those Intrigued, I went to the library and printed microfiche copies of other powers. of the Bay Area newspapers for that day. The coverage was spectacular and told the whole story. Not only was the visit He then traveled to the Port of Oakland, where 2,000 Boy historic for the Port of Oakland, but how would the President Scouts lined the route along Maritime Street and the Oakland have known it would eventually be the home for his beloved USS Potomac. Neither we, nor any nation, will accept disarmament while neighbor nations arm to the teeth. Additional photos, http://www.usspotomac.org/contact/FDROaksPic.htm Franklin D. Roosevelt (Radio Address, October 26, 1938)

-4- National Day of Remembrance on the Bay

By Brad Bunnin

Just last month, Congress named the second Sunday in August a National Day of Remembrance for World War II. On V-J Day, August 14, 1945, the day World War II ended, I was six years old, certainly old enough to have a childish but pretty good idea of what the last four years meant to our country and the world.

Now, on V-J Day 2010, I’m… a lot older (you can do the math!), and I have a much better idea of what this day means. On this day, aboard the USS Potomac’s Remembrance Cruise, we were mindful of both victory and loss. On this day, we remembered those who came to be called the Greatest Generation.

Our beloved Potomac and its Navy crew served well before and during the war, whether to provide a place of respite for President Roosevelt, or as a means of transport (and subterfuge—a stand-in Se- cret Service agent donned the President’s clothes and dropped a fishing line over the fantail after the President left the Po- tomac for his crucial meeting with Winston Churchill). Upon our entry into the war, the Navy re-commissioned the Potomac as a sonar test ship as part of its coastal defense.

The ship honored many significant figures of the time on this Day of Remembrance with the presence of the late President Roosevelt, portrayed in his inimitable fashion with grin, boat cloak, and cigarette holder atilt by Kurt Lauridsen; President Harry S. Truman, who presided over the war’s conclusion at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, portrayed by Brad Bunnin; Edith Shain, America’s most famous nurse, caught in a sailor’s embrace in Times Square by Life photographer Alfred Eisenstadt, and portrayed in her Red Cross nurse’s uniform by Dr. Elaine Ashby; the kissing Navy man, never before positively identified, and enthusiastically represented by Larry Farrell; and, a Red Cross volunteer, one of thousands who eased the lives and lifted the morale of our soldiers, sailors, flyers, the Coast Guard, and merchant mariners, played by Gary Maxey.

Our historical cast wore authentic garb and displayed authentic feelings about the solemn yet joyous day the war came to its end. The Potomac’s 80 passengers joined in the celebra- tion, sharing stories and moments of silence as the ship sailed back into history. As usual, many of the ship’s guests responded to our his- torical characters as if they were the real thing.

Bill Hodges, whose narration while underway gave depth and purpose to the day, and whose Walter Winchell interview with the Presidents completed a remarkable day, deserves special thanks! Click Poster to link to photo story by Potomac EMT volunteer, Lee Ditlefsen

-5- FALL CRUISES & EVENTS History Cruises Special History Cruises

1st and 3rd Thursday October 23 ~ Three Bridges of the Bay 2nd and 4th Saturday November 4 ~ Characters of the Bay May thru October 10:30AM ~ 1:30PM includes lunch 10:30AM ~ 12:30PM $65.00 Adults, $60.00 Seniors $45.00 Adults, $40.00 Seniors Children under 12 are free $25.00 Under 12 November 11 ~ Veterans Day (2 Cruises) Groups of 20 or more: $35.00 each 10:30AM and 1:30PM

Dockside Tours Fall Music Series Blue Grass and Bach on Board Wednesday, Friday & Sunday Year Round ~ 11:00AM to 3:00PM October 7 ~ 49 Special $10.00 Adults, $8.00 Seniors October 21 ~ Kathy Kallik $27.50 per person, 7:30 to 9:30 PM

Go to Potomac Discount Offer For information or reservations go to www.usspotomac.org or call 510-627-1215

The Potomac Association 540 Water Street Board of Governors and Staff P.O. Box 2064 Oakland, CA 94604 Michael Roosevelt, Chairman Telephone: 510-627-1215 Carla Betts, President www.usspotomac.org Tom Morehouse, 1st Vice President The Potomac Currents is published Art Haskell, CFO by the Association for the Preservation Jean Gaskill, Secretary of the Presidential Yacht, Potomac, Inc. Editor: Virginia Rapp Walter Abernathy, Rick Anderson, Layout and Design: David McGraw Mary Bergan, Joe Brennan, David Connolly, Editorial Board: Marti Burchell, Ed Bloom, Curtis Davies,Virginia Furth, Rich Knowles, Les Marks, Hank Laney, Judy Goff-Roveda, Al Groh, Brad Bunnin and David McGraw Hal Marsh, James McCloud, Electronic Distribution: Karen Lyberger Trivia Question Denny McLeod, Ron Paredes, Jeff Sturm, Webmaster: Tom Howard Kirk Rowlands, Richard Zampa What was the name of FDR’s railroad car?

No part of this publication may be The Magellan The Marti Burchell, Executive Director reproduced without the written permission Craig Newton, Ship Keeper of the publisher.

-6- The USS Potomac AssociationFriends acknowledges of the the following Potomac individuals and organizations for their generous donations. SUSTAINING PATRON Kieretsu Forum Port of Oakland CORPORATE/PATRON Ken & Carla Betts Dale Hansen Emmy Werner Waterfront Plaza Hotel Joe Brennan & Jan Tiura Stanley Jacobsen & Denny & Ruth McLeod Y. H. Soda Foundation Jean & Barbara Gaskill COMMANDER IN CHIEF Walter Abernathy Dr Jacob Deegan Dale Hansen Matson Navigation Rick Anderson Willis Deming Arthur Haskell Judy Goff-Roveda CA Field Iron Workers Admin William & Marsha Dillon Tom Howard* Dan Strohl Trust Virginia Furth Kurt Lauridsen John Tuttle & Doug Drummond ADMIRAL Richard Zampa – District Council of Ironworkers ELEANOR Mary Bergan Tom & Carol Morehouse Beverly Voelker David Lee Woods & Don & Cathy DeCoss Kirk Rowlands Gilbert Williams & Anne Phyllis D Chambers James & Rebecca Eisen John & Clem Underhill Bonaparte CAPTAIN Pat & Barbi Carson Pete Geffen Rich Knowles & Merlyn Angeline Papestafan Ronald Casassa Albert Groth Uhlenberg Stuart & Vallyn Proffitt Art & Ardeth Dreshfeld Martine Habib Jack Lapidos Virginia Rapp Les & Elaine Dropkin Nancy Kickertz James McCloud Michael Roosevelt Olaf Elander Bill & Mollie Kinney David & Myrna McGraw Gordon Seligson Norman & Edna Eltringham Deborah Tharp FIRST MATE ABC Security Service Ted & Lynda Chenoweth Marvin Jensen Herbert Ploch Gail & Bruce Adair* Dave Connally Carol Johnston Art & Carrell Rankin Glenn Aitkens Fred Cunningham John & Donna Kaehms Virginia Rapp Carol Anderson Charles & Jacqueline Del Charley Kearns & Frank Ching Joseph & Bonnie Reid Ron & Judy Arrants Monte Lawrence Kellogg Jr Mitch Salzman Bruce Baur Al Dessayer Kenneth & Margo Kingsbury Jon & Fran Siler Gene Bell Lee Ditlefsen John Klip Jerry & Lovene Silsdorf Miriam Bloomberg Robert Eakin & Avis Hendley Neal & Nancy Lambly Elaine Stanley James Bolen Thomas Escher* Daniel Lamey Ruby Tilley Donald Bonney Arthur Fatum* Jack Lapidos Lee Velde John & Susan Bradley Dorothy & Julie Filice Lawrence & Emily Lohr Wanda Viviano Roland Brandel Vickie Gregg Patricia MacLean Beverly Voelker Brad Bunnin* Bonnie & Earl Hamlin John McCredie Cynthia Weiss Marti Burchell Mavourneen Harshman Thomas Murray John & Marilyn Welland Windy & Jerry Butler Leroy & Marlene Hintzman Jim O’Connor Mary Whitehead Vern & Alice Carrier Capt Walter Jaffee Ruth Ann Yager FALA Ramon Aguilar Susan LaMay Susan LaMay* Cathy O’Brien Sally Beck & David Brossard Georgia Edlund Sandra Lundgren William Peeters Richard Black Elizabeth Hannon Lucy John Herbert Ploch Ted Brown Heinold’s First & Last Chance Ronald Louis Brenda Price Carol Campbell Saloon Arthur Mark* Harold Rice* Steven Colman Howard Herman Robert Matz Maurice Robichaud Angelique & Yann Michael Hogan Brian McDonald Kathy Szumiloski Cucaro-Renault Esther Jennings William Memmer Robert Woodruff Gus Dorough Colleen Kelly-Prola Dawn Muller STUDENT/TEACHER Tom Bernitt James Flander Mike Gregory ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDUCATIONAL FUND Dave Connolly Al Groh Richard Zampa Since January 2010, union organizations throughout the San Fransisco Bay Area have contributed more than $8,000 specifically to support the Educational Cruises. See full list. *Contributor to the Potomac IPO – Ship Shares Program Note: Questions or comments about the above listing may be referred to Gordon Seligson, email: [email protected] or write to the Friends of the Potomac, P.O. Box 2064, Oakland, CA 94604.

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