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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 72- 30,092 GEORGE, Elsie L., 1921- THE WOMEN APPOINTEES OF THE ROOSEVELT AND TRUMAN ADMINISTRATIONS: A STUDY OF THEIR IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS.

The American University, Ph.D., 1972 History, modern

University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan

© Copyright by

Elsie L. George

1972

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE WOMEN APPOINTEES OF THE ROOSEVELT AND TRUMAN ADMINISTRATIONS A STUDY OF THEIR IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS

by

Elsie L. George

Submitted to the

Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences

of The American University

in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree

of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

History

Dean of the CollegeO

Date: M rM^> ^

1972 THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY The American University Washington, D. C. JUL 20 1972

WS(,

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Some pages may have

indistinct print.

Filmed as received.

University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Doubleday & Company,

Inc., for permission to quote from Memoirs by Harry S. Truman,

cpoyright 1955.

Appreciative acknowledgement is made to the staffs at the

Franklin D. Roosevelt ana Schlesinger Libraries and the National

Archives for their invaluable and pleasant assistance.

Thankful acknowledgement is due all the individuals who

shared their knowledge of the women appointees with me and to

the members of my dissertation committee: Thomas V. Di Bacco,

Chairman, Barbette Blackington, and Robert L. Beisner.

It would not have been possible without the cooperation

of Otto and the rest of my family.

ii

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Chapter I. FROM WOMAN'S RIGHTS TO WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT...... 8

From Woman's Rights to Woman’s Suffrage * . . . . 8 Women in Politics and Government after Suffrage . 15

II. WOMEN IN THE NEW AND FAIR DE A L S ...... 33

The E r a s ...... 33 The Attitudes of the Roosevelt and Truman Administrations Toward Women in Government .... 40 The Appointments: What, How Many, and Why .... 69 Quality of Support Given Appointees by Administration Leadership ...... 86 Attitudes of Administrations Toward Holdover Appointees ...... 90 Appointment of Qualified Women Withheld or Avoided ...... 92

III. MOLLY DEWSON ...... 98

Her Background ...... 99 Her Attitude toward the Position ...... 107 Her P erformance...... 110 Her Impact...... 131

IV. ELLEN SULLIVAN WO O D W A R D ...... 135

Her Background ...... 136 Her View of the Position ...... 138 Her Performance ...... 146 Her Impact ...... 180

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V. HILDA WORTHINGTON S M I T H ...... 185

Her Background ...... 186 Her View of the Position ...... 190 Her Performance ...... 192 Her Impact ...... 219

VI. MARION GLASS B A N I S T E R ...... 224

Her Background ...... 226 Her View of the Position ...... 234 Her Performance ...... 239 Her Impact ...... 248

VII. FRIEDA BARKIN H E N N O C K ...... 251

Her Background ...... 252 Her View of the Position 257 Her Performance ...... 262 Her Impact ...... 286

VIII. THE WOMEN APPOINTEES— THEIR SIGNIFICANCE...... 292

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 301

iv

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Table Page I. Women in State Legislatures, 1920-1953 ...... 96

II. Participation of Women in National Political Conventions, 1920-1948 ...... 96

III, Women on Major National Convention Committees . . . 97

v

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION

August 25, 1970 was the fiftieth anniversary of the

passage of the 19th amendment, extending the franchise to women.

Special television programs, newspaper stories, and parades and

demonstrations marked the day. The celebrations embodied awareness

that the vote had failed to bring equality to women. In 1970, the

women's liberation movement continued and expanded protests and

goals voiced by women over a century earlier. Women's liberation,

like the woman's rights movement, seeks not only political equality

but economic and social equality as well, for in none of these

areas do women leaders today feel that they have achieved their

goals.^ This feeling prevails despite the high expectations of

many advocates of the 19th amendment who had anticipated that

woman suffrage would lead to more equality for women in a variety

of ways, including the greater participation of women in the

political process, an involvement which could be used to bring

not only economic and social equality but a qualitative improvement

in government generally.

T h e singular form of woman was customarily used in the United States, thus woman's rights and woman's suffrage, although the plural form was used in England. Women today use the plural form, thus women's liberation. The possessive form is not consis­ tently used.

1

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These expectations have not been realized. Women con­

stituted 53 per cent of the electorate in 1970, yet only one

United States Senator and eleven Representatives were women, no

state governors were women, no Cabinet members were women, and

the number of secondary positions filled by women had not in- 2 creased substantially since the days of the New Deal. President

Richard M. Nixon, following the precedent of his predecessors,

was looking for qualified women to appoint to high federal office.

"Let us all recognize that women surely have a still wider role

to play in the political, economic, and social life of our country,"

read the President’s Proclamation noting the anniversary.^ During

the half century between woman suffrage and women’s liberation,

the number of women elected to political office has remained small;

female participation in political parties has increased in number

and visibility, but not in decisive influence; although women have

constituted a majority of the total civilian government work force,

they have attained influential positions only in minute proportion 4 to their numbers. Few women have achieved high office— two have

been appointed to the Cabinet, and a few hundred have reached in­

fluential status in sub-Cabinet rank and in the lesser echelons of

^New York Times, August 24, 1971, p. 44.

^Ibid., August 26, 1970, p. 1.

^Martin Grub erg, Women in American Politics: An Assessment and Sourcebook (Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Academia Press, 1968), p. 38. (Hereinafter referred to as Women in American Politics).

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. government administration during that half century.^

What did these women accomplish? How effective were they?

What contributions did they make? Did specific individual women

advance the status of women generally in the body politic? These

questions have gone unanswered because few studies of the work of

women appointed to high government positions have been made. It

has been impossible to make either an accurate assessment of their

effectiveness as government officials or of their impact on

administration programs and influence on the country at large.

The work of a small group of women appointed to influential

government positions during this limited but significant era

provides some evidence on which a more realistic appraisal of

women as government officials may be made.

The years of the Franklin D. Roosevelt-Harry S. Truman

administrations provide a significant era during which conditions

offered wider opportunity and more encouragement for women to

participate in government. The New Deal snbodied much experimen­

tation and innovation in meeting the depression-engendered need

for change. The two decades from 1933 to 1952 encompassed de­

pression, war, and peace, which make this an era characterized by

unprecedented demands on government, demands which called for full

and creative participation by all citizens. Many observers

thought that these years opened a new era for women, not only

5Ibid.. p. 151.

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because of the nature of the times, but because the voters elected

Franklin 3. Roosevelt, a man favorably conditioned to accept

active political involvement by women because of the leadership

role taken by Mrs. Roosevelt.^ Mrs. Roosevelt had taken an

active interest in public affairs, illuminating for all the

potential influence which women might have in shaping a new

America. She played an active role throughout the period under

study; she was also responsible for encouraging other women to

take a more active political role, acting as sponsor of many

women's activities and conferences; and she frequently provided

aid, assistance, and a means of communication for women appointees

in government.^

More women were appointed to government positions by the

Roosevelt administration than during any previous administration,

thus providing an adequate and significant group whose work might g be studied in depth. At the beginning of the Roosevelt years,

women had exercised the franchise for thirteen years; those women

6Ibid., pp. 18-19.

^Tamara K. Ear even, Eleanor Roosevelt, An American Conscience (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1968), pp. 57-90; Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers, with a Foreword by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. and an Introduction by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971), pp. 387-389, 436-443.

^Republican Party National Committee Women's Division 1956- 1960, Women in the Public Service: A Series of Surveys on Women in Public Office (Washington: Republican National Committee, 1957), unnumbered page, "Women in the Federal Government."

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5

of an age and experience to qualify for Presidential appointments

had been spectators of, if not participants in, the suffrage struggle.

Their attitudes toward women in government would have reflected the

influence of that struggle; their accomplishments, likewise, might

have been shaped by that struggle and its aftermath. If the work

of Roosevelt appointees had been successful, it might be assumed

that the succeeding Truman administration, dedicated as it was to

a continuation and expansion of New Deal reforms, would continue

and expand the appointment of women to government positions.

This study briefly reviews the woman1s rights crusade up to the

passage of the 19th amendment and its aftermath during the years

1920 to 1933; the attitudes of the incoming Roosevelt administration

toward women in government; and those attitudes as they evolved

during the later Roosevelt and subsequent Truman administrations.

The major problem of research involved in this paper is a detailed

examination of the work of specific women appointees for evidence

regarding their contributions to the Roosevelt and Truman adminis­

trations' policies and programs within the broad context of the

changing role of women in a changing American society. This research

and analysis may provide answers for these supporting problems: To

what extent did the attitudes and policies of the two administrations

toward women officials in government service expand the role of

women in the political process? What did the women accomplish in

terms of their qualifications, types of positions held, and their

own abilities to shape and influence policies? What was the impact

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and effectiveness of the wcsBen appointees on administration programs

and on the role of women in government and larger society?

All of the women appointed through the office of the

President during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were con­

sidered for in-depth study, but the research concentrated on women

in positions of secondary importance dealing with domestic affairs.

The most significant appointment of a woman by President Roosevelt

was that of Miss Frances Perkins to be Secretary of Labor, making

her the first female Cabinet member. She served throughout his ad­

ministration, gaining both respect and criticism as is the usual

fate of Cabinet officers. Her position was unique and placed her

on a level of more importance than that of other appointees, with 9 the possible exception of ambassadorial appointees. The selection

of women to be studied was based upon the following factors: avail­

ability of resource materials; comparability of evidence for analy­

sis of impact and effectiveness; and presentation of varied appoint­

ments within a manageable framework. The particular women selected

for intensive study occupied a variety of positions.

The basic research materials for this study are the personal

papers of the women studied in depth, together with the official de­

partmental records during their tenures in office. Records of con­

temporaries and interviews with friends and relatives have also been

9 Miss Perkins' work will undoubtedly be the subject of biographical studies when her papers are opened to researchers in 1975.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7

used. Interpretative studies being generated as a result of the cur­

rent interest in women's liberation have been consulted to provide

insight into the attitudes of women and their changing role during

these years. Political party policies and platforms have been con­

sidered because of their influence on the numbers of women appointed

and the types of positions to which they were appointed. The women

worked largely in crisis times, and the prevailing conditions fre­

quently require amplification from official sources and secondary

works dealing with the years from the New Deal through the Fair Deal.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I

FROM WOMAN'S RIGHTS TO WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT

From Woman* s Rights to Woman's Suffrage

Officially, the woman's rights movement in the United

States started at the first Woman's Rights Convention held

July 19 and 20, 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York.^ Basing their

demand for suffrage on woman's inalienable natural rights to

political liberty, the women leaders asserted that women were

the same as men and therefore had the right to vote; if women

did not have the ballot, they insisted, there was no democracy.

The gathering at Seneca Falls was an outgrowth of the anti-slavery

movement in which women had already long been active. The

affiliation between the anti-slavery and woman's rights causes

illustrates the diversity of interest characteristic of the

woman's rights movement from its origin. Inladdition to anti­

slavery, most of the women were interested in other aspects of

Eleanor Flexner, Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights • Movement in the United States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), p. 77; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Ida Husted Harper, eds., History of Woman Suffrage ($ vols.; Rochester and New York: Fowler and Wells, 1881-1922), I, 67-75. (Hereinafter referred to as HWS.) The latter work is a basic resource for the woman's rights movement.

8

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the search for equality and in other social reforms. Lucy Stone,

one of the early feminists and anti-slavery workers, was "dismayed

at indications there might soon be a number of woman's rights 2 groups with differing programs and aims." Most of the women were

necessarily concerned with such sexual, family, and social problems

as marriage and submission to husbands, prostitution, pregnancy,

and the role of mothers. Also of concern were such issues as the

control of property and earnings, guardianship, divorce, lack of

legal rights, opportunities for education and employment, and dress

reform.^

Further diversity in the woman's movement was provided by

other causes which became affiliated with woman suffrage. The

temperance movement was the first interest of Susan B. Anthony,

who became one of the greatest leaders of the suffrage struggle

after meeting Mrs. Stanton in 1851. These two women developed

a lifelong friendship and both thereafter championed temperance

as well as woman's rights and woman suffrage.'* Women, including

Page Smith, Daughters of the Premised Land: Women in American History (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1970), p. 114, citing a letter from Lucy Stone to Nette Brown, April 14, 1851, in the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. 3 Flexner, Century of Struggle, pp. 81-82. A Katherine Susan Anthonyi Susan B. Anthony: Her Personal History and Her Era (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1954), p. 101.

■*Alma Lutz, Susan B. Anthony, Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian (Boston: Beacon Press, 1959), p. 26.

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Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony, attended conventions of the National

Labor Union during the years 1866-1872, emphasizing the mutual

interests of the woman suffrage and labor reform movement.^ The

pursuit of expanded female educational opportunities was a part

of the woman's rights movement although there was often little

harmony between the advocates of more education for women and of

woman suffrage. Some early advocates of education for women con­

sidered education, rather than the ballot, the basis on which full

equality for women would be attained.^

This wide diversity of interests within the- loosely

structured woman's rights movement bred dissention which came to

a head soon after the Civil War and resulted in a division among

the leaders and within the movement. Because the 14th amendment

used the word "male" for the first time in the Constitution, it

aroused the indignation and opposition of Mrs. Stanton and Miss

Anthony, who felt that the cause of women would be set back a

century if the amendment passed. They also resented the enfranchise­

ment of foreign male immigrants and even Negroes before that of

native born women.^ They and their followers campaigned against

its adoption, whereas other women, led by Lucy Stone, although

^Milton M. Plumb, "Records of the National Women's Trade Union League of America," Library of Congress Quarterly Journal. VII (August, 1951), 9.

^Robert E. Riegel, American Feminists (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1963), p. 115.

^Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 144; HWS, II, 508-510.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. hoping that the wording might ba charged, nevertheless did not want 9 to do anything which would endanger its passage. Women were also

divided over the 15th amendment. While this amendment prohibited

the denial of the vote "by reason of race, color or previous con­

dition of servitude," it did not include "sex," an omission which

dismayed many women, but apparently not Julia Ward Howe. During

the course of the debate on this amendment, Frederick Douglass

quoted her as saying, "I am willing that the Negro shall get the

ballot before me."1^

Two separate suffrage groups had emerged by 1869. These

were the National Woman Suffrage Association, open to women only

and led by Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony, and the American Woman

Suffrage Association, made-up of representatives from "recognized"

suffrage groups, and led by Henry Ward Beecher, Mrs. Stone, and her

husband, Henry Blackwell. The American group founded The Woman's

Journal. avoided issues which aroused antagonism in the community,

and concentrated on winning the franchise at the state level.

The National group worked for suffrage on a national basis as only

one of many causes to expand woman’s rights and achieve equality.11

The division between states' rights advocates and federalists was

only one of many divisions which have persisted up to the present

9 Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 145.

^Lutz, Susan B. Anthony, p. 162.

11Flexner. Century of Struggle, pp. 152, 216-217; HWS, II, 400, 756.

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day in the woman's rights movement. In 1890 these two suffrage

associations merged to form the National American woman Suffrage

Association, usually referred to as NAWSA. This merger led to the

virtual abandonment of the methods used by Mrs. Stanton and Miss

Anthony, and the federal woman suffrage amendment for which they

had worked vanished as a political issue until 1913.^

Between 1870 and 1910 there were 480 campaigns.- in 33

states to have the issue of woman suffrage submitted to the voters;

only 17 were successful and resulted in actual referendum votes

and of these only two resulted in votes for women, Colorado in

1893 and Idaho in 1896.^ Wyoming had provided woman suffrage

when admitted to statehood in 1890. Successful referendums in

Washington in 1910, California in 1911, Oregon, Arizona, and

Kansas in 1912, and Nevada and Montana in 1914 resulted in woman 14 suffrage in those states. Leadership of the Suffrage Association

during those years was in the hands of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt

and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw; Dr. Shaw was not a dynamic leader and

Mrs. Catt was a moderate, middle-of-the-road person.^ Even

thought the Progressive Party adopted a woman suffrage plank for

^Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 217; HWS, II, 164.

*^Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 222. 14 Alan Pendleton Grimes, The Puritan Ethic and Woman Suffrage (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 13.

^Riegel, American Feminists, p. 180.

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its platform in 1912, interest in a federal amendment appeared to be

at an all-time low, judging by action in Congress, where it had

neither received a favorable committee report since 1893 nor even

been debated since 1887.^ The woman suffrage movement, organiza­

tionally united, was making little political headway.

New dynamic leadership revived and energized the drive for

a federal suffrage amendment, overcame the opposition to it, and

again divided the woman suffrage movement organizationally at the

same time that it forced the states' righters to join in the suc­

cessful campaign for federal a c t i o n . M i s s Alice Paul and Miss

Lucy Bums, fresh from working with militant British women, arrived

in Washington early in 1913. They assumed the leadership of the

Congressional Committee of NAWSA, proceeded to tap the latent in­

terest in a federal amendment, and developed a brisk and militant

campaign to achieve one.^ Miss Paul was an intelligent, energetic, 19 persuasive, and aggressive leader. When NAWSA attempted to oust

her, she and her followers increased the tempo of their activities

in the Congressional Union, a new organization which became the

^ F l e m e r , Century of Struggle, p. 262.

17HWS, V, 485-490.

^Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 263.

19 Riegel, American Feminists, p. 181.

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20 National Woman's Party in 1916. Under the leadership of Dr. Shaw,

NAWSA had worked to win state referendums being held in 1915 in

four important states— New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvanis, and 21 New Jersey; loss in all four states demoralized the association.

Mrs. Catt assumed the presidency and directed her efforts toward

developing more effective organization, winning President Wilson's

support for a federal suffrage amendment, and mobilizing both state

and national pressure to secure passage and ratification of the 22 23 woman suffrage amendment. Mrs. Catt opposed militant tactics.

Both groups worked independently for victory during the time

preceding the passage of the 19 th amendment by Congress on June 4,

1919, and the succeeding fourteen months of the ratification

fight in the states. When victory was finally achieved, August 26,

1920, both groups claimed credit for it, although it was NAWSA and 24 Mrs. Catt which received most of the public kudos. In victory,

as in defeat, and in the seventy-seven year struggle, the women

were divided.

Inez Hayes Irwin, Up Hill With Banners Flying (Penobscott, Maine: Traversity Press, 1964), pp. 31-32; first edition published as The Story of the Woman's Party, 1921.

2^Flexner, Century of Struggle, p. 270.

22Ibid., pp. 277-278. 23 Riegel, American Feminists, p. 178.

24William L. O'Neill, Everyone Was Brave: The Rise and Fall of Feminism in America (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1965), p. 129; New York Times, August 27, 1920, p. 1.

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Women in Politics and Government after Suffrage

Although the suffrage movement fully articulated expectations

of social, economic, and political reform following the adoption of

the 19th amendment, it gave relatively little emphasis to public

employment and office holding for women themselves— the specific

roles which women would need to assume in order to make their expec­

tations a reality— despite the fact that before enfranchisement

women had had experience in the ways of government. A study of the

involvement of women in various aspects of local government and 25 communities was published in 1916. Women had testified before

Congressional Committees and engaged in lobbying activities for

fifty years, "an unrivalled school of political e d u c a t i o n . T h e y

had taken part in national political conventions as delegates or

alternates— 109 Democratic and 37 Republican women had been delegates,

220 Democratic and 145 Republican women had been alternates prior to 27 enfranchisement. Women had been appointed to executive, judicial,

and administrative positions in government: a woman, Julia Lathrop,

was appointed to head the newly created Children's Bureau in the

Department of Labor in 1912, becoming the first woman to head a

25 Mary R. Beard, Women's Work in the Municipalities (New York: D. Appleton and company, 1916). 26 Sophonisba P. Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century: A Study of Their Political. Social, and Economic Activities (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1933), pp. 258-270.

27Ibid., pp. 277-278.

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major bureau in the federal government; the Women in Industry

Service, set up as a temporary agency during World War I, became the

Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor in 1920, and the respective

directors, Mary Van Kleeck and Mary Anderson, rank as early women

government executives; women had also served on commissions. Mrs.

J. Borden Karriman was appointed by President Wilson in 1913 to be

a member of the United States Industrial Commission, and in 1917,

Mrs. Frances Axtell was appointed to the United States Employees'

Compensation Commission. Mabel Boardman was appointed commissioner

of the District of Columbia in 1920, and Mrs. Helen Gardener was

appointed to the Civil Service Commission that same year. In 1918,

Kathryn Sellers became judge of the District of Columbia Juvenile

Court. Appointed in 1918, Annette Abbot Adams was the first woman

United States attorney and was promoted two years later to assistant

attorney general. Mrs. Estelle V. Collier became a collector of

customs, and Mrs. Clara Sears Taylor was appointed to membership on

the Temporary Rent Commission of the District of Columbia in 1920.^

Competitive examinations for federal jobs were opened to women in

November, 1919, but despite their increasing employment, women still 29 advanced slowly and there were few in the higher grades of service.

One woman had served in Congress before the adoption of the 19th

amendment— Miss Jeanette Rankin of Montana was seated in the House

^ I b i d ., p. 306; Gruberg, Women in American Politics, pp. 117-118. 29 Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, p. 305.

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of Representatives in time to vote against the declaration of war 30 against Germany.

With this background of experience in the American political

system, the suffragists might have been making plans to elect a

woman President, numerous women Senators and Representatives,

governors, and to secure Cabinet appointments and other high offices.

That, for the most part they did not may have been due to their

reluctance to alarm men before they had voted in favor of woman

suffrage. It may have been that the women tended to view their role

as a generalized one of reform and uplift for the whole society.^

Perhaps women simply left unarticulated the assumption that the vote

would expand the already established pattern of office holding, and

that this expansion would follow inevitably. The women may have been

negligent or lacking in foresight. Whatever the reason, they failed

to make a realistic appraisal of their political situation and of

their changes for elective and appointive offices and to work out

objectives and a program for attaining political power and influence

after the franchise was won.

Prior to the actual adoption of the 19th amendment, specifi­

cally during the summer preceding the Presidential election of 1920,

all parties jumped officially on the woman suffrage bandwagon, urging

^Robert E. Riegel, American Women: A Story of Social Change (Rutherford, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970), p. 310.

^O'Neill, Everyone Was Brave, p. 351.

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32 ratification of the pending amendment. Some of the political

parties went beyond mere advocacy. The Farmer Labor platform,

for example, called for "full, unrestricted political rights for all

citizens, regardless of sex, race, color or creed, and for civil 33 service employees." The Republican Party welcomed women "into full

participation in the affairs of government and the activities of the

Republican Party," and called for permanent establishment of the

Women's Bureau, equal pay for equal service throughout the federal

government, and protective legislation limiting the hours of women 34 workers in industry. It was not until 1924 that the Democrats in

their platform welcomed the women "to their rightful place by the

side of men in the control of the government whose burdens they have

always shared," and congratulated them upon the "essential part

which they have taken in the progress of our country, and the zeal

with which they are using their political power to aid the enactment

of beneficient laws and the exaction of fidelity in the public

service."33 At that memorable Democratic convention— fourteen days

32 Kirk H. Porter and Donald Bruce Johnson, compilers, National Party Platforms 1840-1964 (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1966), pp. 213-242.

33Ibid., p. 224. 34Ibid., p. 237. 35 Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, Held in Madison Square Garden; New • York City, June 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, July 1, 2. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 1924: Resulting in the Nomination of John W. Davis of West Virginia for President and Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska for Vice President (Indianapolis: Democratic National Committee, 1924), p. 240.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of sessions in New York during a heat wave, 103 ballots before a

Presidential candidate was chosen from among ten nominees, floor

fights over the League of Nations and Ku Klux Klan platform planks—

a woman, Mrs. Leroy Springs of South Carolina, was among those suggested

for Vice President, and Miss May Kennedy of New York addressed the

convention.3^ In that same year, the Prohibition Party officially

approved and urged the adoption of the progxrm of the National 37 League of Women Voters for public welfare in government. The

Republican Party reiterated its previous welcome to women and

called them "co-partners" in the 1924 platform.33

Both major parties found it prudent to adopt planks specifi­

cally concerned with women in 1928, a year in which women were regis­

tering to vote in great numbers and men realized that women consti- 39 tuted a potential 49 per cent of the electorate. The Democratic

platform that year declared "for equality of women with men in all

political and governmental matters. . . . for equal wage for equal

service," for adequate appropriations for the Women's Bureau, and

36Ibid., pp. 118, 980-1002.

3^Porter and Johnson, National Psrty Platforms, p. 257. 38 Republican Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention. Held in Cleveland. Ohio. June 10. 11. 12. 1924? Resulting in the Nomination of Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts for President and Charles G. Dawes of Illinois for Vice President (New York: The Tenny Press, 1924), p. 114. 39 E. F. Barnard, "Madame Arrives in Politics," North American Review. CCXXVI (November, 1928), 554-555.

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for conditions of work which would preserve women’s health and 40 safety. The Republican Party platform proclaimed:

The Republican Party, . . . accepts wholeheartedly equality on the part of women, and in the public service it can present a record of appointments of women in the legal, diplomatic, judicial, treasury and other governmental departments. We earnestly urge on the women that they participate even more generally than now in party management and activity.^

The Republicans had set up a women's division in November,

1919, and Will H. Hayes, at that time chairman of the Republican

National Committee, had recognized the right of women to participate

as party members, "their activity is not supplementary, ancillary,

nor j^sicfj seopndary . . . they are not to be separated, nor j~sicj 42 segregated at all, but assimilated and amalgamated." Mrs. Ruth 43 Hanna McCormick, daughter of Marcus Hanna, organized this division.

In the Democratic Party, a Women's Bureau had been organized under

Mrs. George Bass in 1916, disbanded in 1921, and a Women*s Division

40 Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, Held at Houston, Texas, June 26, 27, 28, 29, 1928: Resulting in the Nomination of Alfred E. Smith of New York for President and Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas for Vice Presi­ dent (Indianapolis: Democratic National Committee, 1929), p. 196.

4^Porter and Johnson, National Party Platforms, p. 290.

^Republican Party, Women's Division, The History of Women in Republican National Conventions and Women in the Republican National Committee;, researched and compiled by Josephine L. Good (Washington: Republican National Committee, 1963), p. 6.

43Ibid.. pp. 9-10.

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44 under Mrs. Emily Newell Blair was formed in 1922. Both parties

adopted the fifty-fifty plan, which provided for equal representa­

tion of men and women on the national, state, and county committees, 45 the Democrats in 1920, the Republicans in 1924. In actual practice,

this resulted in increasing the number of members on these committees,

but the plan was not fully implemented in either party in the 1920's, 46 for sane state committees ignored it. Sometimes the men promoted

amenable women to increase their own voting strength on the commit- 47 tees. "The cammitteewoman is often a mere shadow of the committee­

man, but she is a woman. The door has opened a little," commented 48 one former suffragist.

Women entering politics in the early years after their

enfranchisement had diverse backgrounds and experience. Predictably,

suffrage leaders were among the first women to enter the political

arena. Mrs. McCormick, Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton of Ohio, Miss Mary

Garrett Hay and Mrs. Arthur L. Livermore of New York, and Mrs. Lenna

Lowe Yost of West Virginia, all active suffragists, were early

44 Proceedings Democratic National Convention 1924, pp. 1086- 1098; The Democratic Digest. XVII (February. 1940), 17 (Hereinafter abbreviated DP). 45 Emily Newell Blair, "Women in the Political Parties," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. CXLIII (May, 1929), 218.

46Ibid.. 219-221. 47Ibid. 48 Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, p. 288.

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49 members of the Republican National Committee. On the Democratic

National Committee, Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs of Alabama, Mrs.

Bernice Pyke of Ohio, Mrs. Izetta Jewel Brown of West Virginia, Miss

May Kennedy of New York, Miss Sue Shelton White of Tennessee, and 50 Mrs. Emm* Guffey Miller of Pennsylvania had all been suffragists.

Some women who had business experience became active in

political parties. Republican women in this category were Mrs.

Alvin T. Hert, head of the American Creosoting Company, Mrs. Bertha

Bauer, vice president of the Liquid Carbonic Company and the Federal

Brass Works, and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Sharpe, founder of the Mary

Elizabeth Candy S h o p s . D e m o c r a t i c women with business experience

were iirs. Pyke, for many years the leader of women Democrats in

Ohio, who was the proprietor of a Cleveland book shop, and Miss 52 Elizabeth Marbury, a New York play broker.

Other women became politically active as a result of their

husbands’ involvement. Mrs. Hert’s husband had been involved in the

Hughes and Harding campaigns of 1916 and 1920. Such women under­

stood the political game and were trusted by party leaders.'*'' Dur­

ing the 1920’s some of these women politicians developed a con-

49 Republican Party, History of Women in Republican Conventions. pp. 5-6.

^Proceedings Democratic Conventions 1924. 1928.

^^Barnard, "Madame Arrives in Politics," 555-556.

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siderable feminine following through their women1 s clubs and other 54 organizational activities. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt was widely

known and admired through her work with the League of Women Voters,

the Consumers League, and labor groups, and as Eastern Director of

Women's Activities of the Democratic National Committee.^ Mrs.

Ellis A. Yost, who served on the Republican National Committee, was 56 also a bulwark of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Mrs.

Elizabeth Clark, Republican leader in Ohio, was a war mother and

state president of the American Legion Auxiliary.^7

The participation of women in the inner circles of the

political parties was not as great as official statements of

policy promised. Ken became accustomed to working with and accept­

ing women, although women were resented, ignored, and outmaneuvered, 58 on occasion. Women ran for a variety of offices, and were often

defeated, especially when they ran for top offices. In their defeats,

however, they served to break down the prejudice against women can­

didates and to accustom voters to the idea of women candidates.

Defeat was a major obstacle to women's further participation, for

54Ibid., 555.

*^Mary Dewson to Isador Lubin, April 16, 1957, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College; Proceedings Democratic Conven­ tion 1928, picture of Mrs. Roosevelt between pages 136 and 137.

"^Barnard, "Madame Arrives in Politics," 555.

57Ibid.

"^Blair, "Women in Political Parties" 220, 227-228.

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both parties wanted to win, and because the parties thought women

candidates were unlikely to win, they would not nominate many women.

Considering the nature of the American political system, it

is not surprising that women made the greatest gains on the state

and local level during the 1920's and early 1930's, for that is

where aspiring politicians start. Two women won governorships

during this period, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross in Wyoming and Mrs.

Miriam A. ("Ma") Ferguson in Texas. A woman was elected mayor of

Seattle and Ruth Pratt was elected alderman in New York City.^

Judge Florence Allen, running as an independent, was twice elected

to the Supreme Court of Ohio.^~ Women gained steadily in winning

election to state legislatures, as can be seen from Table 1 (page 96).

There were twenty-nine women serving in state legislatures in 1920.

membership peaked at 149 in 1929, dropping back to 132 in 1933 when

depression conditions pressured women to abdicate in favor of men.

During these years women were gaining political experience and

establishing the groundwork for the extensive women's program of 62 the Democratic Party during the early New Deal years.

Women were more frequently chosen by their state political

~^Ibid. ^Barnard, "Madame Arrives in Politics," 552.

^^Blair, "Women in Political Parties," 229.

^ A n n e Firor Scott, "After Suffrage: Southern Women in the Twenties," Journal of Southern History. XXX (August, 1964), 313-314.

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party committees to be delegates and alternates to the national con­

ventions, where they gradually won positions oh key committees, as

shown in Tables II and III (pages 96 and 97). Despite their still

small numbers, women in both- parties had made “definite gains in

prestige" by the 1928 conventions.63 At the Republican Convention in

Kansas City, Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, Assistant Attorney General

of the United States, served as chairman of the important Credentials

Committee, and both she and Mrs. Hert, who was vice chairman of the

Republican National Committee from 1924 to 1928, were active workers 64 for the nomination of Herbert Hoover. At the Democratic Convention

in Houston, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross made one of the seconding speeches

for Governor Al Smith, and was herself one of the candidates nominated

for Vice President, receiving thirty-one votes scattered among eleven

states on the first ballot.63

By 1928, party leaders found it expedient to pay tribute to

women. Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas, nominated by the Republi­

cans for the Vice Presidency, half-Indian and therefore a partial

member of a minority group himself, devoted considerable attention

to women in his acceptance speech, noting and emphasizing that the

6~*Proceedings Democratic Convention 1928. pp. 104-107; 236, 249-250.

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Republican Party:

. . . has procured the appointment of women to responsible execu­ tive positions in the various departments of government through­ out the country; it has caused the appointment of women judges and women diplomats; and it has procured the election of women legislators. This was done because women have borne their full share of responsibility in government, with great credit, and have demonstrated their ability in its management.66

Dr. Hubert Work, elected chairman of the Republican National Committee

in 1928, recognized some political realities when he said, 'Women have

become a very potent influence in politics. . . . They will certainly 67 cast as many votes this fall as the men.” Governor Smith, the Demo­

cratic candidate, came out for equality in his acceptance speech,

"I believe in that true equality of women that opens to them without

restriction all avenues of opportunity for which they can qualify in

business, in government service, and in politics.The 1932 conven­

tions found both parties and their women participants more concerned

with the economic situation than with women, although Vice President

Curtis continued to be interested in feminism: "No evolution in

human history is more important than the expansion of the powers and

privileges of modern women;" he said in accepting renomination.^

These official policies, pronouncements, and rhetoric would

^Republican Party, History of Women at Republican Conventions, p. 19.

67Ibid.T. . .

^Proceedings Democratic National Convention 1928, p. 285. 69 Republican Party, History of Women at Republican Conventions, pp. 20-21.

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indicate that women would receive more patronage. But the rewards

were largely rhetorical, for they were not given major or secondary

positions for which they were qualified. During the Republican

administrations of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, women were appointed

to the following positions:

Assistant Attorney General: Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, California. She served from 1921 to 1928. Director, Children's Bureau, Department of Labor: Miss Grace Abbot, Nebraska. She served from 1921 to 1934. Director, Home Economics Bureau, Department of Agriculture: Miss Louise Stanley, Missouri. She served from 1923 until the 1940's. Member, Civil Service Commission: Miss Jessie Dell, Georgia, 1925-1932. Judge, United States Customs Court: Miss Genevieve R. Cline, New York, 1928. Reappointed by Roosevelt. Member, Board of Tax Appeals: Miss Annabel Matthews, Georgia, 1928. Reappointed by Roosevelt. Assistant Commissioner, United States Office of Education: Miss Bess Goodykoontz, Iowa, 1929. Reappointed by Roosevelt. Assistant Director of the Mint: Miss Mary M. O'Reilly, Louisiana, 1921. Reappointed by Roosevelt. Assistant to the Public Printer: Mrs. Mary A. Tate, Tennessee.

The list does not include some appointments in the Department of

State during these administrations.^ Surveying the list of women

holding federal positions in 1932, Sophonisba Breckinridge observed:

. . . fifteen women held significant federal offices by appoint­ ment of the President, five of which were held by women in 1920. . . . There has been no woman appointed to succeed Miss Boardman as Commissioner in the District of Columbia. No woman is assis­ tant attorney general now, nor is there a woman collector of in- ^ ternal revenue. There have obviously been losses as well as gains.

Republican Party, Women's Division, Women in the Public Service (Washington: Republican National Committee, 1957), uimum- bered pages.

^Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, p. 310.

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The results of national elections were discouraging to those

who had expected so much as a result of woman suffrage. Between

1920 and 1933, thirteen women were elected to the House of Represen­

tatives and two women were appointed to the United States Senate to 72 fill out unexpired terms, one of whom served two days.

After a decade of suffrage women had made only limited pro­

gress in achieving political equality. Why woman suffrage produced

disappointing results is related to the expectations of what suffrage

would accomplish. For those who believed that woman suffrage was

mandatory to the theory and practice of democracy, the ratification

of the 19th amendment was the objective, and the movement having

gained its goal naturally disbanded. Suffragists, however, sought

multiple objectives— many hoped to use their votes to achieve a

broad range of change and reform, from renewing society to winning

full equality for women. The woman’s rights movement, of which the

suffrage drive was such an integral part, meant different types and

degrees of rights and freedoms to different individuals within andr-on

the fringes of the movement. It was an individualistic crusade em­

bodying a mosaic of individual aspirations in which individuals might

be described as working together separately. These individuals were

united in an attack upon a common enemy but following the victory

represented by the 19th amendment, the force was demobilized,

resulting in a letting down of energy and the reemergence of the

diverse aims and interests among and between those formerly and

^Gruberg, Women in Politics, pp. 123-124, 151-156.

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partially united in the cause.^ It was a "revolution without

ideology," for women acted politically as individuals and not as 74 feminists in accordance with a feminist ideology.

Women did not become political creatures overnight, nor did

they rush to the polls to exercise their new right. The turnout of

eligible women voters in the 1924 Presidential election was only

35 per cent compared with 43 per cent in 1920.^ Editors, writers,

and staff members of several magazines popular with women reported

that women's interest in politics was declining and their response

to political articles was slight.^ Women were frequently described

as disinterested in politics.^ Men were disappointed that women

"did not at once enter the party campaigns with the same zeal and

consecration they had shown in the struggle for the vote . . . but

they forgot that the dominant political parties blocked the normal

progress of woman suffrage for half a century."^ Women did not

work together politically and thus diluted the impact that their

votes might have had on American politics, and in effect, made their

73 Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, p. 255. 74 Carl N. Deglar, "Revolution Without Ideology: The Changing Place of Women in America," in Robert Jay Lifton, ed., The Woman in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965), p. 204.

^Gruberg, Women in Politics, p. 9. 76 Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, p. 336.

^Robert W. Smuts, Women and Work in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959), pp. 142-143. 78 Carrie Chapman Catt and Nettie Rogers Shuler, Woman Suffrage and Politics (New York: Charles Scribner’s & Sons, 1926), p. 491.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. votes ineffectual. The non-partisan approach to politics practiced

fay the League of Women Voters, organized as the successor to NAWSA,

did not help women candidates to run for office and win elections.

The two major political parties, despite their rhetoric, did

not put out the welcome mat for women in practice.8^ That men were

finally persuaded to grant women the right to vote did not necessarily

mean that they were also willing to concede their positions of power

and influence. Women expected to accomplish reforms which men had

failed to make, implying a moral superiority of women over men. This

had the effect of making men resentful and women reluctant to engage 81 in "grubby practical politics." Hale politicians found that they

had little to fear from women’s votes for women did not vote as a

block or punish those candidates who opposed political equality for

women and politicians saw no need to grant the concessions they had

at first been willing to make.8^

79 National League of Women Voters, Proceedings of the Victory Convention. National American Woman Suffrage Association (1869-1920). and First National Congress. League of Women Voters: Chicago. Febru­ ary 12-18. 1920 (Chicago: National League of Women Voters, 1920), p. 53; Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Convention, First Biennial, of the National League of Women Voters: Held at Chicago, Illinois. April 23-28. 1928 (Washington: National League of Women Voters, 1932), pp. 37-44. 80 Marion K. Sanders, The Lady and The Vote (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956), p. 10.

8^Ibid., p. 141; Andrew Sinclair, The Better Half (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), p. 344.

8^Scott, "After Suffrage," 304; Breckinridge, Women in the Twentieth Century, pp. 266-268.

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Partisan political activity brought competition among women.

The women's divisions of the parties fought each other, and the

women candidates often found themselves running against other women

for offices which came to be designated as women's offices. Women

often felt that those who received party nominations for those

offices were selected by men for reasons other than ability. Popu­

larity and susceptibility to men's influence were thought to be the

criteria used— such women candidates were "mere stooges," according 83 to Mrs. Roosevelt and Lorena Hick ok. Women found that they were

expected to confine their activities to topics of special interest 84 to women, rather than to deal with the great issues of the day.

Women were also divided over the issue of protective legis­

lation for women. This issue, which recognized basic differences

between men and women, denied their equality. Social workers and

labor-oriented women, who had dedicated themselves to improving the

conditions under which women worked and were too often exploited,

wanted laws limiting the hours and conditions of work for women in

order to prevent abuses of women workers. This group included the

women in the Department of Labor Women's Bureau, Women's Trade Union

League, Consumers League, state labor departments, and the League

of Women Voters, whose lack of partisanship applied to political

Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena A. Hickok, Ladies of Courage (New York: Putnam's Sons, 1954), p. 38; Blair, "Women in Political Parties," 2222'

^Sanders, The Lady and the Vote, pp. 143-157.

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parties but not to this issue.

Opposing this group were the equal rights advocates— members

of the National Woman's Party and of various business and professional

groups organized in the National Federation of Business and Profession­

al Women. This latter group took the position that protective laws

limited their opportunities to compete on an equal basis with men for

jobs, particularly in the more highly skilled occupations and for the

more influential positions. The National Woman's Party began seeking

an equal rights amendment in 1923, and such an amendment has been

introduced in every Congress since that time.8^ Extensive hearings

held in 1929 and 1931 revealed the emotional and divisive nature of 86 this issue, as well as the split of the women along economic lines.

The division of the most active, politically minded women

into two factions along economic and social lines was unfortunate.

The bitter struggle forced women to choose sides, eliminated the

neutral ground from which a compromise might have been developed

and out of which coordinated leadership for women might have arisen.

The struggle diverted the attention and energy of outstanding women

from a concerted effort to improve the status of women generally.

85See Equal Rights, Vols. III-XVIII (1920-1932).

86U.S., Congress, Senate, Equal Rights Amendment, Hearing before a Sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary, 70th Cong., 2d sess., on S.J. 64, 1929; Equal Rights, Hearing before a Sub­ committee of the Committee on the Judiciary, 71st Cong.rr3d sess., on S.J. Res. 52, 1931.

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WOMEN IN THE NEW AND FAIR DEALS

The Eras

The summer of 1932 found little “business as usual" in the

United States, other than the Republican and Democratic Party Conven­

tions which were held as usual, both parties meeting in Chicago,

Illinois, the Republicans from June 14 to 16, the Democrats following

June 17 to July 2. The country’s estimated wealth had shrunk from

365 billion dollars in 1929 to 239 billion in 1932, those three disas­

trous years had taken a toll of 85,000 business failures, national

income had shrunk from 81 billion dollars in 1929 to half that, 41

billion, in 1932, and there were 15 million Americans unemployed.'1'

Women, who comprised 20 per cent of the labor force in 1920 and 22

per cent in 1930, were particularly hard hit, for labor suppluses

brought short hours, low wages, and a scramble for all available

jobs in which women workers were widely suspected of trying to take 2 employment away from men for frivolous reasons. Poverty was

^Dixon Wecter, The Age of the Great Depression; 1929-1941 (New York: Macmillan Co., 1948), pp. 17-18.

^U.S., Department of Labor Women's Bureau, Women’s Bureau Confererence 1948: The American Woman, Her Changing Role, Worker KrmpmalcpT, Cit-iz«»n, Bulletin No. 224 (Washington: Government Print­ ing Office, 1948), p. 195.

33

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everywhere in evidence that June of 1932.

President Herbert Hoover, who had initially failed to grasp

either the gravity or the possible duration of the crisis, had

attempted to alleviate the situation by several positive programs

begun in 1931. These had failed to impede further deterioration,

however, and by the summer of 1932, not only bonus marchers, but

masses of distressed citizens, and local and state governments, were

appealing to Washington for financial assistance and the assumption

by the federal government of the responsibility to alleviate the

common distress.^

The Republican Convention expressed its awareness of the

unusual conditions in its platform: "We meet in a period of wide­

spread distress and of an economic depression that has swept the

world. The emergency is second only to that of a great war. The

human suffering occasioned may well exceed that of a period of 4 actual conflict." The Republicans knew what had to be done: "The

supremely important problem that challenges our citizens and govern­

ment alike is to break the back of the depression, to restore the

economic life of the nation and to bring encouragement and relief to

the thousands of American families that are sorely afflicted."'>

^Wecter, The Age of the Great Depression, p. 48.

^Republican Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Twentieth National Convention, Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 14, 15, 16, 1932: Resulting in the Renomination of Herbert Hoover.of Califor­ nia for President and the Renomination of Charles Curtis of Kansas for Vice President CHew York: The Teany Press, 1932), p. 102.

5Ibid.

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Although the Republicans likened the situation of the country in

that June of 1932 to that of a country at war, they did not propose

to mobilize all of the citizens and the resources of the country

into a massive, overwhelming force to defeat the enemy. Instead,

they proclaimed that the "people themselves, by their own courage,

their own patient and resolute effort in the readjustments of their

own affairs, can and will work out the cure."8 How the people them­

selves were to do this in view of the Republicans' repeated reminders

that the economic depression was not just country-wide, but world­

wide in scope, was not explained. The Republican platform proposed

more of the same policies already undertaken by the Hoover adminis­

tration. Even the platform plank on the 18th amendment, which had

aroused the public and aggravated federal-state relations, did not

call for the submission of an outright repeal amendment to the voters.

After a floor fight, the convention adopted a plank which stated, "We

do not favor a submission limited to the issue of retention or repeal,

for the American nation never in its history has gone backward, and

in this case the progress which has been thus far made must be pre­

served, while the evils must be eliminated."7

Conditions in the country called unprecedented, positive

action befitting both the magnitude of the depression and the great­

ness of the country. The Republicans wanted to maintain the tradi­

tions of individualism so that, "when victory comes, as it will, this

generation will hand on to the next a great heritage unimpaired."8

6Ibid.. p. 103. 7Ibid. 8Ibid., p. 104.

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Hoover clung to a belief in individual effort and an enlightened

self-interest by business to return the country to its former

prosperity. The appeal to heritage and tradition did not inspire

the voters in November.

The times demanded action, Americans called for action.

As usual in the American political tradition, the out-party, in

this case the Democrats and their nominee, Franklin D. Roosevelt,

were waiting to promise what the in-party did not: action. ’’The

country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands

bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a

method and try it: if it fails, admit it frankly and try another.

But above all, try something," Roosevelt told a group assembled at 9 Oglethorpe University, May 22, 1932. The Democratic platform

proclaimed:

The only hope for improving present conditions, restoring employ­ ment, affording permanent relief to the people, and bringing the nation back to the proud position of domestic happiness and of financial, industrial, agricultural and commercial leadership in the world lies in a drastic change in governmental economic poli­ cies. . . . The Democratic Party solemnly promises by appropriate action to put into effect the principles, policies, and reforms herein advocated.^

and therein enumerated a series of often conflicting policies.

9 Samuel I. Rosenman, comp, and ed., The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: With a Special Introduction and Explanatory Notes by President Roosevelt (13 vols.. New York: Random House and Harper & Brothers, 1938-1945), I, 646.

■^Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention. Held at Chicago. Illinois, June 27 to July 2. inclusive. 1932: Resulting in the Nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and John N. Garner of Texas for Vice President (Chicago: Democratic National Committee, 1932), p . 146.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 37

Promises to reduce government expenditures, balance the budget, and

maintain sound currency contrasted with pledges to provide credit

for farmers and for relief of the unemployed* The most popular plank

was the pledge to repeal the 18th amendment. Its reading provoked

a twenty-five minute demonstration on the convention floor.^ The

inconsistencies between the various planks did not unduly concern

voters, for the proposals suggested action, and change was apparently

preferable to tradition when the conditions of 1932 prevailed.

The voters of 1932 could not be sure what they were getting

when they voted for Roosevelt, but his record as governor of New

York State suggested that he would take vigorous action regarding

unemployment. New York State had been the first state to accept

responsibility for its needy unemployed, setting up a non-partisan

and non-political state relief agency in 1931 and providing old-age 12 assistance in that same year. Roosevelt's social and humanitarian

sympathies were evident, but his economic beliefs were not. His

economic philosophy as it developed during the course of the 1932

campaign varied from the seeming advocacy of social planning and

management to regulation and reform of the existing system.^ He

1XIbid., pp. 146-150. 12 Elsie Murdoch Bond, Public Relief in New York State: A Simrma-ry of the Public Relief Law and Related Statutes (Albany: J. B. Lyon company, 1936), pp. 6, 7, 48.

■^Rexford G. Tugwell, "The Progressive Orthodoxy of Franklin D. Roosevelt," Ethics, An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy. LXIV (October, 1953), 1, 2, 15, 16.

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reconciled these conflicting philosophies by stressing that the

government should maintain a balance between individual rights and 14 private economic power. If he had considered an overall overhaul

of the economic system, one in which the government assumed respon­

sibility for the nation’s arrangements for the production and dis­

tribution of goods and services, he missed an unrivalled opportunity

provided by the overwhelming desire of Americans for change.^ By

the 1936 campaign he was stressing economic refcrm. In his speech

accepting the Democratic nomination for a second term before a

throng of over 100,000 people at Franklin Field in Philadelphia

June 27, 1936, he emphasized the necessity to achieve economic

equality, without which, he maintained, political freedom was mean­

ingless.^ The Roosevelt administration wanted to correct the abuses

of the economic system to promote social and political justice.

*****

A shooting war, not a depression likened to a war, was in

progress when Harry S. Truman became President of the United States

April 12, 1945. Consequently, Truman was necessarily preoccupied

with bringing that war to a successful conclusion and to the inaugu­

ration and implementation of plans for peace. His first act as

President had been to reaffirm the American desire for a world

14 Rosenman, The Public Papers and Addresses of Roosevelt, I, 752-755.

^Tugwell, "The Progressive Orthodoxy of Roosevelt," p. 20.

^ N e w York Times, June 28, 1936, p. 1.

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organization to keep the peace, an announcement that the San Francisco

conference, which resulted in the organization of the United Nations,

would be held as scheduled, despite the death of President Roosevelt,^

Following the priority dictated by world events, he then had to plan

and guide the demobilization of the American forces and the conversion

of American industry from wartime to peacetime. Although he had served

as a Senator and Vice President, he had not had months of pre-and-post

convention campaigning as a Presidential candidate to plan his course

of action as President. He had repeatedly proclaimed that he was not

a candidate for Vice President prior to the 1944 convention.^-8

Truman had supported the political and economic programs of

President Roosevelt and was elected Vice President as a supporter

of the Democratic platform of 1944 which pledged, "To speed victory,

establish and maintain peace, guarantee full employment and provide 19 prosperity . . . ." He considered his platform to be the twenty-

one point program which he sent to Congress September 6, 1945, a

message he called a combination of a first inaugural address and a 20 first State of the Union message. In this document he called for

^Harry S. Truman, Memoirs by Harry S. Truman (2 vols.; New York: Doubleday & Co., 1955), I, 271.

18Ibid., I, 190-193. 19 Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Conventions Chicago Illinois, July 14-21, inclu­ sive, 1944: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and the Nomination of Harry S. Truman of Missouri for Vice President CChicago: Democratic National Committee, 1944), p. 92. 20 Truman, Memoirs. I, 481-482.

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rapid reconversion to peacetime, enough controls over prices and

wages to maintain stability until fair competition could operate to

prevent inflation, full employment, health insurance, nationalization

of atomic energy, development of the St. Lawrence Seaway Project, and 21 federal aid to education. Truman believed these proposals were as

liberal as the prewar 1940 Democratic program. They included the

campaign pledges of the 1944 campaign. These fozmed his Fair Deal

program which continued the liberalism and progressivism of the New 22 Deal, expanded and updated to meet changing conditions. Like the

Roosevelt administration, therefore, the Truman administration pro­

vided for increased economic, political, and social action by the

federal government.

The Attitudes of the Roosevelt and Truman Administrations Toward Women, in Government

The policy of the incoming Roosevelt administration in 1932

toward women was net dictated by the Democratic platform of that

year, for the platform did not specifically mention women at all 23 but addressed itself to economic and age groups. Women presumably

felt the effects of the worsening economic conditions quite as

equally as the men. This did not deter women from working for

^^Barton J. Bernstein and Allen J. Matusow, eds., The Truman Administration: A Documentary History (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), pp. 86-95.

^Truman, Memoirs. I, 482. 23 Proceedings Democratic National Convention 1932, pp. 146-150.

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Roosevelt’s election, however, and he felt they had contributed

substantially to the successful outcome* Miss Mary Williams Dewson,

a Roosevelt partisan and friend, who had worked for him in previous

campaigns, organized Democratic women from the Democratic headquarters

in New York City. After the election, the President-elect wrote her:

Now that all the excitement is over, I want to send you a line of appreciation for all that you did during a long and trying campaign. I hear nothing but words of praise from all sides for the way in which you handled your end of the work. . . . The report of the Women’s organizations in the various states which Eleanor brought down to me at Warm Springs was perfectly grand and from it let’s hope we can build up a Women's organiza­ tion which will be lasting and highly effective.2^ 25 He told "Molly" Dewson that women had elected him. Frances Perkins

later wrote that in 1932 Roosevelt had "discovered anew the power

and influence of the women’s vote."^

Colonel Louis McHenry Howe, one of the key organizers of the

Roosevelt victory, also felt that women had played an important role 27 as vote getters. The attitude of Roosevelt and the Democratic

Party leaders toward women was bolstered, if not based upon, their

vote-getting abilities. This led to increased participation by

^Franklin D. Roosevelt to Dewson, December 12, 1932, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N. Y. 25 Handwritten comment on p. 31 of Dewson's copy of James A. Farley, Jim Farley’s Story: The Roosevelt Years (New York: Whittle- say House, 1948), Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^Frances Perkins, The Roosevelt I Knew (New York: The Viking Press, 1946), pp. 120-121. 27 Mary W. Dewson* s notes for her Kentucky speech to Demo­ cratic Women’s Clubs, April, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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women in party activities during the subsequent Roosevelt years.

The women’s increasing influence in party councils was evident in

the convention proceedings and platforms of 1936, 1940, and 1944.

The attitudes of Roosevelt and his party leaders were also

shaped by their own philosophies toward women. These emerge more

in deeds than in words. The Roosevelt administration recognized

the importance of women by rewarding them for their political

activities with government positions without saying much either in

justification or explanation. Roosevelt did not single out women,

nor emphasize or dramatize their roles, as he did in the case of

farmers and woxkers, for example, but he nevertheless appointed

the first woman to hold a Cabinet post, Frances Perkins as Secretary

of Labor, and he must be held ultimately responsible for a host of

other lesser appointments of women. "As I repeatedly say, Roosevelt

did no more for labor than he did for women," Hiss Dewson wrote.

"The President appreciates women’s native ability more than any man

I know."^ Roosevelt acted in spite of conditions under which he

might easily and profitably have done just the opposite. Congress

had enacted the Economy Act of 1932 which contained a Section 213

regarding married persons and used to oust married women from positions 29 in Civil Service and the District of Columbia Schools.

The President's attitudes and actions>coincided with, or

^Dewson to Herman Kahn, April, 1950, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library; DD, XXVII (June-Juiy, 1950), 90.

^Equal Rights. March 24, 1934, pp. 59-60.

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were derived from, those of his wife. Mrs. Roosevelt had many women

friends and she promoted women; after coming to Washington she extended

invitations to all the women in executive positions in the government.

Her letters to various government departments requesting the names of

women in administrative and supervisory positions reminded officials

of her continuing interest in women appointees.3** Both the President

and Mrs. Roosevelt opened the White House to Miss Dewson and other

women.31 After less than a year in office, the Roosevelt administra­

tion had appointed a higher proportion of women to important positions

than they had ever held before, Molly Dewson told the Women's National 32 Democratic Club in early 1934. The junior Senator from Pennsylvania,

Joseph Guffey, told a radio audience May 29, 1936 that:

Under President Roosevelt, women have come of age politically in the United States. Our Democratic President has appointed women to the highest official positions because he has found then capable, efficient, loyal, and competent. Women no longer are re­ garded as a class or group to be pampered in election year and then forgotten until another election year rolls around. Their recognition is permanent.3-’

Mrs. Roosevelt's requests are found in the Central Files, December, 1936-1942, Records of the Social Security Administration, RG 47, and the Women in Government 1900-1952 file of General Corres­ pondence, Office of the Secretary, Records of the Department of the Treasury, Record Group 56, both at National Archives.

31Emily Newell Blair, "A Who's Who of Women in Washington," Good Housekeeping Magazine, January, 1936, pp. 38-39.

32d d , IX (January, 1934), 14.

33U.S., Congress, Senate, Address of Senator Guffey printed at request of Senator Caraway, 74th Cong., 2d sess., May 30, 1936, Congressional Record, 8373-8375.

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While the President acted rather than talked, Mrs. Roosevelt

was not reticent in using rhetoric to promote women. She became the

spokesman for women in the administration and her columns, press con­

ferences, and speeches contain frequent references to women's role in 34 government. She did a good deal more than just comment favorably

on women's activities, however. Mrs. Roosevelt actively promoted the

appointment of women through personal intervention and communication}

she sponsored and advanced numerous political activities by and for

women, and she regularly entertained women's groups and individual 35 women at the White House. In a five-page letter to Mrs. Roosevelt

April 27, 1933, Miss Dewson reviewed the entire issue of appointments

of deserving women to administration posts. "I do think, . . . that

because so much pressure is being brought . . . from the men that con­

tinuous pressure will have to be brought on Mr. Farley on behalf of

the women; I mean continuous in the sense of pressure on behalf of one

woman today and another woman tomorrow," she wrote the First Lady.^

At a later date Miss Dewson pencilled a note on her copy of the afore-

mention letter, "about the most important letter I ever wrote," indi­

cating that she had expected Mrs. Roosevelt to exert some of the

34 Mary W. Dewson, "An Aid to the End " (unpublished memoir, 2 vols., copies in Dewson papers at Roosevelt Library and Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College), II, 11.

^"Mrs. Roosevelt's Page," Woman's Home Companion. April, 1935, p. 4; Hareven, Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience, pp. 57-90; the papers of Mrs. Banister, Miss Dewson, Mary Anderson, and Ellen Woodward contain numerous invitations to the White House.

^Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. necessary pressure. "ER served as my personal and expeditious

messenger," she noted on a letter from the President February 10,

1940 in a notation explaining why she had received only one previous

letter from the President: her communications with the President

were carried on in person, by telephone, and sometimes in writing 37 through Mrs. Roosevelt. A series of letters from Miss Dewson to

Mrs. Roosevelt enclosing lists of deserving women, lists designated

as requested by the First Lady, show that the White House was con­

tinually interested in the appointment of women.As she completed

the first volume of her two volume unpublished memoirs, she wrote

Grace Tully, "... I think no one else will show what a leap forward

women made tinder Roosevelt and personally I hold it is a great feather

in his cap, even though with such help from ER I do not see how he 39 could have done less for her sex."

In addition to the favorable attitudes toward women in govern­

ment held by the President and Mrs. Roosevelt, some members of the

President's administration were also favorably inclined toward the

appointment of women. Louis Howe, the President's secretary acting

for the President, was responsible for some of Miss Dewson's successes

in securing appointments for women. Howe worked to get recognition

papers, Roosevelt Library. 38 See lists, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 39 Dewson to Tully, April 19, 1949, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library.

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for Mrs. Emily Newell Blair by placing her husband: "Of course, I do

not need to say any more about Mrs. Blair's husband for Louis has

promised that he will be either made an assistant attorney general

or promoted to a higher position. And, after all, what Louis says 40 goes and he does not forget," wrote Miss Dewson. Howe was eulogized

in The Democratic Digest as a man who never "buttered or flattered the

women, but put them on their mettle by giving them a free hand and a 41 close reckoning." Henry Morgenthau and Frances Perkins were two

more of Roosevelt's official family who were "especially cooperative" 42 in the appointment of women. Miss Perkins, vulnerable because of

her sex and the criticism directed toward her on that account, was

careful not to push women either generally or specifically too much,

according to the recollections of Mary Anderson, head of the Women's 43 Bureau for many years. Harry Hopkins, administrator of the Federal

Emergency Relief Administration, one of the earliest New Deal agencies,

was cognizant of the needs of women and of the contributions they

40 Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

41d d , XIII (May, 1936), 21.

42Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 125. 43 Mary Anderson, Woman at Work: The Autobiography of Mary Anderson, as told to Mary N. Winslow (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1951), p. 148. Miss Anderson wrote that Miss Perkins minimized the importance of women's problems because: representatives of organized labor did not like her; she was a woman; and because the public thought of her as a social worker and not a labor person, "so every time there was a chance to single out women, she leaned over backward not to do it."

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might be able to make, possibly because of his background in social

woric and his previous work with many women social workers and women

labor leaders in New York State. "Very little has been done to

develop a program of work relief for women," he wrote to all governors

and state emergency relief administrations October 10, 1933 in announc­

ing the appointment of Mrs. Ellen S. Woodward as Director of Women’s 44 Work. As time went on, FERA and its successive relief agencies,

Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration which

Hopkins also headed, provided many opportunities for women, including

some of the most important positions they achieved during the New Deal

years.

Not ail of the Roosevelt Cabinet members, however, were as

favorably inclined toward the appointment of women as Howe, Perkins,

and Hopkins, and the administration policy was to respect and not

override that feeling. Miss Dewson wrote to one deserving Democratic

woman that Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper, "has not yielded an

inch in appointing women. He comes from South Carolina and is of 45 an older generation to boot." She described in that same letter

the policy of the Roosevelt administration toward the appointment of

women: "Even with FDR's desire to go along with the women we have

in each instance had to have all the other factors O.K. before we

ever got anyplace. No department heads had to agree to take a

44 Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library; DP, IX (February, 1934), 13.

45 Dewson to Phoebe Omlie, April, 1937, Dewson papers, Roose­ velt Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. woman. They also had to be willing to take the woman in question."

The attitude of James A. Farley, chairman of the Democratic

National Committee and Postmaster General in the Cabinet and thus in

charge of patronage was "friendly toward the recognition of the work

of Women," but was tempered by his key position in which he was also 46 responsible for recognizing the work of men. There was an inherent

rivalry in the positions of Miss Dewson and Farley which resulted in

a showdown in April of 1934 over money for campaign work. "FDR under­

stood immediately and backed me. I always had his thorough-going 47 support," Miss Dewson wrote of that situation. In later years, she

pencilled a comment in Farley's book where he quoted Roosevelt as

giving major credit for his first election to the Presidency to Howe

and Farley, "But he told me time and again that the women elected him, 48 and when did Jim work to get the women." Farley sometimes paid tri­

bute to the work of women in campaigns and to the policies of the Roose­

velt administration in appointing women to government positions; on

other occasions he was silent. Farley gave Miss Dewson the opportunity

to describe her political activities as director of the Women's Divi­

sion at a Democratic National Committee meeting in Philadelphia June 27,

1936, but did not mention women in his speech to the Convention or at

an earlier meeting of the National Committee where he was discussing

^Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, ibid. 47 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 1. 48 Marked copy, James A. Farley, Jim Farley's Story: The Roosevelt Years (New York: Whittlesay House, 1948), Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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49 the political work necessary for victory in the 1936 campaign. He

paid tribute to women in a speech at Wellesley College in 1940:

I am happy to give testimony to the fact that women are ex­ cellent political workers, and in some respects, they are more efficient than the men. They have an intense interest which never lags and they have less inclination to shirk the small tasks, upon the performance of which so much depends.^®

Kiss Dewson found she had more success in securing appointments for

women by directly approaching the heads of the various departments

than in working through Farley, yet Farley appointed 5,835 women as

postmasters. And Farley appeared to endorse the appointment of

women, judging by an article he wrote, "A New Deal For Women," which

appeared in the July, 1936 edition of The Democratic Digest:

Three years ago FDR heard and harkened to women’s plea— He smashed precedents by sending several celebrated women down into history when he moved them up to nationally important positions— positions never before held by women. He appointed many other worthy women to less spectacular but equally important positions throughout the country. . . . In the New Deal there is a new, and a . . . permanent place for an old right— the right of women to participate in her government.52

Miss Dewson was working in competition with Farley, not only in regard

49 Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Philadelphia. Pennsylvania June 23 to June 27, inclusive, 1936: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and John N. G a m e r of Texas for Vice President (Washington: Democratic National Committee, 1936), pp. 11-16, 446-447.

"^Farley speech, March 20, 1940, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

■*^Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 125-126.

52DD, XIII (July, 1936), 3.

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to credit for election activities and appointments, but also in devo­

tion to, and friendship with, the Roosevelts; after Farley broke with

the President over the third term issue, Miss Dewson had little use

for him, as her derogatory comments pencilled in her copy of his book 53 indicate.

The party platforms and expressed attitudes of party leaders

toward women in government were inevitably interrelated with the po­

litical activities of women. Politicians’ careers and the ultimate

fate of their parties depended upon votes. Women, as is true of other

groups, achieved standing and an entree into inner party councils as

they contributed to the results on election days. They had to per­

suade and convince party leaders that their contributions toward the

political culmination— votes— were decisive. When politicians were

so convinced, they heeded the advice of women, they courted the sup­

port of women, and they rewarded individual women with political ap­

pointments. Women, through their partisan activities on behalf of

the Democrats, helped to win a greater role and more influence for

themselves within the party during the Roosevelt and Truman years. As

women ran for more local and state offices and won, they increased

their leverage in the party. They won a more equal voice in party

councils and began to join the ranks of experienced politicians from

which national appointments are made. The number of women winning

election to state legislatures, as can be seen from Table I, decreased

*^See copy of Jim Farley's Story. Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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during the early years of the New Deal, but began to increase in the

later 1930's. Political activities, election to office, and appoint­

ments to office are related although their precise relationship is

not always clear. However, a study of the Roosevelt and Truman ad­

ministration attitudes toward women in government calls for a look at

their progress in the Democratic Party during those years.

During the first Roosevelt term, Democratic women had not

achieved full political equality within the party and Miss Dewson

was fully aware of the inequities they faced. She listed ten ways

in which Democratic women were still being discriminated against

within the party in a speech to the Democratic Women's Clubs in

Farnkfort, Kentucky in April, 1933. These included: lack of 50-50

representation for men and women on all state and county committees;

lack of a budget for women’s political work; lack of patronage for 54 women; and the lack of a real voice in party councils. She also

decried the appointments of docile women whose votes could be con­

trolled by their opposite numbers among the men. She was an astute

enough politician to recognize, however, that women were valuable to

the men politicians for their "vote getting value" and that the. remedy

for these discriminations was to "develop further their vote getting

technique," and she so advised the Women's National Democratic Club."^

She also knew that the creation of enthusiasm among women party workers

54 Mary W. Dewson's notes for her Kentucky Speech to Democratic Women's Clubs, April, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

55DD, IX,(January, 1934), 14.

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must be accompanied by a recognition of, and appreciation for, their

past efforts. In accepting the position as Chairman of the Women's

Division of the Democratic Party, she outlined her plans:

I told Sue White I was going to put my energies into organ­ izing the women to learn specifically what FDR was trying to ac­ complish and to tell others about it so that he would have under­ standing support in the states, but until January I would work to get worthwhile government positions for Democratic women who had demonstrated the capacity to fill them adequately. If I had not done my best to get recognition for women, few would have been in­ terested in any plans of mine to carry through a program that would win support for the Hew Deal and put ginger into the Demo­ cratic women workers.56

She therefore embarked on a determined campaign to secure appointments

for women; at the same time she was reorganizing and revitalizing the

Women's Division and undertaking a vigorous educational program.

The changes at the Women's Division first concentrated on the

affairs of The Democratic Bulletin, a magazine begun by the Women's

National Democratic Club in 1926, Its size, format, and editor were

changed in December, 1932. Mrs. Blair Banister (Marion Glass Banister)>

became editor until her appointment as Assistant Treasurer of the United

States in August, 1933. In October, 1933, the name of the publication

was changed to The Democratic Digest and it was the major publication

for Democratic women until August, 1953, when it became the official

publication of the Democratic National Consnittee. Its pages were in­

formative and readable, partisan, and encouraging.^

^Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 124*

"^Originally published as The Bulletin .from 1926 to July, 1929; it became The Democratic Bulletin from August, 1929 to September, 1933, when it changed to slick paper and became The Democratic Digest.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Miss Dewson appointed eight regional advisors and an assis­

tant, Mrs. June Fickel of Iowa, to aid in the organization of Demo­

cratic women.^ She herself began to communicate directly with the 59 3,000 women vice-chairmen of the county Democratic committees. She

initiated the "Reporter Plan," reminiscent of the educational and in­

formational programs of the League of Women Voters, in which reporters

knowledgeable about various agencies and programs of the Mew Deal re­

ported to, and led, study group discussions of the New Deal throughout

the country. These groups actually served as training schools for

party wo r k e r s . M i l l i o n s of "Rainbow Fliers" were printed and dis­

tributed by the women during the 1936 campaign; each flier, in a bright

color, used a cartoon and brief, catchy description to highlight one

issue of* the V campaign. . 6 1

Miss Dewson’s efforts in organizing and promoting women were

rewarded at the 1936 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, where

women reached a peak of participation.^ Newspaper recognition of

women and their role at the convention was widespread.^ Delegates

58DD, IX (March, 1934), 11.

Roosevelt Library.

8^See Tables II and III; Proceedings of Democratic National Convention 1936; Marguerite J. Fisher and Betty Whithead, "American Government and Politics, Women and National Party Organizations," The American Political Science Review. XXXVIII (October, 1944), p< 897.

88Montage of newspaper headlines regarding women at the con­ vention, DD, XIII (August, 1936), 4; see also New York Times, June 24, 1936 for additional coverage of women.

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at the obviously staged convention listened to fifty-six speeches

seconding Roosevelt’s renomination over two periods totaling nine

hours on June 26, 1936; eight of the speeches extolling the virtues

of the President and the New Deal were delivered by women to the cap­

tive delegates who, understandably enough, spent much time in the aisles 64 noisily visiting. Those who listened heard Representative Mary T.

Norton of New Jersey talk about the role of women in the New Deal:

The women of American will tell you, as they have told me often, that the New Deal is a square deal for them. It has not only helped women on the farms and in industry, but they have gained a new freedom because a just President in appointing them to high offices and places of distinction has given then more courage and faith in themselves, a desire to go forward with the men of the country to a more secure and greater happiness and prosperity.65

Among the 333 women delegates and 252 alternates were Miss Dewson,

Mrs. Anna M. Rosenberg, and Miss Hilda Smith, the first a delegate,

and the latter two alternates from New York; Mrs. Ellen S. Woodward,

delegate from Mississippi; Miss Harriet Elliott, delegate from North

Carolina; and Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross, delegate from Wyoming; all of

whom were already, or eventually to be, appointees to various govern­

ment positions. In addition to serving on major committees, women -

were named to a number of honorary positions, and were allowed to of­

fer some resolutions.66 Their major breakthrough, however, came when

they won the right to serve as alternates on the Platform Committee,

^Proceedings Democratic Convention 1936, pp. 209-293.

65Ibid., p. 252.

66Fisher and Whithead, ’Women and National Party Organizations," p. 897.

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"the high citadel of exclusive masculine privilege," an advance des­

cribed fay Dean Harriet Elliott of the University of North Carolina

Women's College in an article, "Jericho’s Walls Have Fallen."^7

Suggestions for the platform had been made by women under the leader­

ship of Representative Caroline O'Day of New York, appointed by Miss 68 Dewson to consult with women party leaders. She was pleased with

the result although the platform did not mention women specifically.

"There has never been a platform, I believe, where more of the objec­

tives of the great women’s groups were incorporated than in our Demo­

cratic platform of 1936 . . . it is a fine platform and we women are

proud to have had a real part in the building of it,” Miss Dewson wrote.89

During the spring of 1937, Miss Dewson trained Mrs. Thomas F.

McAllister to take over as Director of Women's Activities and expected

to retire from political life, but she was appointed to the Social

Security Board by President Roosevelt.7^* Women’s activities continued

and although their total representation as delegates and alternates

declined at the convention of 1940, as can be seen in Table II, women

were conspicuous at the convention and actually won an important new

concession. Mrs. McAllister discussed the timely issues of peace

and preparedness in a major address to the convention in which

67DD, XIII (August, 1936), 5, 33.

68Ibid., 6-7; Dewson to Bess Furman, February 25, 1948, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library.

69Dewson to Furman, February 25, 1948, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library.

7^Dewson to Herman Kahn, March 6, 1959, ibid.

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she also described the activities of women in the campaign, citing

30,000 New Deal Reporters; 109,000 names of women on file ready to

campaign; 1,500 volunteer women to direct publicity; 1,200 to direct

radio programs; 850 to direct speakers* bureaus; 2,000 discussion

groups meeting monthly; 25,000 subscribers to The Democratic Digest;

and 10,000 Rainbow Fliers as evidence of the women*s organization,

dedication, enthusiasm, and readiness for participation in the coming

campaign. 7^ A large number of "beautiful and charming" Rainbow Girls,

suitably attired, distributed the Fliers on the floor of the conven­

tion at the end of her speech and brought approving comments and 72 response from the men. The delegates at this convention were not

restless from listening to excessive oratory: the President's nomina­

tion was seconded briefly by a few individuals and groups of states

in a relatively short period, and despite other nominations, the whole 73 process was completed in one evening session. The most important

new concession won by the women was convention approval of a resolu­

tion offered by Mrs. Thomas Buckley of Massachusetts and seconded by

Representative Mary Norton providing for equal representation of women 74 on the Platform and Resolutions Committee. Hereafter, the Ccssnittee

was to be composed of one man and one woman from every state. The

71 “Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention. Held at Chicago. Illinois, July 15-18, inclusivec 1940: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin.D. Roosevelt of New York for President and The Nomination of Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for Vice-President (Chicago: Democratic National Commitee, 1940), pp. 32-37;

72Ibid., p. 37. 73Ibid.', pp. 150-198 . 74Ibid., pp. 46-48.

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platform adopted by the Convention had the following to say about

women:

We will continue our efforts to achieve equality of oppor­ tunity for men and women without impairing the social legisla­ tion which promotes true equality by safeguarding the health, safety and economic welfare of women workers. The right to work for compensation in both public and private employment is an inalienable privilege of women as well as men, without dis­ tinction as to marital status.

The wording of this plank reflected the dominant position occupied

by the advocates of protective legislation for women. This was the

last Democratic Convention in which this was true.

The 1944 Convention was addressed by National Committee-

woman HelenGSahagan Douglas of California, who was running for the

House of Representatives. She delivered a rousing partisan political

speech ranging over all the current national and international

issues, instead of singling out women's activities and special con­

cerns.^ Frequent cheers and applause greeted her speech. Mrs.

Charles W. Tillett, National Committeewoman from North Carolina who

had become Director of the Women's Division and Assistant Chairman

of the Democratic National Committee, also addressed the convention

on current issues.77 Although the numbers of women serving as

75Ibid., p. 157.

7^Democratic Party, Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, July 14-21, inclusive, 1944: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President, and the Nomination of Harry S. Truman of Missouri for Vice President (Chicago: Democratic National Committee, 19447, pp. 176-131.

77Ibid., pp. 21-26.

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delegates and alternates had continued to decline, their influence

had not, as Mrs. Tillet told members of the National Committee:

I shall simply report that the Democratic Party, which has always been first in giving recognition to women in Party affairs, will this year give then greater participation in a political con­ vention than ever before. There will be women speakers at the sessions of the convention. Women will be co-chairmen of all important committees. They will have equal representation on all committees. Such recognition has never been given to women in the history of our political parties, and I predict that the women of the country— 60 per cent of the electorate this year— will go with the Democratic Party in November.78

Women committeewomen were not convinced of their growing influence

according to a questionnaire sent to national committeewomen of both

parties. Two-thirds of the commi tteewomen who replied believed that

they had little influence on party policies and procedures, and one-

third of the Democratic women who replied believed that their influ­

ence was negligible and that they were not consulted on matters of

patronage, causing the authors of the survey to conclude:

. . . it is obvious that the door has opened further during the last ten years. On the other hand, the door is still not wide open. Too large a proportion of the national ccmmitteewomen still feel strongly that their influence is negligible in basic policy determination. 79

The study -found'that .-women in the Republican Party were having

parallel experiences to the women in the Democratic Party, with the

basic difference that the Republicans had fewer patronage positions

^Proceedings Democratic National Convention 1944. p. 379. 79 Fisher and Whithead, "Women and National Party Organiza­ tions, fj-;) S03.

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to dispense on the national level during these years.The appoint­

ments of Democratic women to office had declined and the supposition

might be made that this lack of forward progress was related in some

degree to the departure of Mary Dewson.

Women who were participating in the political parties also

showed a change in interests and outlook. The advocates of pro­

tective legislation for women who had been predominant during earlier

years, were being supplemented by women politicians and professionals

in fields other than labor and social work. These women did not be­

lieve in the sanctity of protective laws and they were not primarily

interested in such legislation for they had not devoted their careers

to its achievement. The former group included the Secretary of

Labor and those working with and tinder her; Miss Dewson, whose back­

ground had been in minimum wage legislation and social work; and

Mrs. Roosevelt, who shared the humanitarian concerns of women social

workers and labor leaders. These women had been able to checkmate

the influence of such political party workers as Mrs. Bnma Guffey

Miller, called "Her Nuisance" by Miss Dewson, a sister of Pennsylvania

Senator Joseph C. Guffey and wife of Carroll Miller of the Inter­

state Commerce Commission. Mrs. Miller had served as a delegate to 8T Democratic Conventions since 1920. “ She was also a member of the

National Woman's Party and pursued equal rights for women with the

80Ibid., p.l£98.

8^Dewson to President Roosevelt, October 21, 1937, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library; see also Equal Rights and Convention Proceedings, 1920-1944.

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same vigor and energy she devoted to Democratic Party activities,

speaking out for A1 Smith in 1924 and 1928 and against religious

prejudice, and for Henry Wallace in 1944.^ Party workers like

Mrs, Miller and Helen Gahagan Douglas who fought for equal pay for

men and women rather than the equal rights amendment, helped bring

about a shift of opinion in both parties, although the emphasis on

individual rights and freedoms during the war was probably more

decisive. The 1944 platforms of the Republicans as well as the

Democrats contained planks advocating the submission of the equal 83 rights amendment to the states and equal pay for men and women.

The 1945 hearings on the equal rights amendment dramatized

the extent of this shift among influential politicians and organi­

zations. Leading the opposition was Mary Anderson, who had retired

as Director of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor in

1944 and taken charge of The Committee to Defeat the Unequal Rights

Amendment, a coalition of forty-three national organizations set up 84 in 1945. She presented the usual substantial and formidable

opposition from organizations and individuals such as former Secre­

tary of Labor Frances Perkins and Miss Anderson's successor at the

Proceedings Democratic Convention 1924, pp. 190-191; Proceedings Democratic.Convention 1928. pp. 113-115; Proceedings Demo­ cratic Convention 1944. pp. 209-212. 83 Porter and Johnson, National Party Platforms, pp. 403, 412. 84 Margaret Perry Bruton, "Present-Day Thinking on the Woman Question," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. CCLI (May, 1947), 12; U.S., Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Equal Rights Amendment. Hearing, S. J. Res. 61, 79th Cong., 1st sess., 1945.

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Women’s Bureau, Frieda Miller.8^ Mrs. Roosevelt did not publicly

express her opposition, but had written Miss Rose Schneiderman of

the New York Department of Labor in 1944:

. . . I feel we must do a lot more than just be opposed to an amendment. I believe we should initiate through the Labor Department a complete survey of the laws that discriminate against women and the laws that are protective; that we should then go to work in every state in the Union to get rid of the discriminatory ones and to strengthen the protective ones; and if the time has come when some of them are obsolete, we should gg get rid of them even though they were once needed as protective.

Those opposed to the amendment were surprised to discover the strength

of the proponents.8^ Led by Mrs. Miller these included the following

organizations, among others: The General Federation of Women's Clubs,

which had polled the membership and found them six to one in favor;

the National Education Association; the National Federation of

Business and Professional Women's Clubs; National Association of

Women Lawyers; American Medical Women's Association, and the Women's

National Democratic Club.88 Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, representing

the National Association of Colored Women, heartily endorsed the

8^U.S., Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Equal Rights Amendment. Hearing, S. J. Res. 61, 79th Cong., 1st sess., 1945. 86 Mrs. Roosevelt to Schneiderman, February 11, 1944, Anderson papers, Schlesinger Library.

8^Kathleen McLaughlin. "Women's Impact on Public Opinion," The Annals of th^ American Academy of Political and Social Science. CCLI (May, 1947), 108.

8 "U.S., Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Equal Rights Amendment. Hearing, S. J. Res. 61, 79th Cong., 1st sess., 1945, pp. 2-51.

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amendment, as did Dr. Agnes E. Wells, a past national vice president

of the American Association of University Women, which expressed its

traditional opposition but was rife with dissent on the issue. Other

supporters of the amendment included twenty-six governors, Judge Sara

T. Hughes of Texas, Mrs. Burnita Shelton Matthews, legal counsel for

the National Women's Party, former Attorney General Homer S. Cummings,

former Vice President and Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace, and

James Farley, who wrote that "Equal legal rights for women seems the

logical conclusion of the suffrage amendment."89 And last, but cer­

tainly not least, was President Harry S. Truman, who had sent Mrs.

Miller a letter endorsing the equal rights amendment in 1944 while

he was still a Senator:

. . . I am in sympathy . . . for the equal rights amendment be­ cause I think it will improve the standard of living by setting a level of wages equal for both sexes. I have no fear of its effect on the home life of the American people. Nearly every man has his woman on a pedestal anyway and this will only make the legal aspects of the situation more satis­ factory fromgjhe standpoint of the legal rights of the women of the country.

Mrs. Miller and five other women from all sections of the country

visited President Truman the week before the hearings in late Septem­

ber, 1945, and reported, "He assured us that he had not changed his 91 mind. He assured us of his continued support."

The attitude of President Truman toward women in government

can be determined more by what he did than from what he said, although

he expressed himself somewhat more often on the subject of women

89Ibid., pp. 17-18. 9°Ibid., p. 17. 91Ibid., p. 4.

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than his predecessor had. It is probably fair to say, however, that

Truman had a slightly different attitude than Roosevelt had had to­

ward women. President Roosevelt's actions indicate that he was con­

sciously trying to "do something" for women in the sense of bringing

them into a status of more political equality and this attitude im­

plies a recognition of the women as an unequal group to be singled

out for special treatment. Truman's words and actions, on the other

hand, suggest that he took the women more for granted, to be recog­

nized or not depending upon their political performance as measured

by the same standards that applied to men. This was an essential

difference— an integral part of the process by which women would

achieve true political equality on the same terms as men. At the

same time, in neither case can the motivation of political advantage

be entirely ruled out.

President Truman appealed to women to "join in making this 92 country a better place to live in, for all our people." Speaking

to the Women's Bureau Conference on the American Woman in 1948, ob­

serving the centennial of the first Woman's Rights Conference, he

claimed that the causes for which women had worked, such as social

reform, greater economic opportunities, and civil and political 93 rights, were the same ones for which his administration was working.

He asked women to campaign against poverty, fear, disease, and

hunger, and to use their organizations to exert the power of the

^^Woman's Bureau Conference 1948. p. 1. ^Ibid., p. 2

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consumer toward the goal of a better life for Americans. It sounded

like a campaign speech which is understandable since 1948 was an elec­

tion year. ^

At the same time, Truman was conscious of the special problems

still facing women and told a Woman's Bureau Conference, convened in

1948 to commemorate the centennial of the Seneca Falls Conference:

You have still before you many unfinished tasks. Not all of them can or need to be enumerated here. You have been studying them and seeking remedies that will increase the dignity and use* fulness of women in our society. These things cannot be accom­ plished all at once, or all by the same means. Sane of them are now before the Congress, like equal pay for women, and the ending of specific discriminations against women, such as limitations on the right to serve on Federal juries. It is within your strength to accomplish these things in which you. believe, but only if you make your goals known and persist in demanding action. And there is not a single man in the Government who can resist you if you really want to do something. *

His words suggest an assumption on his part that women were now in a

political position strong enough to achieve their goal of true equal­

ity, provided they united on that goal. Women had won improved polit­

ical status under the Roosevelt administrations, and Truman was taking

advantage of that change.

President Truman expressed his attitude toward the appointment

of Cabinet officers in his memoirs:

I consider political experience absolutely necessary, because a man who understands politics understands free government. Our government is by the consent of the people, and you have to con­ vince a majority of the people that what you are trying to do is right and in their interest. If you are not a politician, you cannot do it . . .,;96

94 Ibid., p. 3.

^Truman, Memoirs. I, 328.

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He appeared to have had the same attitude toward the appointment of

women. He valued both professional qualifications and governmental

experience, but he considered political experience essential. He was

proud of the appointments of women he made, particularly in foreign

affairs, a major concern of his administration, and of the unique 97 qualifications which those women possessed.^' As with Roosevelt,

Truman's Cabinet members had differing views regarding the appoint­

ment of women, and he would not' force a woman appointee on an un­

willing administrator. "Truman was quite willing to consider a quali­

fied woman for any post, always provided that the Cabinet members

whose department was involved would agree."98 He was even willing,

on occasion, to "sell" a potential woman appointee to a reluctant

Cabinet member, as he did when he persuaded Secretary of State Dean

Acheson to accept the appointment of Mrs. Eugenie Anderson as ambas- 99 sador to Denmark, the first woman to hold that rank.

As in the first Roosevelt administration, the attitudes toward

the appointment of women and the number of such appointments depended

upon the women's political activities and upon the women who directed

these activities. Mrs. India Edwards, who became the executive direc­

tor of the Woman's Division of the Democratic National Committee in

1948 and was elected Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

" 'Women* s Bureau Conference 1948. p. 2.

98Peggy Lamson, Few Are Chosen (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1968), p. 173.

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in 1950, had entered active politics in the 1944 campaign and sub­

sequently become executive secretary and then associate director of

the Women's Division. Like Molly Dewson, "She championed the 101 cause of qualified women with no thought of personal ambition."

President Truman was her ally, liking her "fighting spirit and her 102 persistence." Some said that President Truman surpassed the record

of Franklin Roosevelt in appointing women to high positions; he did

appoint several women to positions whieh were Sfixsts for women," but

the record shows that he did not equal Roosevelt's appointments.

Truman gave his women appointees full backing when they needed the ap-

Mrs. Edwards because she continually kept women's cause before the 104 President and the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

She was the first woman to be offered the chairmanship of the Demo­

cratic National Committee?. When William Beyle resigned in October,

1951 Truman was willing to back her if she was interested, but she

declined because she thought it was not yet time for a woman to become

chairman. Her attitude toward the "protocol" observed when women

were named to important posts is exemplified by her response to Mrs.

Georgia Neese Clark, a Democratic National Committeewoman from Kansas

10°DD, XXVII (June-July, 1950), 19. 101Ibid.

^^Roosevelt and Hickok, Women of Courage, p. 27.

103DD, XXVII (June-July, 1950), 19. 104Ibid.

^^Roosevelt and Hickok, Women of Courage, pp. 27-28.

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since 1932, whose appointment as Treasurer of the United States, a

first for women, Mrs. Edwards had suggested and secured from President

Truman. Mrs. Clark, favorably inclined to accept the appointment,

nevertheless thought she should call the Democratic National Commit­

teeman from Kansas before accepting. "Nonsense," snapped Mrs. Edwards,

"would he call you?"^^^

The number of women delegates and alternates at the Democratic

National Convention in 1948 in Philadelphia increased over that of the

1944 convention and women were very much in evidence in all phases of

the convention. Major convention addresses were made by Mrs. Edwards,

visually enlivening her speech on the cost of living by opening a box,

the lid of which represented the price controls kept on by the Demo­

crats, and releasing a balloon on a string, vividly showing the assem­

bled delegates what happened to prices when the Republicans removed

price controls; Frances Perkins, then head of the Civil Service Com­

mission, philosophizing about politics; Mrs. Tillett, Vice Chairman

of the Democratic National Committee, speaking on international coop­

eration and foreign policy; Congresswoman Mary Norton, urging women

to greater political efforts; and Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas,

who two years hence would lose a campaign for the Senate to Richard

Nixon, receiving enthusiastic applause with her political speech on

^^Lamson, Few Are Chosen, p. 173.

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the major issues of 1948.10^ The 1948 Democratic platform advocated

both the "submission of a constitutional amendment on equal rights for

women" and "equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex."*^8

The women were ready and eager for the political battle ahead.

Prior to convention time, the women had been working toward organiza­

tion, cooperation, information, and registration. According to former

Representative Chase Going Woodhouse of Connecticut, who was also ex­

ecutive director of the Women’s Committee of the Democratic National

Committee, the women were well aware that elections were not won in 109 Washington, but in the field. For that reason, the Committee ar­

ranged many meetings throughout the country with Democratic women.

Mrs. Edwards reported to the Committee in 1948 that the women were

continuing to try to get Democratic women registered and to the polls,

and line tip independent voters for the Democrats:

Now there are more women than men who are so-called independent voters, who swing back and forth, particularly in Presidential elections. Millions of these independent women voters voted with Democrats when Franklin Roosevelt was alive, and it wasn’t just because he had such great personal charm and the most marvelous radio voice in the world. It was because the women of the Demo­ cratic Party took the trouble to inform women in the country as to what Franklin Roosevelt was trying to do.*^

She noted that women had the same job to do in 1948 and were engaged

Democratic Party, Democracy at Work. Being the Official Re­ port: of the Democratic National Convention, July 12-14, inclusive?. 1948: Resulting in the Nomination of Harry S. Truman of Missouri for President and Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky for Vice President (Philadelphia: Demo­ cratic National Committee, 1948), pp. 48-59, 83-89, 127-142.

108Ibid., p. 177 109Ibid., pp. 396-397. 110Ibid., pp. 396, 453.

^ ^Democracy At Work, p. 451.

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in using dozens of women in the field to explain and talk about Truman

and the continuation and extension of the New Deal. The women con­

ducted a campaign school and speakers' seminars while the convention

was in progress, they distributed new political leaflets, guide book, 112 and the latest issue of The Democratic Digest. The women were

raising money for these activities through the distribution of Donkey

Banks which they hoped would be filled with contributions. Mrs.

Edwards concluded her report to the members of the Democratic National

Committee by reminding them that there were 1,700,000 more women of

voting age than men, a remark which emphasized the possibly crucial

importance of women's political work. Mrs. Tillett made this crystal

clear in her renarks:

I know some of the ablest politicians in the country are the women of the Democratic National Committee. This is going to be a hard fought campaign. If we win this campaign, those women must be used. They will add votes to the Democratic victory in November . . . I urge you to use them and to give then recognition when that victory comes in November.11^

The women contributed to the upset victory in 1948.

The Appointments: What. How Many, and Why

Most of the appointments of women during the Roosevelt and

Truman administrations were made for political reasons in the same

way that appointments of men to such positions are made. Some women

were appointed for their professional qualifications alone. Many of

the appointees had been politically active and most were well qualified

112Ibid., p. 453. 113Ibid., p. 482.

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for the positions to which they were appointed. In the words of Molly

Dewson, who considered it her first duty after the election was won in

November, 1932 to get government positions for women who had helped

put the Democrats back in power, "Many of these women are able and as­

tute. Women who have worked up in politics through their own Initia­

tive often acquire realistic wisdom of a superior order. Stuffed

shirtwaists and glamour girls are another story."11^

Molly Dewson was not interested in securing positions for

"stuffed shirtwaists and glamour girls," but her papers show that she

tried to match the qualifications of deserving women to the require­

ments of the positions available.11^ She believed that Roosevelt was

"determined to show his confidence in the ability 6f women," and she

was determined that women "would not be forced to content themselves

with token payments as they had in three Republican administrations

since we had won the right to vote."^^ In fact, Miss Dewson believed

that if Roosevelt had not been absorbed night and day in his recovery

plans, even more would have been appointed.*^-7 Women were at last .

given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability, and Dewson believed

that they did so: "I believe the work of the women I have listed can-

pared well with that of the best men and was much better than the -

114 Mary Dewson, "Advance of Democratic Women," DD, XVII, (June- July, 1940), 90. 115 See comments on lists of deserving women in Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

U 6 Dewson, "Advance of Democratic Wanen," 90.

117Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 127-140.

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average man's performance." The appointment of Frances Perkins as

the first woman Cabinet member, an appointment which had been suggested,

promoted, and endorsed by Dewson and a number of women labor leaders,

social workers, and those familiar with Miss Perkins' work in New York

State, was an example of an appointment made on the basis of profes­

sional qualifications and experience rather than on partisan political 119 activity.

Miss Dewson’s determination to secure recognition for key women

whose political work deserved recognition brought the appointment of 120 over one hundred women during the early New Deal years. She drew

up a list of sixty-five women in early 1933 and submitted this list,

and subsequent ones, to the White House upon the requests of the 121 President and the First Lady. Altogether, Dewson submitted the 122 requests of "150 women, some for trifling appointments." Until

January, 1934, she did little else than press the claims of the women 123 who deserved appointments. She discussed her lists with Jim Farley

but claimed, "I do not think I was hindered by my quaint political

118Ibid., 140 119 Ibid., 7-8; Roosevelt and Hickok, Women of Courage, p. 187. 120 Dewson, "An Aid To The End," I, 127-140.

^ i s t s of women, dated April, 1933, October 23, 1933, and March, 1934, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

"^Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, June 29, 1933, January 26, .1934, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 123 Dewson, "Advance of Democratic Women," 90.

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belief that no Democratic women of political status had to be 'cleared'

by whoever Farley considered the head man of her state. I never 124 cleared a single one." When Farley asked if he might appoint a

woman not on the lists, she replied:

. . . I said I was a realist and after the women who have done organizing work in the campaign and who axe the women we shall have to count on in the Congressional campaigns are adequately taken care of according to their really rather simple requests and, second, after the women who are not organizers, but rather important personalities in the Party and who reflect a great deal of credit on it are taken care of, I have no objection to the most pressing importunities of the boys for their girl friends who have done nothing but hinder the development of a real party organization in the state, being taken care of in modest numbers.

Her political motivation was strong; she wanted to build up support

for the social programs of President Roosevelt and the New Deal by

educating voters and securing his re-election.^"2^ To do this, she

had to make women enthusiastic voter-getters, and this required

recognition and reward for their past contributions to the party.

She wrote Marvin H. MacIntyre, the President's Secretary, that sane

men apparently only wanted to appoint women who had done nothing for

the Party: "Mac, I am not a feminist. I am a practical politician 127 out to build up the Democratic Party where it sorely needs it."

124Dewson, "An Aid To The End," I, 125.

^2^Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

126Dewson, "An Aid To The End," I, 1. 127 ’ Dewson to MacIntyre, February 5, 1934, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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Miss Dewson knew the internal politics of several state Democratic

political organizations and the problems for patronage when two or

more factions competed for predominance within state Democratic

organizations.^® She wanted active, effective women, rather than 129 figure-head types, appointed.

The types of positions in which these women were placed

cover the entire range of the Federal government and federally

supported agencies within the states. There were the traditional

patronage positions such as Collectors of Customs, registrars in

district land offices, commissioners in the Immigration and

Naturalization Service, and postmasters. Women won positions in

the various district and field offices and on the boards set up by

New Deal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration,

Civil Works Administration, Works Progress Administration, National

Recovery Administration, National Youth Administration, and on the

Washington staffs of these agencies. Women secured appointments in

the administration of District of Columbia schools, in the Tennessee

Valley Authority, and in the Home Owners Loan Corporation. Women were

appointed to positions in the traditional departments of government

as well, and were especially numerous in the Treasury and Labor

Departments.^-®® The irumber of positions which women secured is

"^®Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 129 _.

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remarkable ir. view of the fact that men with Congressional and party

backing were energetically competing for every one.*31

Some of the most interesting and significant appointments of

women to positions dealing with domestic affairs in the executive

branch of government during the Roosevelt years are as follows:

Mrs. Annette Abbot Adams, of California, appointed Assistant

Special Counsel for the United States to assist in the Kern County

oil litigation in 1935 and Special Assistant to the United States

Attorney General to conduct condemnation proceedings in 1940. She

had been the first woman to serve as Assistant Attorney General, ap­

pointed by President Wilson in 1920. In 1942, she was appointed 132 judge of the third district California Court of Appeals.

Miss Stella Akin, of Georgia, appointed Special Assistant to 133 the Attorney General in 1933. She was a lawyer from Savannah.

Mrs. Marion Glass Banister, originally from Virginia but a

resident of the District of Columbia for many years, appointed Assis­

tant Treasurer of the United States in August, 1933. She had been a

founder and editor of The Democratic Bulletin, and later editor of 134 The Washingtonian magazine.

13lIbid., I, 136. 132 Ibid., I, 128; DD, XIII (March, 1936), 26; Virginia Rishel, "Twentieth Century Minervas," DD, XV (January, 1938), 22.

133Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 129; DD, VIII (October, 1933), 9; Rishel, "Twentieth Century Minervas,"..DDy XV (Janaury, 1938), 22-24.

134Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, VIII (September, 1933), 9. “

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Mrs. Emily Sewell Blair, originally from Missouri but also a

resident of Washington for many years, appointed to the National Re­

covery Administration Advisory Council representing the Consumers'

Advisory Board in 1933. She had been vice chaixman of the Democratic

National Committee. 133

Mrs. Hattie W. Caraway, Senator from Arkansas from 1931 to

1944, appointed as a member of the Employees Compensation Appeals

Board in early 1945, after her defeat in the 1944 primary election by

Representative J. W. Fulbright. ^38

Miss Jo Coffin, of New York, appointed assistant to the Public

Printer at the Government Printing Office in 1934. She had been a

printer and copy cutter at the New York World, and had assisted Mrs. 137 Roosevelt in sane relief projects.

Miss Mary Williams Dewson, of New York, appointed to the

Social Security Board in 1937.138

Dr. Harriet Elliott, of North Carolina, appointed Consumer

Advisor of the National Defense Advisory Commission in 1940. She was

Dean of the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina and

had directed the Reporter Plan educational activities for the Demo­

cratic National Committee in 1935 and 1936. She was named an

*33DD, XIII (July, 1935), 9; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 133.

136DD, XII (March, 1945), 20.

^~3^Ibid., IX (September, 1934), 23; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 129.

138Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 130.

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1 3 9 administrator of the Office of Price Administration in 1941.

Miss Jane Hoey, of New York, appointed first director of the

Bureau of Public Assistance of the Social Security Administration in 140 1936. She had organized this branch.

Mrs. Lucy Somerville Howorth, of Mississippi, appointed to the

Board of Veterans' Appeals in 1937. She was a lawyer and member of

the Mississippi state legislature, a daughter of the first woman mem- 141 ber of that body.

Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, of Alabama, appointed head of the

Women's Section of the National Recovery Administration in 1934. She

was a former suffragist who had been a member of the Democratic Nation- 142 al Committee since 1920.

Mrs. Florence Kerr, of Iowa, appointed a regional director of

the Women's Division of the Works Progress Administration in 1934; she

became assistant administrator of the WPA in 1937, and after the exec­

utive reorganization in 1939, Assistant Commissioner, Work Projects 143 Administration of the Federal Security Agency.

^^DD, XVII (June-July, 1940), 18-20; XXIV (August-September, 1947), 30. 140 Ibid., XIII (March, 1936), 16; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 130.

141Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, XXVIII (April-May., 1951), 11. “ 142 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 138; E. M. Clement, "Women in the NBA," DD, IX (October, 1934), 9. 143 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 133; DD, XIII (June, 1936), 23; XVI (January, 1929), 3.

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Miss Mary LaDame, Of New York, appointed special assistant to

Secretary of Labor Perkins in 1938. She had been appointed in 1934 by

Secretary Perkins as associate director of the United States Employ­

ment Service in New York. She had known both Miss Perkins and Miss

Dewson in her work as an employment specialist in New York and in her 144 research studies with the Russell Sage Foundation.

Miss Katharine Lenroot. of Wisconsin, appointed director of

the Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor, in 1934. She had

been the assistant of Grace Abbot, former head of the Bureau, who re-

signed.^ 145

Mrs. Lucille Foster McMillin, of Tennessee, appointed to the

Civil Service Commission in 1933. She was the wife, and widow, of

Benton McMillin, Democratic National Committeeman from Tennessee, who 146 had also served as governor and ambassador to Paris.

Mrs. Frieda Miller, of New York, appointed head of the Women1 s

Bureau in the Department of Labor in 1944, when Mary Anderson resigned. 147 She had been industrial commissioner in New York.

Mrs. Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie, of Tennessee, appointed a special

assistant for Air Intelligence, National Advisory Committee for Aero­

nautics in 1933. She had won the cross-country aviation race in 1929

144 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, X (September, 1934), 9-10; XVII (January, 1940), 3.

145DD, XVII (February, 1940), 3. 146 Ibid.. VIII (December, 1933), 11; XIII (March, 1936), 6; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128. 147 DD, XXI (June-July, 1944), 31.

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and been picked by Mrs. Roosevelt as one of the twelve women contri­

buting to the progress of the world. She conducted flying barnstcrm-

img tours for Roosevelt in the campaigns of 1932 and 1936. In 1941

she joined the joint WPA-CAA-Office of Education program to train 148 5,000 ground service men for defense.

Mrs. Bernice Pyke, of Ohio, appointed Collector of Customs for

District 41 with headquarters in Cleveland in 1936. Mrs. Pyke was the

leader of Ohio women Democrats and a Democratic National Committee- 149 woman.

Miss Josephine Roche, of Colorado, appointed assistant secre­

tary of the Treasury and director of the United States Public Health

Service in 1934. She was the owner of a? coal company which had pio­

neered in progressive labor policies, ran for governor of Colorado,

and was defeated, in 1934.*^

Mrs. Anna M. Rosenberg, of New York, appointed regional direct­

or of the New York Social Security Board in 1937, and regional director

of the War Manpower Commission in 1943.

Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross, of Wyoming, appointed director of the

Mint in 1933. Mrs. Ross had been the first woman governor, a Democratic

148Ibid,, XII (April, 1935), 8; IX (February, 1934), 9; XVIII (March, 1941), 16; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128. 149 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, XXVCCMay, 1948), 9.

150Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, X (July, 1924), 11; XIV (December, 1937), 26.

151DD, XXVII (December, 1950-Jandary, 1951), 13.

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152 National Committeewcman, and head of the Women1 s Division.

Miss Hilda Worthington Smith, of New York, appointed a specia­

list in workers' education in the Federal Emergency Relief Administra­

tion in 1933. Miss Smith had been director of the Bryn Mawr Summer 1 S3 School for Women Workers in Industry from 1921 to 1933.

Mrs. Carroll L. Steward, of California, appointed to the Vet­

erans' Board of Appeals in 1934. She was the widow of a Spanish-Amer-

ican war veteran, had been active in Democratic politics since being

an alternate at the 1912 convention, and served twelve years on the 154 Veterans' Board of Appeals.

Mrs. Jewell W. Swofford, of Missouri, appointed chairman of

the United States Employees' Compensation Commission in 1933. She had

been a Kansas City civic leader and worker in the Democratic campaigns

of 1928, 1930, and 1932, and secretary of the state Democratic Commit­

tee in 1930 and 1932. She served three six year terms on the Compen­

sation Commission.

Mrs. Ellen Sullivan Woodward, of Mississippi, appointed direc­

tor of Women's Activities of the Works Progress Administration in 1933.

152 Ibid., VIII (September, 1933), 9; Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128.

^^Hilda W. Smith, "People Come First - A Report of Workers' Education in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, The Civil Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration 1933-1943" (unpublished manuscript, copy available in the Smith papers, Roosevelt Library, 1952), pp. 18-19. 154 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, X (August, 1934), 15: XXVIII (August-September, 1951), 11.

155Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, XXII (March, 1945), 20.

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She later became assistant administrator of WPA, and was appointed to

the Social Security Board in 1938 when Mary Dewson resigned.

This is not a complete list of the women appointed during the

Roosevelt administration; Miss Dewson, who listed over one hundred

women appointed to various positions in her unpublished autobiography,

says that her list is incomplete.Nevertheless, some general ob­

servations about the appointment of women during the Roosevelt admin­

istrations can be made. The women were clustered in two traditional

departments of the government and in New Deal agencies. Miss Perkins -

brought in a number of women with whom she had worked in New York.

The inroads which the women secured at the Treasury Department were

significant because many of the positions they occupied, and more,

have been filled by women ever since.Harry Hopkins brought in a

number of professional women who were instrumental in setting up a 159 broad range of creative relief programs. The appointment of women

declined after 1936, perhaps because, in the words of Miss Dewson,

nevery appointee has held tightly to his or her job and because there

has been shrinkage in most of the New Deal agencies""^ Perhaps it

156Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 128; DD, XVI (January, 1939), 10.

■^Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 127-140. 158 Frances Perkins, ’’Women’s Progress in the Treasury Depart­ ment," DD, XIV (August, 1937), 19. 159 Most of the July, 1936 issue of The Democratic Digest, XIII, is devoted to these programs.

■^^Dewson to Mrs. Gretchen Dau Cunningham, February 14, 1938, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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was also because Miss Dewson herself was no longer around to press for

the appointment of women.

Mention should certainly be made of the women appointed to po­

sitions dealing with foreign affairs during the Roosevelt administra­

tion. Mrs. Ruth Bryan Owen was named minister to Denmark in 1933, and

Mrs. Florence Jaffray (Daisy) Harriman was named minister to Norway

in 1937, the first times women were named ministers. The Roosevelt

administration also made some notable appointments to the judiciary:

Miss Carrick M. Buck was appointed to the Circuit Court of Hawaii in

1934; Miss Fay Bentley was appointed to the District of Columbia Ju­

venile Court in 1933, but had some difficulty winning Senate confir­

mation which came in 1934; Miss Marion J. Harron, of California, was

appointed to the United States Board of Tax Appeals, now the Tax Court,

in June, 1936 for a twelve year term; and Judge Florence E. Allen, of

Ohio, a former judge on the Ohio Supreme Court, was appointed to the

United States Circuit Court of Appeals in 1934, the highest such ap­

pointment of a woman up to that time.

President Truman did not make as many important and signifi­

cant appointments of women as did President Roosevelt, for several

reasons: there were many holdovers from the Roosevelt administrations

who continued in office tinder Truman; conditions in the country and

the programs of the Truman administration did not provide the same

wide-open opportunities which existed under Roosevelt; less political

^"4)ewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 127.

162Ibid.. I, 127; DD, IX (March, 1934), 10; (April, 1934), 8; XIII (September, 1936), 14.

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mileage accrues from appointments of women to positions which hasre

been previously held by women than from "first" appointments for

women, and there was less incentive to make them. Finally, for what­

ever the reason, women gave up their wartime jobs and returned to

homemaking in large numbers.Many of the Truman appointments were

promotions, or reappointments, of women who had entered government

service during the Roosevelt years. His administrations were concerned

with foreign affairs and therefore, many of his appointments of women

were to various international commissions and agencies.

The most interesting and significant Truman appointments were

the following:

Dr. Leona Baumgartner, appointed associate chief of the

Children's Bureau in the Federal Security Agency in 1949. She

succeeded Dr. Martha M. Eliot, who resigned to become assistant

director general of the World Health Organization, and she served

under Katharine Lenroot. She was a pediatrician and former Assistant 164 Commissioner of Health with the New York City Health Department.

Miss Mary-Agnes Brown, of New Hampshire and Washington, D. C.,

appointed a member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals in 1949. She was

a former WAC Staff director, had been an attorney in the Veterans Ad- -

ministration legislative office, and head of Women's Affairs in the VA.165

^ ^ For one possible explanation, see Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1963), pp. 37-38.

164d d , XXVI (July, 1949), 7.

~^~*Ibid.. XXIII (March, 1946), 10-11; XXVT (August-September, 1949), 13, 23.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Mrs. Margaret Daly Campbell, of New Jersey, appointed first

woman Controller of Customs in 1952. She served under a recess ap­

pointment as Controller in New York until 1953.

Mrs. Georgia Neese Clark, of Kansas, appointed Treasurer of

the United States in June 1949 to succeed William Alexander Julian

who had been killed in an automobile accident. She was a bank pres­

ident in Richland, Kansas, and had been active in Democratic politics

since the early 1940* s.^87

Dr. Martha M. Eliot, of Massachusetts, appointed chief of the

Children's Bureau of the Federal Security Agency in 1951. Dr. Eliot

was a pediatrician who had joined the staff of the Children's Bureau

in 1924, becoming assistant chief in 1934 and associate chief in 1941.^®

Miss Frieda Hennock, of New York, appointed the first woman

member of the Federal Communications Commission in 1948. She was a

lawyer and a contributor to the Democratic Party. 7-89

Mrs. Mabelle Kennedy, of Oklahoma, appointed Assistant Treasurer

of the United States when Mrs. Banister died in 1951. Mrs. Kennedy

had been a bank director and active in Democratic politics since 1940.^7^

Mrs. Georgia L. Lusk, of New Mexico, appointed the first woman

member of the War Claims Commission in 1949. She had been elected New

166New York Times. July 29, V, p. 8 , July 30, p. 49, August 2, p. 27, 1952.

167DD, XXVI (July, 1949), 7.

168Ibid., XXVIII (August-September, 1951), 17.

169Washington Post. July 6, 1948; DD, XXXV (July, 1948), 22.

170DB, XXIX (December, 1951-January, 1952), 8.

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Mexico state superintendent of public instruction and served in the

United States House of Representatives from 1946 to 1948.'^

Miss Grace McGerr, of Nebraska, was appointed to the Employees'

Compensation Appeals Board of the Department of Labor in 1950 to re­

place Mrs. Caraway who resigned shortly before she died. Miss McGerr

was a lawyer and had been in the solicitor's office of the Department 172 of Agriculture.

Dr. Kathryn McHale. of Indiana, appointed the only woman on

the five member Subversive Activities Control Board in 1950. She had

been the executive director of the American Association of University

Women from 1929 to 1950.173

Miss Frances Perkins, former Secretary of Labor, appointed to 174 the Civil Service Commission in 1946.

Miss Lucile Petry. of Ohio, appointed first woman Assistant

Surgeon-General of the United States in 1949. She been in the Public

Health Service since 1943, heading the Division of Nursing from 1946

to 1949.175

Mrs. Anna Rosenberg, of New York, appointed the first woman

Assistant Secretary of Defense, in charge of all manpower and person­

nel problems, in 1950.^7^

^7^Ibid., XXVI (August-September, 1949), 13.

172Ibid.. XXVIII (December, 1950-January, 1951), 11.

173Ibid.. 13-14. 174Ibid., XXIII (October, 1946), 19.

175Ibid.. XXVI (July, 1949), 7.

176Ibid.. XXVIII (December 1950-January, 1951), 13.

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Miss Anna Lord Strauss, of New York, appointed to the

President's Commission on Internal Security and Individual Rights

in 1951. Miss Strauss was formerly managing editor of The Century

magazine and president of the National League of Women Voters from

1944 to 1950.177

Miss Mary E. Switzer, of Washington, appointed director of

the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Federal Security Ad­

ministration. A native of Massachusetts, she had been assistant to

Miss Roche in the early 1930's and then served as assistant to the

administrator of the Federal Security Agency.'*’78

This is not a complete list of all the Truman appointments

of women. Continued, renominated, or promoted by President Truman

were the following Roosevelt appointees: Judge Harron, Miss Hoey,

Mrs. Howorth (who became assistant general counsel of the War Claims

Commission in 1950), Mrs. Kerr, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Ross, Mrs. Swofford, 179 and Mrs. Woodward. The Truman administrations, like those of

Roosevelt, made several significant appointments of women in foreign

affairs: Mrs. Eugenie Anderson was the first woman to achieve the

rank of ambassador, as envoy to Denmark in 1949; Dean Mildred C.

Thompson of Vassar College served twice as governmental delegate to

the United Nations Education Scientific, and Cultural Organization;

177Ibid., XXVIII (February-March, 1951), 11.

l78Ibid., XXVI (July, 1949), 17; XXV (December, 1950-January, 1951), 14. 179 Ibid., XXV (March, 1948), 19; (May, 1948), 9: (July, 1948), 22; XXVI (August-September, 1949), 13; XXVIII (April-May, 1951), 11.

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Miss Dorothy Kenyon served on the United Nations Commission on the

Status of Women; "Call Me Madam” Perle Mesta served as minister to

Luxembourg; and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt headed the United Nations

Commission on Human Rights.^-88 President Truman also made some

interesting appointments of women judges: Mrs. Burnita Shelton

Matthews, a Washington attorney and active member of the National

Woman’s Party, was appointed District Court Judge for the District

of Columbia in 1949; Miss Edith H. Cockrill, of Tennessee, a former

OPA attorney was appointed a judge in the District of Columbia Ju­

venile Court in 1949; and Miss Mary C. Barlow, appointed an associate

judge of the District of Columbia Municipal Court in 1950.^8^ This

latter appointee, who received reappointments for the next twenty

years, was responsible for a public outcry in 1971 by reason of the

fact that she had rarely attended court in the previous five years,

but refused to resign. ^8^

Quality of Support Given Appointees by Administration Leadership

Support is a two-way proposition, to be given and to be re­

ceived, and at best difficult to measure or assess with any validity.

Office holders give support by the dedication they bring to their

positions and the loyalty with which they carry out administration

180Ibid., XXVI (October-November, 1949), 11; XXVIII (December, 1950-January, 1951), 17.

18W , XXVI (August-September, 1949), 13; (October-November, 1949), 11; XXVIII (March-April, 1950), 12.

^ ^Washington Post. Potomac magazine, August 16, 1970, pp. 12-13*

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policies. Once appointed, the women appear to have both given and

received at least the same measure of support men appointees gave and

received. If anything, it may have been somewhat more. Some of these

women appointees were personal friends of the Roosevelts; sane had

served often long apprenticeships in Democratic politics and were

widely known in political circles; most of the women appointees had

been singled out either for their political or professional achieve­

ments, or both. They were likely to have channels of communication,

sonetimes only social, with the White House; somewhat more during the

Roosevelt era than during the Truman years. In both administrations,

the more important appointees were given more attention and publicity,

and won greater prominence than the nature of their positions would

ordinarily entail. This was probably a result of their publicity

value, as they were the first women to hold such positions, and the

administrations* willingness to capitalize on the public interest.

The women were publicized; they reciprocated by writing, speaking, and

campaigning for the administrations.

During the Roosevelt era, Mrs. Roosevelt established a line

of communication for women appointees and men must have been aware of

it. Mrs. Roosevelt enjoyed parties, particularly those which involved

the guests in skits and entertainment.^^ She gave a number of garden

A number of such parties come to light in the papers of the women appointees who saved invitation, admission cards, and scripts of skits; sometimes they described the parties when writing to friends or relatives. For example, Mary Anderson of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, was instructed to come dressed as a laborer and make her entrance while the piano played "I’ve Been Working on the Railroad," to a White House party in December, 1935. In the skit, entitled, "Mis-trial by Per-Jury," which owed something to Gilbert and

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partiesifor women appointees and frequently invited than to White

House dinners and other official social events, such as the White

House tea honoring the King and Queen of England during their 1939

visit.Mrs. Roosevelt attended, as did the women appointees, a

large number of parties and banquets sponsored by individuals or the

Women's Division of the National Committee or the National Democratic

Women's Club— all of which provided opportunities for the women ap­

pointees to communicate their concerns to the First Lady.18^ To what

extent this communication was effective in providing support for the

women appointees in their work is open to speculation, but it did keep

in public view the concern of Mrs. Roosevelt for women appointees and

their work. The women, and the men appointees as well, were expected

to take an active part in promoting support for the New Deal and the

Democratic Party; the women made a great many political speeches and

were sometimes called upon for advice on political problems developing

Sullivan, the prisoner, Mrs. Roosevelt, is on trial for a long list of humorous political offenses, ending with the charge that she has a sense of humor. She appears in a tasteful robe of convict stripes, late for her trial because she had come by autogyro and had had six scheduled stops along the way to address people. Found guilty, her sentence concluded with this admonition, "You are hereby solennjy enjoined from thinking up any more parties for which we have to work out stunts— until a year from today." Anderson papers, Schlesinger Library.

^■8Sfiss Perkins?, Miss Anderson, Miss Lenroot, Mrs. Kerr, Mrs. McAllister (Democratic National Committee Women's Division), and Mrs. Woodward attended the tea for the King and Queen. Anderson papers, Schlesinger Library.

185A banquet given by the Women's National Democratic Club in honor of the women of the New Deal, March 23, 1939, and a dinner honoring women who hold high office, May 4, 1940 are examples of this type of social-political activity.

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within their home state Democratic committees. 188

President Truman was more outspoken on the subject of women

than his predecessor had been. He inaugurated the custom of speaking

by radio to women Democrats gathered at meetings throughout the coun­

try on Democratic Women’s Day; originally suggested by Mrs. Roosevelt

in 1939 to commemorate women1 s acceptance in the Democratic Party, it

was a day in the fall used to enthuse party workers and raise funds.187

The President was joined in his broadcast by many of his women appoint­

ees, who also addressed women Democrats. 188 Women appointees were

prominently placed at the head tables at the Jefferson-Jackson day

dinners in Washington during the Truman years, probably displacing

some men Cabinet officers.189 Mrs. Truman attended social activities

for various appointees, but there is little evidence to indicate that

Miss Dewson wrote Arthur Altmeyer of the Social Security Board requesting that he allow Miss Lavinia Engle time to talk to peo­ ple about the Board during the 1936 campaign. When he wrote back that the Social Security Board was lying low, she replied to the effect that the President had said he expected all people in the administra­ tion to talk to political meetings and that Altmeyer had better "strain a point and give her a paid vacation in September and October." Cor­ respondence dated July 9, July 14, and July 17, 1936, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. Miss Engle was a former member of the Maryland state legislature and a Democratic National Committeewoman who had finally secured an appointment at the Social Security Board. Corres­ pondence between Miss Dewson, Mrs. McMillin, and Mr. Altmeyer, dated May 21, June 6 , 1936 spell out the details of this appointment. Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

187DD, XXIV (October-November, 1947), 5-7; XXV (November, 1948), 6-8 ; XXVI (October-November, 1949), 5-6; XXVII (November, 1950), 8 ; XXVII (August-September, 1951), 24.

189Ibid., XXV (March, 1948), 18; XXVI (April, 1949), 10-14.

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190 she entertained them at the White House as Mrs. Roosevelt had done.

Attitudes of Administrations Toward Holdover Appointees

There were not many women in important federal posts when

Roosevelt became President, for the simple reason that not many women

had been appointed during the Hoover administration, but the actions

taken toward the few that there were illustrate in a small way the at­

titudes and actions of any incoming administration toward government

appointments. Political appointees traditionally submit their resig­

nations when a new administration comes in; they expect to be replaced,

particularly if the other party has triumphed. A large number of po­

sitions, however, are in the gray area between the strictly political

and the strictly Civil Service. Consequently, there is often a strug­

gle between the incoming administration which wants to appoint large

numbers of its own followers and the previous appointees who hope to

hang on to their jobs and resist being removed. New administrations

sometimes encourage holdovers to resign, even from positions which

clearly fall tinder Civil Service.

The Roosevelt administration regarded some positions held by

women as non-political and made no effort to change the women holding 191 then. These were the bureau chiefs of the Women's Bureau, Children's

Bureau, and the Home Economics Bureau. When Grace Abbot resigned as

190 Ibid., XXVI (August-September, 1949), 21.

19h e s s Furman, "What the New Deal Has Done for Women," ibid., XVII (June-July, 1940), 55.

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head of the Children's Bureau in 1934, her deputy, Katharine Lenroot,

was appointed the new chief. In the Women's Bureau, although Mary

Anderson was sympathetic to Democratic and New Deal policies, she was

a strong-minded woman who had several conflicts with Secretary of

Labor Perkins, and Perkins may well have preferred to replace her with

someone of her own choice; however, this was not done until Miss

Anderson resigned in 1944, and she was succeeded by the highly quali- 19? fied Mrs. Miller.

One woman holdover was not reappointed: Miss Jessie Deli,

despite pressure by the National Woman's Party, or perhaps because of 193 it, was not reappointed to the Civil Service Commission. Mrs.

McMillin was appointed to that position although not with Dewson's

wholehearted backing. "I know the Tennessee women have no objection

to her being appointed although they feel that the McMillins have had

a great deal of recognition and that we thought it ought to be charged

to men's rather than the women's account, for after all we are reward­

ing those women for organization work done to get the women's vote," 194 she wrote Mrs. Roosevelt. Another woman holdover, Miss Bess

Goodykoontz, was successful in maintaining her position as Assistant

Commissioner of Education in the Office of Education throughout the

New Deal years. Molly Dewson wanted her replaced by Mrs. Lulu Wolford

192 See correspondence between Miss Anderson and Miss Perkins dated November and December 1943, Anderson papers, and Dewson to Clara Beyer, July 7, 1934, Beyer papers, both in Schlesinger Library. 193 Equal Rights. April 15, 1933. 194 Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt, April 27, 1933, Roosevelt Library.

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of Nebraska. Mrs. Chase Going Woodhouse, a professor at the Univer­

sity of North Carolina, wanted the position and had the educational

credentials but Dewson thought that North Carolina women had already

been rewarded, and Nebraska women had not. Harold Ickes, under whose

jurisdiction the position fell, wanted to keep the incumbent because

of her superior standing among educators, because she was doing a

satisfactory job, because Commissioner George Zook was satisfied, and

because replacing her ■would lead to charges of playing politics. Al­

though Dewson contended that politics was the name of the game and

that Zook himself was a political appointee who had replaced a Re- 195 publican, she was unsuccessful in dislodging Miss Goodykoontz.

Mrs. Mary Tate, assistant to the Public Printer of the United States,

was replaced by Miss Coffin, but Miss Mary O'Reilly, the assistant

director of the Mint, continued in her job when she reached retirement

age in 1935 by special order of President Roosevelt.

The Truman administration generally maintained the women hold­

overs from the Roosevelt era, often reappointing them, or allowing

them to serve until they chose to resign.

Appointment of Qualified Women Withheld or Avoided

There were many women who desired political appointments who

195 Ickes to James Farley, August 25, 1933; Dewson to Mrs. Roosevelt and Oscar Chapman, December 12, 1933, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

196DD, XIII (November, 1935), 10.

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did not get them. There were simply not enough positions to go around

and the competition for each position was keen. Selectivity was used

to fit the individual to the position, to pass out the plums where

they most deserved and would do the most good for the party. Women

were breaking new ground and there was still prejudice to overcome.

There were not as many experienced and qualified women available

from which to choose.

Mrs. Adams, the first woman Assistant Attorney General

appointed by President Wilson, and special counsel to Attorney General

Homer Cummins in the Roosevelt administration, wanted to be appointed

judge of the United States District in the Northern District of Cali­

fornia in 1935, but was not able to overcome "the difficulties of

appointing a woman" perceived by Democratic men leaders, although she 197 rounded up considerable support among the women. n There was also a

drive among women to have Judge Florence Allen appointed to the Supreme

Court, but the campaign floundered.Mrs. Phoebe Omlie, who resigned

her position in 1936, was unable to secure another, despite her aerial

barnstorming for Roosevelt in the 1936 campaign, because she was persona

197 Correspondence between Annette Adams and Marion Banister, March 16, 18, and May 19, 1935, Banister papers, Library of Congress.

^®Dean Harriet Elliott to Dewson and President Roosevelt, February 28, 1939, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library; correspondence between Mary Anderson and Anna M. Kross, March and April, 1941, Ander­ son papers, Schlesinger Library; Ellen Woodward to Wilbur Cohen, October 6, 1942, Chairman’s Files 1935-42, legal decisions, Social Security Administration Records, RG 47, National Archives; Roosevelt and Hickok, Women of Courage, p. 198.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 94

199 non grata to several men. And Mrs. Lyon Childress, the Democratic

National Committeewoman from Tennessee, wanted an appointment to a

mediation board, but insisted upon a salary equivalent to that received

by Mrs. McMillin who was appointed to the Civil Service Commission.

She turned down a post secured for her by Molly Dewson because the

salary was less than Mrs. McMillin*s.Another office seeker, Mrs.

Lucy R. D. Ficklin, the states director of The Democratic Digest and

an active Democrat, wanted to get an expert rating from the Civil

Service and a position with the Social Security Board. She did not

get it and felt that Miss Hoey wanted to place her friends in positions.

Molly Dewson wrote her that this was not the case, that Miss Hoey

wanted to get people with excellent qualifications and that it was 201 a time of retrenchment. And finally, during the Truman admin­

istration, there was the appointment of Miss Frieda Hennock to be a

judge of the New York Federal District Court which was not confirmed

by the Senate. She refused a recess appointment, and remained on the 202 Federal Communications Commission until her term expired.

*******

The times in which both the Roosevelt and Truman administra­

tions operated were conducive to change; but women were not able to

199. Dewson to Phoebe Omlie, April, 1937, Roosevelt Library.

200. Dewson to Childress, April, 1934, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

, Dewsonuewson andana Lucyu Ficklin, December 7, 12, 1936, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

202New York Times. June 12, 1951, p. 1; October 16, 1951, p. 36; November 2, 1951, p. 1.

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capitalize on that need for change and win political equaligy. Both

Roosevelt and Truman and some of their influential advisers were in­

clined to accept women on an equal basis, yet after two decades women

were not politically equal. At the beginning of those two decades,

women were not strongly entrenched in the political parties, nor were

they united in seeking the goal of political equality. At the end of

those two decades, women had won a strong position in the political

parties, but they were still disunited on the goal of political equal­

ity. During those two decades, women had vigorously participated in

the political process and had been appointed to a wide range of sec­

ondary offices, but these offices had not led to top level status.

Could it be that women did not give a good account of themselves in

their appointive offices? The study of the records of a small repre­

sentative group of these appointees which follows will show that they

performed very well indeed. It must be concluded then, that the ex­

planation for women’s failure to win political equality during the

Roosevelt and Truman administrations must lie elsewhere.

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TABLE I

Women in State Legislatures, 1920-1953

Year Number Year Number Year Number

1920 29 1929 149 1945 234 1922 33 1931 146 1946 234 1923 84 1933 132 1947 211 1924 86 1935 129 1948 217 1925 126 1937 140 1950 218 1926 130 1939 130 1951 235 1927 124 1941 140 1952 235 1928 126 1943 162 1953 289

Source: Republican Party, Women in Public Service (Washington, 1957).

TABLE II

Participation of Women in National Political Conventions, 1920-1948

Year Republicans Democrats

Delegates Alternates Delegates Alternates

1920 27 129 93 206 1924 128 289 200 294 1928 63 262 140 271 1932 85 305 199 267 1936 58 210 219 302 1940 78 231 208 270 1944 99 264 174 332 1948 112 254 192 391

Sources: Official Proceedings, Republican and Democratic National Con­ ventions, 1920-1948; Fisher and Whithead, p. 896; The Democratic Digest, March 1940. Note: The number of delegates and alternates is not an^ac- curate measure of the voting strength of the women because many dele­ gates have only fractional votes: %, %, etc.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 97

TABLE XXX

Women on Major National Convention Committees

Permanent Rules & Order Platform & Year Credentials Organization of Business Resolutions

Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem.

1924 14 7 2 12 9 1 0 0 1928 1 6 2 3 5 3 0 0 1932 9 3 5 2 2 2 1 1 1936 5 9 2 3 4 4 1 1 1940 7 0 0 8 4 0 0 1 1944 4 5 3 5 6 0 30 42 1948 5 3 2 3 2 5 46 47

Sources: Fisher and Whithead, "Women and National Party Organizations," 907-912, for years 1924-1944; Official Proceedings, Republican and Democratic Conventions, 1948.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER III

MOLLY DEWSON

Mary Williams Dewson, never called anything but Molly, had

by 1928 a character, personality, and philosophy compatible with the

Roosevelt circle. Her experience, ability, and interests dovetailed

with Roosevelt's needs, plans, and ambitions; she was one of the

faithful associates who were drawn into, and contributed to, the

success of the New Deal. Molly was a col lege-educated product of an

old New England family; a spinster who became a social worker and re­

former; a self-confident woman who never doubted her equality with

men. She did not originate reforms but found her milieu in the fore­

front of the struggle for their enactment. She was a woman of action

who could attract adherents to a cause, arouse their enthusiasm, and

organize and educate them, although she occasionally wearied of the

tedium of prolonged and unrewarded struggles.

Miss Dewson took to politics at the age of fifty-four with

a skill blended of experience, earnest conviction, and natural endow­

ment. Her wide contacts and influence among social reformers through­

out the country and her faith in stressing issues rather than emotions,

combined with political intuition and skill and absolute loyalty to

Roosevelt and the Democratic Barty, made her especially valuable to

98

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 99

the Roosevelt administration. Miss Dewson was convinced that women

generally possessed both the vested interests and the abilities to

uplift society by promoting social reforms. She herself certainly

did so and as the first woman to serve as a member of the Social

Security Board she was able to use her experience and ability to

promote a major reform program. With her pince-nez eyeglasses

pinching her high-bridged nose, buxom solid figure, and sensible

shoes, Molly Dewson might have been mistaken for a caricature of

a club woman in a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine, but her in­

tellect, accomplishments, and social conscience were anything but a

joke.

Her Background

Molly Dewson, born February 18, 1874, at Quincy, Massachusetts,

was a descendant of Colonel Joseph Williams, an early American who was \ an Indian fighter, a member of the General Court of Massachusetts, and

had protested to Governor Hutchinson against the landing of tea in pre-

Revolutionary days.'*' She attended Dana Hall, a preparatory school, and 2 was graduated from Wellesley College in 1897. Her first job was in

economic research for the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union in

Boston. During the years from 1897 to 1900, she compiled statistics

on women's wages and hours which were later published by the Massachu-

i)ewson publicity, biographical material, Democratic National Consaittee, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

2Ibid.

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setts Bureau of Labor Statistics. She discovered that women preferred

factory work to the safer domestic jobs because they neededrthe greater

wages to support themselves and their families.^ She followed that

job with a twelve year stint as Superintendent of the Girls' Parole 4 Department of Massachusetts. She began to realize that governmental

action was necessary to solve some of the problems she was encounter­

ing as a social worker and that woman suffrage would be desirable, as

she wrote to Theodore Roosevelt in 1912:

Among my fellow social workers the increase of interest in suffrage has been most marked in the last few years. . . . we see at close range the results of defective government. . . . We know at first hand the tenements, the streets, the schools, the factories and the children who live and play and work in them. We know the laws concerning them and how they are enforced. We know all the little puttering efforts of women's leagues and societies to influence our city bosses. We are familiar with the administration of justice. . . . Social workers know the defects of the present system as it touches the individual through home, school, and factory. They can see the possibilities lying in a more creative policy in recreation, health, education and industry. And they are convinced women with their more truly practical and idealistic nature would be most valuable co-workers with men in matters of government.-’

In 1911, she accepted a concurrent assignment as Secretary of

the Committee on Minimum Wage Legislation for Massachusetts, develop­

ing a lifelong interest in minimum wages, a reform for social better-

^James T. Patterson, "Mary Dewson and the American Minimum Wage Movement," Labor History, V (Spring, 1964), 136.

^Dewson publicity, biographical material, Democratic National Committee, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^Dewson to Theodore Roosevelt, February, 1912, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library-

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ment only then gaining wide public attention. This committee's

final report contained recommendations for what became the first

state minimum-wage law and which in turn became a model law for

other states.^ Exhausted by her labors for minimum wages, she and

her lifelong friend and companion, Miss Mary Porter, bought property

in Berlin, Massachusetts, which they operated as a dairy farm until

both went to France in 1917 with the American Red Cross.^

The excitement of relief work in France wore off as victory

approached and Miss Dewson's duties became more bureaucratic. She

wrote a member of her family in 1918:

But this is getting to be a stupid old organizing job. It has been stupid as death for two months and I really don't know how long I can stick it out. All the fun was being with the French and the refugees and out and around turning handsprings. We were wild to go up behind the front handing out doughnuts and cigarettes to the soldiers, but not for us. They appealed to us to stand by the ship. . . . And we did, but I would like something a little more adventurous.

Furthermore, she did not find it amusing to be "running here and

there, eating with a bunch of old brokers every night." She assured

her family that "this dyed-in-the-wool old maid" was not thrown off

balance by wartime conditions.^ But she was not favorably impressed

^Patterson, "Mary Dewson," 136. ^Ibid., 143. 8 See description and pictures of the Porter and Dewson farm, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library. 9 Dewson to Nelly, October 23, 1918, ibid. Most of her letters to members of her family from France were passed around among her five brothers and their families.

^Dewson to George and Minnie, September 3, 1918, ibid.

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with military life as she observed it in France:

But the life here is completely disorientating to all the good old staid souls, and really these funny old businessmen, all tricked out in uniform, running around ordering and counter­ ordering, and saluting and majoring and captaining, are a per­ fect scream. I never thought men were any smarter than women, and I now think their organizing ability is enough to make a dressmaker smile. ^

After the Allied victory, she and Miss Porter came home, sold

the farm, and Miss Dewson accepted a position as research secretary

with the National Consumers League, an organization of middle class 12 reformers similar to herself. General Secretary of this organiza­

tion was Mrs. Florence Kelley, formerly associated with reform

Governor Altgeld in Illinois and with Jane Addams at Hull House in

Chicago, and who was herself one of the era's most famous reformers."^

Miss Dewson marshalled the facts and figures to support reforms ad­

vocated by the League, and continued her activities for minimum wage

legislation. In the 1920's, she wrote the factual part of the brief

for the District of Columbia minimum wage case, with Felix Frankfurter

writing the legal part of the brief. This effort was not successful

and Molly Dewson felt that the opinion handed down by the United States

Supreme Court was based on non-existent statements of fact. When she

12 Florence Kelley to Dewson, June 16, 1919, ibid.; Patterson, "Mary Dewson," 140. 13 Patterson, "Mary Dewson," 140; see also Josephine Goldmark, Impatient Crusader: The Biography of Florence Kelley (Urbana: Univer­ sity of Illinois Press, 1953).

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complained to Frankfurter, he told her, "Molly, you must learn that

if the United States Supreme Court says a red rose is green, it is 14 green. That's final." She also wrote the factual part of an amici

brief in support of the minimum wage law of California, being dele­

gated by the Consumers League to do so on behalf of two trade unions

and two women’s organizations.^

Miss Dewson resigned this position in 1924, apparently bored

with the frustrations of League work in an era characterized by the

maintainence of the status quo rather than change and reform and pos­

sibly with the subordinate nature of her position.^ In answer to

her letter of resignation, Florence Kelley wrote that she had, "slept

on your letter not one night but four. . . . I can’t pretend that it

comes as a surprise, you have not concealed your boredom . . . but

it’s a blow."^7 Mrs. Kelley agreed that the League offered drudgery

and delay and few worldly rewards but she thought prospects for

achievement of an eight-hour day were bright. She hoped that Molly

would propose the changes she thought desirable and stay o n . ^ Miss

Dewson continued her affiliation with the Consumers League, but not

as an employee. She served on the Board of Directors of the League

14 Dewson to Isador Lubin, April 16, 1957, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library..

15Ibid.

^Kelley to Dewson, February, 1924, ibid.

17Ibid. 18Ibid.

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from 1919 to 1932 and as President and chairman of the committee on

labor legislation of the New York Consumers League from 1927 to 1932,

these being leadership positions entailing more prestige than remunera- 19 tion. She evidently had independent means of support and was not

compelled by necessity to continue any particular job. She accepted

only those positions in which she was interested and she resigned when

they were no longer challenging to her.

During the years from 1924 to 1927, she was occupied with -a

number of liberal organizations in voluntary capacities, one of which

was the Women's City Club of New York, an organization which drew its

membership from the ranks of educated, middle class, emancipated, en- 20 franchised women eager to use their new status for worthwhile causes.

Miss Dewson was civic secretary of this club when Mrs. Roosevelt was 21 vice president. The two shared many interests and became good

friends. Mrs. Roosevelt asked Molly to help with the 1928 election

campaign, which she did, and she was thereafter occupied with various 22 political and governmental posts until she retired to Maine in 1939.

After Mrs. Roosevelt recruited her for work in the 1928 cam­

paign, Miss Dewson used the party appreciation of her efforts to re­

quest the Governor-elect, Franklin Roosevelt, to do two things: back

"^Dewson publicity, biographical material, Democratic National Committee, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. Of) Ibid.; Lash, Eleanor and Franklin, pp. 288, 310.

^^Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 5.

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a minimum wage law for New York, and appoint Frances Perkins, who

was at that time the head of the New York Child Labor Department, 23 Industrial Commissioner. Thereafter, she often suggested policies

and programs to Roosevelt, for example, in early 1933 she sent him

a letter urging that he support minimum wage and maximum hour laws 24 in all the states. She remained absolutely loyal to the President,

however, whether or not he followed her advice. She believed in,

and worked hard for, the child labor amendment during the 1930’s and

wrote Frances Perkins, ”1 wish Franklin thought it wise and good 25 politics to speak for the amendment."

During the years she spent as director of the women’s division

of the Democratic National Committee, from 1932 to 1937, Miss Dewson

continued to live in New York City, working from the Democratic head­

quarters in that city, although she was frequently in Washington.

She was called upon to serve as a public representative on the Advisory

Council of the Committee on Economic Security. It was this committee,

established by a Presidential executive order June 29, 1934 which con­

sidered the problem of economic security and made the recommendations

which resulted in the Social Security Act. Frances Perkins, as Seere-

23 Dewson to Lubin, April 16, 1957, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library. 24 Dewson to Franklin Roosevelt, not dated, probably February, 1933, ibid. 25 Dewson to Perkins, February 6, 1934, and folder containing correspondence on the Child Labor Amendment, 1937, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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tary of Labor, served as chairman; other members were the Secre­

taries of the Treasury and Agriculture Departments, the Attorney

General, and the Relief Administrator. A Technical Board, under

the chairmanship of Assistant Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Altmeyer

and the executive direction of Edwin E. Witte, employed many

experts in preparing studies for the Committee’s consideration

during the summer and fall of 1934.2^ Both Altmeyer and Witte

were from Wisconsin, a state which had pioneered in social 27 legislation. The Advisory Council, composed of representatives

from labor, industry, and the public met during November and

December, 1934 to consider the reports of the Technical Board and

to assist the Conanittee in shaping the final recommendations which

would be submitted to the President and, ultimately, the Congress.

Miss Dewson attended meetings, read reports, and acted as chairman

for one of the Advisory Council discussion groups, which gave her

inside knowledge of the origins of the social security system.

See folder, Members of the CES, in CES Organization files, Records of the Social Security Administration, Record Group 47, National Archives. (Hereinafter abbreviated SSA, RG 47, NA; the records will be referred to by record group number only). 27 Arthur J. Altmeyer, The Formative Years of Social Security (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1961), preface; Edwin E. Witte, The Development of the Social Security Act, with a foreword by Frances Perkins and an introduction by Wilbur J. Cohen and Robert J. Lampman (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1962); see also Theron F. Schlabach, Edwin E. Witte: Cautious Reformer (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1969).

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Her Attitude Toward the Position

The Social Security Act was the culmination of the work of

hundreds, if not thousands, of reformers over a period of more than

thirty years. Molly Dewson was one of those reformers and she ex­

pressed her delight when the first Board members were appointed: "I

cannot believe I have lived to see this day. It’s the culmination of

what us girls and some of you boys have been working for so long it’s

just dazzling,” she wrote.^

From the beginning, Miss Dewson had insisted that at least

one woman should be appointed to the Social Security Board. The

Board was set up as an independent agency, with members representing

both parties appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

As a result of action in Congressional committee, the Board was not

placed in the Department of Labor as originally recommended. Both

Altmeyer and Witte, each of whom has been referred to as the "Father

of Social Security," suggest that the Board was given independent

status because of Congressional antipathy toward the Department of

Labor and its Secretary, Frances Perkins, because she was a woman and 29 because she did not cooperate sufficiently on Congressional patronage.

Whether this antipathy had any bearing on the fact that the first

Dewson to Altmeyer, August 25, 1935, Appointments, Chair­ man's Files, EG 47, HA. 29 Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 36-37; Witte, Development of the Social Security Act, pp. 36-37, ix. Witte declined the title, as did Altmeyer, who remarked, ". . . what really happened was that I was the man on whose doorstep Ed Witte left the bastard . . ."y in Schlabach, Edwin Witte: Cautious Reformer, p. 157.

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tions that at least one woman be appointed, is not known. Altmeyer

requested her recommendations for Board membership and she replied

that she had already written the President suggesting Mrs. Grace

Morrison Poole as the Republican member of the Board. Her reply to

Altmeyer expressed her concern for winning public support for the

program. She wrote of Mrs. Poole:

She has enormous prestige with the women as executive President of the General Federation of Women1 s Clubs. She is planning to lecture but I think would like very much to have a prominent civic job of this sort. In the past the Republican Party has always captured the Presidents of the General Federation as soon as they left office by giving them positions with the utilities, movies, etc., where they have been rather disgraced. Politically this would be A No. 1 stroke. Mrs. Poole seems to me a sensible, able, well balanced woman, and I understand rather favors the New Deal. . . . Certainly her personality goes well with any group of persons. I should be willing to bet on her. . .

Taking note of the fact that Vice President Garner was pushing the

appointment of Texas State Senator Margie Neal, Molly commented, "I

wrote FDR that if he had to appoint Senator Neal I should put two

women on the Board.

Miss Dewson did not, however, see her role as one of promoting

support of the Act solely because of its obvious benefits to women.

In a radio speech on the subject, "What the Social Security Act Means

to Women," she told her listeners:

Frankly at first I was not enthusiastic about this title. My first reaction was: "Here it is again, the so-called 'woman's

30 Dewson to Altmeyer, July 9, 1935, Appointments, Chairman'; Files, RG 47, NA.

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angle'"— an angle, if that is the word— which in most things has existence mainly in the imagination, rather than any foundation in fact. My experience has been that most "angles" are artificial. I know thaf in the Social Security Act you can't point your finger and say this is the women^s angle. And over there is the men's angle. Social Security doesn't mean that, and it doesn't work that way.^

Furthermore, she continued, the Act was to benefit everyone, ". . .

it is a new kind of group insurance— the family group . . . we have

taken sane of the uncomfortable ruggedness out of rugged individualism."^

As a Board member, she was in a position to increase the coverage of

the Act and extend its benefits more widely:

. . .the Act now has its limitations. . . . We who have the duty of administering the Social Security Act know these restrictions. We,too, want to see the Act* s provisions extended to groups such as domestic and agricultural workers. We, too have been studying the possibilities of setting up additional forms of social security in the Act. We have been looking ahead, but at the same time, we have tried to perform adequately what we have to do now. Our ^4 reach should exceed our grasp— but the grasp must be firm. . . .

Perhaps, most of all, she viewed her position in the same way

she had viewed politics, as a means to achieve the goals of social

reform— the abolition of child labor, the establishment of minimum

wages, maximum hours, unemployment and old age insurance, aid to the

blind, handicapped, and dependent children. And since she believed

that "FDR was for me the great achiever of most of the things I had

worked for all my life," when he decided to appoint her to the Social

Security Board, even though she had planned to retire from public life,

32 Radio address, October 11, 1937, Speeches, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 33_,

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she accepted the assignment and gave it her best.

Her Performance

Holly Dewson was appointed to the Social Security Board

August 23, 1937. After the excellent results of the 1936 campaign

she thought that President Roosevelt did not need her anymore.

She arranged for the appointment of her successor at the Democratic

National Committee and spent some months breaking her in, after

which, she later wrote, **I was free!"^ She learned of her appoint­

ment to the Board through a letter from Mrs. Roosevelt, who wrote:

Franklin tells me that he is naming you on the Social Security Board and I am delighted for I know that this is the thing you are really best suited to do, and where they need you the most. That being a permanent set-up, the relationship of the people on the Board with Congress is very important and none of them now on seen to have the ability to establish any kind of an under­ standing. I feel you can do it.

Mrs. Roosevelt had clearly spelled out the particular responsibility

being assigned to Miss Dewson as a Board member— a mandate to improve

the relationships of the Board with menbers of Congress and with the

public. These relationships needed improvement for several reasons.

The Social Security Board had been functioning for two years

at the time of her appointment. The recommendation for legislation

^ Grace Tully to Dewson, October 7, 1947, Dewson papers, Schlesinger Library.

^Dewson to Herman Kahn, March 6 , 1959, ibid. 37 Mrs. Roosevelt to Dewson, August 17, 1937, correspondence with FDR and ER, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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submitted by the Committee for Economic Security was submitted to

Congress January 17, 1935. A bill providing for economic security

was introduced the same day. The Social Security Act was finally

passed by Congress and signed by the President August 14, 1935. The

eight month period of consideration in Congress was caused by the

amount of controversy over various features of the proposed legisla­

tion. Many people opposed any government action on social insurance;

others supported such alternate schemes as the Townsend Plan and

Huey Long's "Share the Wealth" ideas; and others feared that the

proposed law might be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme

Court, as were eight other New Deal measures between January, 1935

and May, 1936.^ Congress did not, however, appropriate funds for

Social Security and work began with funds transferred from such

other New Deal agencies as the National Recovery Administration,

declared unconstitutional, and the Federal Emergency Relief Adminis- 39 tration, merged into the Works Progress Administration. The

original members of the Social Security Board were confirmed by the

Senate August 23, 1935. They were: Governor John Winant, liberal

Republican from New Hampshire, Chairman; Vincent M. Miles, an Arkansas

lawyer; and Altmeyer, who continued as Assistant Secretary of Labor

until October because of the lack of funds with which to pay Board 40 members.

^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 20-42; Witte, Development of the Social Security Act, pp. 92-98. 39 Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, p. 44.

^°Ibid., p. 45.

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While the provision of a three member Board, not more than

two of whom could be from the same political party, had the advan­

tage of shared and more widely based responsibility for decisions and

the likelihood of greater public confidence in those decisions, it h

had the disadvantage of disagreement and difficulty in establishing 41 clear lines of authority. This became an issue in the appointment

of, and the delegation of responsibilities to, the executive director,

Frank Bane, former executive director of the National Conference of 42 Social Work. Governor Winant resigned from the Board September 30,

1936, after having served just over a year, because he wanted to be

free to defend Social Security against the attacks being made by the

Republican Party and their Presidential candidate in the election cam- 43 paign. From that time until the following summer, the Social Secu­

rity Board operated with two members, who, although of the same poli- 44 tical party, were not congenial.

The Social Security Act required that all personnel in the

agency, except attorneys and experts, be appointed through the Civil

Service system. This requirement provoked friction with members of

Congress who sought patronage positions for their friends and supporters.

41 42 Ibid., pp. 44-46. Ibid. 43 Second Annual Report, Part I, p. 11, Annual Reports, Office of the Executive Director, RG 47, NA; Republican Presidential candidate, Governor Alf M. Landon, called social security a •’fraud" and a "hoax" in a speech September 27, 1936. 4 4 Dr. Abe Bortz, Historian of the Social Security Administra­ tion, to author, December 2, 1971.

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Altmeyer lacked political experience; according to his account, he

had considerable difficulty with this problem and alienated such in­

fluential Congressmen as Fred M. Vinson, chairman of the House Ways

and Means Committee, and Senators Carter Glass of Virginia and Kenneth 45 McKellar of Tennessee. Altmeyer was a dedicated and exceptional

administrator, who became chairman of the Board and later Commissioner

of Social Security in the Federal Security Administration until after

the Republicans took over in 1953. He should be credited with the 46 success of Social Security in its first eighteen years. He attrib­

uted the Social Security Board's success in developing a highly effi­

cient organization over a short period of time to "the initial appoint­

ment, on a nonpolitical basis, of a handful of dedicated and highly

qualified top officials who were given a free hand to select equally 47 dedicated and qualified staff members, and so on down the line."

In the spring of 1937, on May 24, the Supreme Court handed

45 Altmemer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 47-50. 46 Schlabach, Edwin E. Witte: Cautious Reformer. £. 157. 47 Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 52-53. At the same time, Altmeyer did not single out for credit and praise any of the other Board members or subordinates, writing on p. 53: "I cannot hope to give adequate credit to each of these splendid public servants. Therefore, I have reluctantly concluded that it is better not to mention any of then by name in connection with the important decisions and actions which spelled the difference between success and failure in this great administrative under­ taking." This is unfortunate, for it depersonalizes his account and leaves the impression that he is taking the credit which should properly be shared with many others, including Molly Dewson and Ellen Woodward, who, along with many others, are not mentioned in his book.

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down a decision which held the old age insurance system to be con- 48 stitutional. The vacancy caused by the resignation of Governor

Winant was then filled by the appointment of George 0. Bigge, a

Republican who had been a professor of economics at Brown University,

and when Miles* short two year term expired August 22, Molly Dewson 49 was appointed to a full six year term.

She worked to fulfill her special responsibility— improving

the relationships of the Board with Congress, recounting in her mem­

oirs a story Illustrative of her work. She shared a taxi from Capi­

tol Hill downtown with Senator Kenneth McKellar of Tennessee, power­

ful because of seniority, and a notorious politician of the pork-bar­

rel school. He complained most of the way downtown because the ex­

ecutive director of the Social Security Board refused to appoint one

of his choices to a low grade clerkship. Molly Dewson finally got in

one word, "Shucks!" He stopped his complaining and listened to her

message; after which he told her that things probably would be better

since she was on the Board. He told her, "Don't bother with that 50 clerk. I don't care anything about him." She had succeeded in mol­

lifying the irascible Senator.

~\ In improving relationships with members of Congress, Miss

48 p, 56. 49 Altmeyer to James Roosevelt, July 6, 1937, Chairman's Files, RG 47, NA.

^°Dewson, "An Aid to the End," I, 3-4.

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Dewson was also improving relationships with state political organi­

zations which Congress represented and this was important for the

Social Security program was predominantly a cooperative federal-state

undertaking. With the exception of the old age insurance program,

which was federally sponsored, the Social Security program was based

on federal-state cooperation.^^ The establishment of such a program

entailed much opportunity for misunderstanding and friction; for the

program to be effective and successful, many problems had to be solved.

After the passage of the Social Security Act, most states passed new

laws, or modified old ones, in order to take advantage of the federal

grants available under the Act. States then applied for grants in

accordance with the terms authorized in the Federal Act.

At the time Molly Dewson joined the Social Security Board,

most of the business of the official Board meetings, which took place

three or four times a week, consisted of the consideration of re­

quests for grants from the states for old age assistance, unemploy­

ment compensation, aid to the blind, and aid to dependent children.

These requests had already been reviewed by the Social Security

Because it was federally sponsored, the old age insurance program received much criticism. For example, the "enumeration" or assignment of social security numbers to individuals, which was car­ ried out in the fall of 1936, was criticized by the Hearst press as "Snooping-Tagging" of individuals, although the Social Security Board had carefully chosen the words used and had avoided the term "regis­ tration" because it carried connotations of regimentation. The old age insurance program was also criticized because of the accumulation of a large reserve fund from the taxes paid by individuals; many feared that the federal government would mishandle such a large fund to the detriment of the economy.

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Administration professional staff, which recommended that the Board

either approve them and authorize the necessary funds, or, where

there were irregularities, bring pressure on state authorities to

conform to the requirements of the Act. Shortly after Molly Dewson

joined the Board, members of the professional staff began to attend

the official Board meetings on a regular basis and contribute to 52 the Board*s considerations.

One of the continuing problems faced by the Board was the

desire of some state authorities to use the grants for political

gain, yet in order for the program to win the confidence and support

of the citizens, it had to be administered in a fair, just, and non­

political manner. The Board had to exercise control without arousing

opposition that would endanger the success of the whole program, and

without cutting off aid to innocent persons. Not only did some state

officials seek votes through the payment of benefits to individuals,

seme also expected to staff the state and local Social Security Admin­

istrative units with their friends and followers. Congress had not

specified that states must adhere to a particular merit system because

of resistance to the Federal Government's dictating to the states;

the Board, however, tried to encourage adherance to a non-political

merit system in the staffing of state and local agencies. While Miss

Dewson was on the Board, special hearings and investigations were re­

quired in several states to correct inefficient or dishonest proce­

dures. Action was taken in Ohio to cut off the federal grant because

^Official Board Minutes, November 23, 1937, RG 47, NA.

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of the continued refusal of the Ohio Governor to cease soliciting

campaign support from the recipients of old age assistance. In

speaking of these problems, Miss Dewson deplored such dishonest

practices and told a radio audience:

If there is evidence that a state law is administered care­ lessly, inefficiently, corruptly, or with favoritism or intimi­ dation, the Social Security Board has power to withhold grants. It did so in two states, Illinois and Oklahoma, until these states mended their ways. Since withholding grants penalizes unfortunate human beings the Board dislikes to take this drastic step. It tries first to get better administration by persuading state officials of the soundness of the national standards.54

She supported the efforts of the Board to establish efficient and

fair merit systems in the states.^ This was not out of character

for her, despite her previous extensive patronage activities, for

she had always stressed the qualifications of the deserving Democrats

and tried to match job requirements with qualifications. Her own

political contacts throughout the United States and her acquaintance

with many of the social workers who were in the state administrations

aided her in attempting to correct these problems.^

Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 74-80. See also Official Board Minutes, RG 47, NA, for discussions and actions regarding irregular procedures in other states. 54 Dewson*s third anniversary address, August 13, 1938, Social Security Act, Chairman*s Files, RG 47, NA.

550fficial Board Minutes, June 29, December 6, 1938, ibid.

"^See correspondence with John Pearson, Regional Director of the Social Security Administration in Boston, Social Security Board correspondence, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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There were many technicalities involved in the work of the

Board, and despite her background Molly Dewson did not understand

all of them when she first came on the Board. She relied on Wilbur

J. Cohen, at that time a member of the professional staff, and

subsequently an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health,

Education, and Welfare, and a Professor at the University of

Michigan, for assistance. She later wrote him:

Don’t you remember when I came on the Board and was short of factual understanding . . . how I pressed a button and you stood beside me very respectfully. I never rose from my seat, grandmothers never do, do they? And you explained the techni­ cality that confounded me in words of one syllable. Well if you don’t remember, I do and always shall.

In addition to spending time in preparation for Board meetings

and in working with members of Congress, Miss Dewson spent much time

in informal meetings and conferences. Neither official nor unofficial

Board minutes show how many policy decisions were reached. Allusions

were made to prior conferences. Board action simply made previously

determined decisions official. The exact nature of the problem was

often not discussed or, at least, not recorded in either version of

the minutes. Sometimes, however, the minutes do indicate the nature

of conferences which had taken place earlier. One such example in­

volved the visit of a representative from the Oklahoma welfare admin­

istration to Miss Dewson when she was acting chairman of the Board

in Altmeyer’s absence to present a petition and discuss the requested

■^Dewson to Cohen, December, 1955, Social Security Staff, ibid.

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removal of the chairman of the Oklahoma Public Welfare Commission.^

Private conferences also preceded official personnel actions, which

were quite frequent, for the Social Security Administration was still

in the process of expanding and reorganizing its functions and staff

to achieve maximum efficiency.

A major problem faced by the Board during Miss Dewson’s ten­

ure involved the continuing criticism directed at the large reserve

accumulated by the old age insurance system during the early years

when receipts from contributions exceeded disbursements. The handling

of this reserve had become the focus of Congressional and public dis- 59 content with Social Security. Invested in federal government obli­

gations, as required by law, this reserve would result in the govern­

ment paying interest to itself.^ This criticism came at the same

time that many wanted to extend and amend the Social Security Act;

with the advice and help of the President, the large reserve problem

was solved by extending the coverage of the Act and liberalizing and

speeding up the payment of benefits. ^ Molly Dewson worked with the

Advisory Council on Social Security, appointed at the suggestion of

Official Board Minutes, June 22, 1938, EG 47, NA. See also the Informal Board Minutes, which contain a somewhat more detailed re­ port of Board discussions. These, together with official Board docu­ ments, are located at the Commissioner's office in Baltimore. 59 Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, p. 88; Witte, Development of Social Security Act, pp. 174-176.

^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, p. 88.

6lIbid.. pp. 90-92.

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Congress and representing labor, employers, and insurance specialists,

which studied the problem and submitted recommendations in December,

1938.^ It was at this time that she had the opportunity to influence

the 1939 amendments to the Act; these changed the insurance from an

old age to an old age and survivors insurance system, adding a family

protection which she had favored.^ She also actively participated

in the extension of Social Security to groups not previously covered,

such as the maritime workers. In a letter to James Roosevelt, she

described her activity:

I reached Lee Pressman immediately after seeing you and he imme­ diately got into contact with the National Maritime Union of the CIO and phoned me that the National Maritime Union of the CIO is in favor of extending the Social Security Act to the maritime in­ dustries.54

In this same letter, she listed the amendments favored by the Social

Security Board and expressed the hope that the President would urge

Congressman Robert Doughton of North Carolina to secure their passage

promptly.^

Her opportunity to influence the amendments was significant,

as was her relationship to the President. Board minutes show that

Miss Dewson often was delegated to consult with the President or James

^Federal Advisory Council Minutes, Chairman's Files, RG 47, Nfc.

^Dewson radio address, October 11, 1937, Dewson papers, Roose­ velt Library. 64 Dewson to James Roosevelt, December 13, 1937, Office of Executive Director, RG 47, NA. 65ibid.

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Roosevelt on various problems.^ She wrote that, "Arthur Altmeyer

and MWD took minor troubles to James Roosevelt when the President had

by Statute to be consulted. It saved FDR time. James did a first

class job."^ The President undoubtedly had confidence in her because

she combined a dedication to Social Security with an astute political

sensitivity and absolute loyalty to him.

Miss Dewson's special and independent work as a member of the

Social Security Board was in the nature of what might be called public

relations or liaison work— dealing with members of Congress, the Civil

Service Commission, the Department of Labor, Department of the Treas-

ur, and the White House, to promote agreements, smooth out misunder­

standings, and generally facilitate the acceptance of the Social Secu­

rity system. Activities of conciliation and coordination are, unfor­

tunately, usually not recorded, since they take place in private con­

ferences. However, she assumed specific responsibilities, as did the

other Board members. She also kept a watchful eye on women's interests,

both as beneficiaries and as employees of Social Security.

During her tenure, Miss Dewson took on the responsibility of

working out agreements with the Civil Service Commission regarding

personnel. In 1936 Senator Carter Glass of Virginia, one of the most

powerful Senators of the time, had insisted on the appointment as a

fiscal clerk of a woman who, according to Altmeyer, did not qualify as

^Official Board Minutes, October 19, 1937, January 12, 1938, ibid. 67 Handwritten note on a letter from James Roosevelt to Dewson, June 16, 1937, data as member SSB, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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an expert; when the case was referred to the Civil Service Commission,

she received an expert rating, but the Social Security Board still re­

fused to hire her, fearing similar pressures from other members of

Congress.^ Glass added a rider to the 1937 Social Security Appropri­

ation bill requiring Senate confirmation of all attorneys and experts

not appointed under Civil Service whose salaries were $5,000 or more.

This provision was also attached to the appropriation bill the follow­

ing year, thus requiring Senate confirmation for over 100 persons, and

raising problems regarding the status of experts previously hired, the

filling of vacated jobs, and recruitment and morale within the ranks

of the Social Security staff.^ The Social Security Board wanted ex­

perts not confirmed by the Senate inducted into the competitive clas­

sified civil service. Miss Dewson met with the Civil Service Commis­

sion during the fall of 1937 and reached a tentative agreement with it

on November 2, 1937. She reported a general attitude of friendliness

and willingness to cooperate with the Social Security Board on the

part of the Commission members. ^ She had helped to secure the ap­

pointment of Mrs. Lucille McMillin as a member of the Civil Service

Commission. The classification of these experts had to be on an indi­

vidual basis, however, and Miss Dewson continued to meet and correspond

^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 49-50.

^Official and Informal Board Minutes for October 22, 26, November 2, December 3, 14, 21, 1937, NA.

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with Commission members and their staffs throughout the spring of 1938.^

Her service on a committee to consider the problems of older

workers resulted in additional contact with the Civil Service Commis­

sion. A bill had been introduced into Congress requesting the Secre­

tary of Labor to make a national survey of the problems of older work­

ers; Miss Perkins requested that Molly Dewson serve on a committee to 72 carry out a preliminary survey. The committee, representing labor,

industry, and the public, met February 23 and 24, 1938. Molly Dewson

also served on a subcommittee investigating Civil Service restrictions

on older workers; she had a number of meetings and considerable corres­

pondence with Mrs. Lucille McMillin, a member of the Civil Service Com­

mission, in the spring of 1938.^ These led to a final recommendation

which proposed the removal of any and all discrimination against older 74 workers by the Civil Service Commission.

Molly Dewson was also called upon to help solve difficulties

arising between the Social Security Board and the Department of Labor.

As the states adopted unemployment compensation laws and grants for

this purpose were approved by the Social Security Board 1937 and 1938,

most states found that the state employment service offices were the

^Official and Informal Board Minutes, June 18, 1938, NA. 72 Perkins to Dewson, December 16, 1937; Dewson to Perkins, December 17, 1937; Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^ S e e correspondence in file on Committee on Older Workers, 1937-1938, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^Dewson to McMillin and L. A. Moyer, May 12, June 3, 4, 1938, Committee on Older Workers, ibid.

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natural agencies to handle unemployment compensation. These offices

were under the direction of the United States Employment Service,

which was an agency of the Department of Labor; inevitably jurisdic­

tional conflicts arose regarding the staffing, funding, administra­

tive responsibilities and operations between the Social Security Board

and the Employment Service. An agreement was worked out by the Social

Security Board and the Secretary of Labor in March 1937, which provided

that:

The Social Security Board, through the Bureau of Unemployment Com­ pensation, and the Department of Labor, through the United States Employment Service, shall act as if they were a single agency, jointly and concurrently, with respect to all matters affecting a state employment service.

Problems continued to arise, however, all during Miss Dewson's tenure

on the Board, and she was involved in trying to solve those problems.

At one point, she suggested a conference with the President to reach

a final solution.7^ While she was acting chairman of the Board, she

conferred with Frances Perkins; they reached an agreement which was

written up as a "Memorandum Concerning State Responsibility for the

Administration of State Employment Service," dated May 29, 1938.77

Secretary Perkins, however, demurred at the punctuation of the last

paragraph of this document, and the negotiations continued during the

stimmer, after Miss Dewson had indicated her intention to resign from

7^Social Security Board to the Secretary of Labor, December'6, 1938, Social Security Board Documents, Commissioner's Files, Baltimore.

7^Informal Board Minutes, April 8, 1938, ibid.

77Document D-3222, Informal Board Minutes, June 3, 1938, ibid.

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the Board. ^8 She returned in the fall and at the last meeting of the

Board which she attended, December 6, 1938, the Board approved a

strong letter to the Secretary of Labor calling to her attention the

continued refusal of the director of the United States Employment

Service to honor the agreements reached between the two agencies, and 79 requesting her to take appropriate action. If Molly Dewson, who had

promoted Frances Perkins for over a decade, could not solve the prob­

lem, it remained for the President to do so.8*"* This is exactly what

happened; early in 1939, the President suggested that Miss Perkins re­

quest the resignation of the director of the United States Employment

Service, and the USES was consolidated with the Bureau of Unemployment

Compensation to form the Bureau of Employment Security under the Social

Security Administration, which was placed in the new Federal Security

Agency.8'*'

Molly Dewson was particularly concerned with the work of the

Social Security Administration Office of Informational Services because

of the nature of her experience and her mandate to improve the ,,Imagen

of Social Security. This office was headed by Louis Resnick until the

spring of 1938, when he was replaced by Max Stem. She made suggestions

^Personal and confidential letter, Dewson to Altmeyer, June 10, 1938, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 79 Altmeyer to Perkins, December 6, 1938, Document D-3988, Infor­ mal Board Minutes, December 6, 1938, Commissioner's Files, Baltimore.

8^Roosevelt and Hickok, Women of Courage, p. 187.

^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, p. 117; corres­ pondence between Dewson and President and Mrs. Roosevelt dated April 24, 26, 1939, Presidential papers, Dewson file, Roosevelt Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 126

to generate favorable publicity based on the increased speed of the

settlement of claims and the third anniversary celebration of the

passage of the Social Security Act. She proposed distribution of

informational and educational leaflets and pamphlets through women's

organizations and any businesses which requested them for employees.

She requested the President to make a filmed fireside chat publicizing

and informing the citizens about the unemployment compensation pro­

gram— a request refused by the President because he had denied

similar requests from the WPA, the Resettlement Administration, and

the Agricultural Adjustment Administration— but she supervised pro- 82 duction of a film without the President. She wrote articles and

made numerous speeches, both in person and by radio.^ Dissatis­

faction with Resnick was discussed at the Board meeting April 11, 84 1938, but the exact nature of the dissatisfaction was not clear.

He was allowed to resign, and Max S t e m was appointed to his posi­

tion.^ Molly evidently arranged introductions for S t e m in Washing­

ton for he later wrote her, "I think your friend, Mrs. Roosevelt, is

a knockout, and I thought the President's speech was one of his

d ewson to Resnick, October 7, 16, 1937; Dewson to Curtis Publishing Company President, November 29, 1937; both in Central Files; Official Board Meeting Minutes, October 19, 21, 22, and December 14, 1937; all RG 47, NA.

^ S e e files of Dewson articles and speeches, Office of Execu­ tive Director, RG 47, NA, and in Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^Official Board Minutes, April 11, 1938, RG 47, NA; Informal Board Minutes, April 11, 1938, Commissioner*s Office, Baltimore.

^Official Board Minutes, April 11, 27, 28, 30, 1938, RG 47, NA.

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As might have been expected, the interests of vomen, both as

beneficiaries and as employees, continued to be a concern of Miss

Dewson while she served on the Board. She thought that domestic

workers, most of whom were women, ought to be covered by Social

Security and was disappointed in not accomplishing this:

When I was on the Social Security Board we decided that domestic workers should be covered for old age insurance, and I was assigned to persuade the Bureau of the Budget and the Treasury to back the extension of the law to cover domestic workers as is done in England. Could I budge them? No!8

She did not concentrate on coverage for women alone. She also worked

to extend coverage to farm laborers and benefits to dependent children

and widows, which demonstrates that she hoped all workers and their

families would be covered. She wrote about the objectives of expanded

coverage under Social Security for The Democratic Digest:

Flans for a minimum of protection against certain major hazards have one common purpose— to enable every man and woman in this country to come to terms with life according to his own initiative and industry and capacity and courage. They represent only a min­ imum; they do not— and are not intended to— measure up to an abun­ dant life. Their purpose is simply to give the worker a fair chance, with the cards no longer stacked against him in advance. This much security all of us would surely have for each of us.88

She also looked out for the interests of women as employees.

She wondered out loud in a Board meeting why Eleanor Lansing Dulles

88Stern to Dewson, January 5, 1939, bound volume letters, Social Security 1937-1939, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^Handwritten, undated sheet, "Social Security in the Late Thirties," Dewson*s Data as member of Social Security Board, ibid.

88DD, XV (May, 1938), 3.

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(sister of Allen and John Foster Dulles), who was an economic analyst

with the Social Security Board, was only acting director and not direc­

tor of her division.^ Mrs. Dulles subsequently became chief of the 90 Old Age Benefits Research Division. Molly Dewson inquired why the

name of a qualified woman had not been included on a civil service list

of persons eligible for appointment in the Philadelphia Regional Office.'

She requested the professional staff to argue the fact that women were

excluded from the Civil Service Commission examinations in Michigan

because the State Unemployment Compensation Agency said they would not 92 hire women. And when she resigned, her replacement on the Social

Security Board was a woman, Mrs. Ellen Woodward., an appointment that 93 she had personally suggested to President Roosevelt.

Molly Dewson later wrote that she collapsed in the late spring 9A of 1938 and was advised to rest. ' She was at that time sixty-four

years old, and presumably did have health problems. She visited the 95 President June 7, 1938 telling him of her intention to resign.

^Informal Board Minutes, December 17, 1938, Commissioner's Office, Baltimore. 90 Official Board Minutes, June 10, 1938, RG 47, NA.

91W. L. Dill, Regional Director, SSA, to Dewson, October 29, 1937, Region III, Office of Executive Director, ibid. 92 Informal Board Minutes, June 29, 1938, Commissioner's Office, Baltimore. 93 94 Dewson, "An Aid to the End," II, 224-246. Ibid.

^Dewson to Altmeyer, June 10, 1938, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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The President, "with the gentlest and most tactful consideration asked

how I was situated financially."9** Since Molly could live without

working, the President asked her to go on leave without pay, indicat­

ing that he hoped a summer in Maine would be enought rest to help her

regain her health and that she would change her mind about resigning.

She returned in the fall for a few meetings of the Board and to meet 97 with the Advisory Council. She wrote the President a letter of res­

ignation Decern* 'r 29, stating that she no longer had the physical

endurance for a great federal post.9® She continued:

Although the administration of the law is well in hand and, fol­ lowing your suggestion, essential amendments are being prepared for rounding out the act, there is still much to do in developing Federal-State cooperation in Unemployment Compensation and Old Age Assistance. I am sorry to give up the chance to help because I believe Federal-State cooperation in the administration of na­ tional undertakings to solve national problems is the sound and satisfactory way, preventing the growth of federal bureaucracy and assuring the creation and continuity of.higher standards of state administration all over the country.

Although she did become tired and frustrated and needed to rest and

recuperate from time to time, she had not in times past left a job

half done as she indicates is the case with her Social Security posi­

tion in her letter of resignation. Her subsequent correspondence in­

dicates that she became increasingly restive, lonely, and regretful

that she was no longer in the midst of great events; it is impossible

to avoid the conclusion that she resigned too soon and that only

96Dewson, "An Aid to the End," II, 224. 9?Ibid.

9®Dewson to FDR, bound letters, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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was probably a factor, but the evidence would indicate that it probab­

ly was not the decisive one. She attended almost all of the Board

meetings in March, April, May, and J*-ne of 1938 and, in fact, was act­

ing chairman of the Board from mid-May until the end of June in the

absence of Altmeyer, who was apparently on a long vacation at the time

she "collapsed.It seems possible that she found the administra­

tion of the Social Security Board so "well in hand" of Arthur Altmeyer

that she felt her role lacked substantive importance— denying her

leadership role.*^ It has also been suggested that her friend and

companion, Miss Porter, who had refused to move to Washington, had 102 suffered a breakdown and needed care. Or perhaps she was impatient

and frustrated with the bureaucratic wrangling as exemplified in her

difficulties with Frances Perkins and the Department of Labor. In any

case, she and Miss Porter moved to the home in Castine, Maine, where

they had previously spent summers. Molly Dewson died in Castine,

Maine, in October 1962.

She did not retire, however, without taking action to influence

the appointment of her successor. She writes in her unpublished diary

that she and Altmeyer decided upon Ellen Woodward as the successor,

although the President hud decided upon David J. Lewis of Maryland,

1000fficial Board Minutes, May-June, 1938, RG 47, NA.

^The three member Board was replaced by a single Commissioner of Social Security in 1946.

102Mrs. Clara Beyer to author, October 29, 1970; Miss Lavinia Engle to author, November 13, 1971.

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103 who had been defeated for Congress. She describes her action in

her diary:

I saw Roosevelt in his upstairs study and asked him to appoint Mrs. Woodward. Evidently, he had other things on his mind and did not want to be bothered, especially since he had decided on Lewis. I said, "Franklin, if you knew what a job it is to get an appointment with you, you would, at least, let me have my say now I am here." He calmed down and I gave several reasons, but not at first the one that I thought it more tactful to let him think of himself and one I was sure would clinch the appointment. Why did I need to tell FDR that Ellen's appointment would please Sena­ tor Pat Harrison because he and his family were old friends of here in Mississippi, and, since WPA was folding up, Harrison would expect her to be found another position? When at last I did touch lightly on this angle, FDR said, "Molly, you argue your case too much, but I'll think it over." . . . Mrs. Woodward was appointed and the harrassed President had to plan something else, more suitable I hope, for David Lewis.

Since she said of the Board as she bowed out that, "Arthur had the

work well in hand, the great problem being to get Congress to extend

coverage," she obviously felt that Mrs. Woodward, with many friends

in Congress, would be able to continue her work with Congress and ex­

pand the Social Security system.10^

Her Impact

Molly Dewson influenced fellow Board members, the Social Se­

curity Administration, and the Roosevelt administration. Her fellow

Board members, Altmeyer and Bigge, expressed regret at her departure,

noting that "her wise counsel and advice" had "aided immeasureably in

the development and furtherance of the Social Security Program."106

inA " Dewson, "An Aid to the End," II, 224-226. Ibid.

l0^Ibid. 106Board Minutes, December 23, 1938, RG 47, NA.

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Considering that Molly Dewson* s mission to improve the rela­

tionship of the Board with members of Congress had been publicly set

forth by Mrs. Roosevelt, she was most effective in carrying out that

mission, according to the testimony of Edwin E. Witte:

I feel that your craning on the Board at the time you did was a Godsend. Through the work I did in connection with the passage of the Social Security Act, I got to know quite a few of the Congressional leaders. In the period before you came on the Board, whenever I met one of these men, he had some complaint about the way he was being treated by the Social Security Board. I think this feeling was due largely to the fact that the mem­ bers of the Board did not know how to deal with politicians and didlnot have sufficient prestige with the politicians to satisfy them even when turned down on appointments. Your knowledge of politicians and the entre* £sic] you had at the White House, I feel, turned the tide. You did a splendid job in this respect and all of the people who are interested in Social Security owe you a great debt of gratitude. I know, also, that you were a very good influence on the Board itself. Everything went much more smoothly than before you came on.

She was effective, and her impact on the Social Security program was

long range. Molly Dewson helped the Social Security system to sur­

vive and expand at a time when it was untried and subject to possibly

disabling opposition. She promoted its acceptance by the public.

Arthur Altmeyer recalls her wide experience in social and political

action as of great value in developing policy and informing the pub- 108 lie. In accepting Molly Dewson* s resignation with ^great reluc­

tance and regret,*' the President called attention to this fact:

You have been of very great assistance in administering in its

Witte to Dewson, January 11, 1939, bound letters, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library; Mrs. Roosevelt's column, "My Day," reprinted in DP, XIII (October, 1936), 14; see also Schlabach, Edwin Witte: Cau­ tious Reformer, pp. 132-152i 108 Altmeyer to author, January 25, 1972.

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early stage an Act which, as the years go by, will be increasingly recognized as a great step forward in the development of American civilization. And I am very happy, too, to have had your construc­ tive help in planning for further development on unemployment com­ pensation and old age assistance.1®®

Miss Dewson*s individual contribution toward making Social

Security not only a protection for workers, but for survivors as well—

in other words, the expansion of Social Security into a family plan—

cannot be documented or separated from the contributions of many others

who worked toward the same goal. One knowledgeable participant, how­

ever, did give her the credit for this. Mrs. Anna Rosenberg, who was

the New York Regional Director for Social Security, told a Social

Security Forum that, "I wish the woman Who had done the most to get

through social security for the family unit, than any other one per­

son in the United States, were here today— Molly Dewson.H^*^

Her effectiveness and impact cannot be precisely determined—

her influence on federal-state relations, on the establishment of mer­

it systems in the states for employees, or on the decline of partisan

political influence in the Social Security Administration, for example.

But like many reformers- her efforts would be felt by future genera­

tions, as well as by her contemporaries. She and many others who

worked with her did not achieve the goal of adding health protection,

adequate health care, and health insurance to the Social Security sys­

tem. But they laid the groundwork for the future direction of the

109 FDR to Dewson, December 20, 1938, bound letters, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

110Mrs. May Thompson Evans to Dewson, July 6, 1939, ibid.

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program.

Unquestionably, Molly Dewson1s influence on women in govern­

ment and politics was substantial. Her own individual abilities were

widely known, recognized, and appreciated. When she left Washington,

she was sorely missed, and frequently consulted, by the women in gov­

ernment and of the press. She had opened opportunities for for

these women to demonstrate their individual abilities. She helped the

Roosevelt administration to be characterized as the first one to make

a substantial and noteworthy beginning at bringing women into the body

politic on even a partially equal basis. She, and these other women,

remained individuals who set example?, and by their examples, proved

their equality. They were not part of a great women’s movement, but

they had laid the groundwork to show what women could do.

^ ^Letters to Dewson after retirement, ibid.

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ELLEN SULLIVAN W00DWAPJ)

Mrs. Ellen Sullivan Woodward occupied a challenging position

in Washington during the years 1933 to 1938; her cool competency may

have prolonged the existence of the Women’s and Professional Projects

of the Works Progress Administration, projects continuously under

fire for being beyond the legitimate province of government, hotbeds

of radicalism, and vast boondoggles damaging to the moral fibres of

Americans. Her background and experience, tact, keen political sen­

sitivity, administrative leadership and ability, close personal re­

lationships with high officials, dedication to the humanistic princi­

ple of helping people in need, and philosophical belief in the ob­

jectives of the New Deal which made her a loyal member of the team

were further assets she brought to the job. She might be described

as the right person in the right place at the right time, for the

years of her stewardship as assistant administrator of the Women’s

and Professional Projects of the WPA were nthe golden age of the

federal arts projects.’1^ After five years with the WPA she was

appointed a member of the Social Security Board, later becoming

^William F. McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and the Arts (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1969), p. 168.

135

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director of the Office of Inter-Agency and International Relations

when Social Security became part of the Federal Security Agency.

Her Background

Mrs. Woodward was born Ellen Sullivan July 11, 1887 at Oxford,

Mississippi, the daughter of William V. and Belle Murray Sullivan.

Her father was a Mississippi lawyer, friend of Mississippi politicians.

He served a short term as United States Senator, bringing his daughter 2 to Washington in 1900. She grew up in a political atmosphere. She

was educated at Souci Women's College, made her debut in Memphis, and

enjoyed the amenities accompanying the development of the traditional

southern gentlewoman. Her early background may account for her tact

and the deft manner with which she handled people. She married Albert

Y. Woodward, a lawyer of Louisville, Mississippi, at the age of nine­

teen, and taught piano during the years of her marriage.^ She managed

her husband's campaign when he was elected a local judge. After her

husband’s death in 1925, she turned to politics, winning election to

the Mississippi legislature in 1926. She served one term, then

turned to better-paid state development work. She was director of

Civic Development from 1926 to 1929 and executive director from 1929

to 1933 with the Mississippi State Board of Development. She had

previously done voluntary work with the City Beautiful Association

^Who*s Who in The Nation's Capital: 1938-1939 (Washington: Ransdell Incorporated, 1940), pp. 907-908.

^Wellington Brink, "Southern Personalities: Ellen Sullivan Woodward,V Holland's. The Magazine of The South, June, 1944, pp. 7, 12.

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of Louisville; her efforts brought the town considerable attention

from the rest of the state. She was executive secretary of the Re­

search Committee of Mississippi, which studied the organization and

administration of the state and county governments of Mississippi un­

der the guidance of the Brookings Institution. She served on the

boards of various charitable institutions and was a member of the

Executive Committee of the Mississippi State Board of Public Welfare

from 1932 to 1933; she was executive secretary of the Mississippi

Conference of Social Work from 1928 to 1930. These positions afforded

her insight into the problems of the depression, and gave her experi­

ence in social work.^ She came to national attention, both politically

and in the field of social work, during those years. She was a dele­

gate to the Democratic National Convention in 1928, a delegate to the

President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership in 1931,

and a delegate to the White House Conference on Child Health and Pro­

tection in 1930.^ This latter conference brought together 3,000 men

and women leaders in the medical, educational, and social fields to

consider various aspects of child welfare and make recommendations for

future policies.^ Frances Perkins was chairman for one of the dis­

cussion groups.** Mrs. Woodward was also active in a long list of

women's organizations. She worked actively for the election of Franklin

D. Roosevelt in 1932;and was listed as one of Molly Dewson* s deserving

5. 6. Ibid. Ibid.

?New York Times. November 20, 1930, p.l. Ibid.

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9 Democratic women who should be appointed to government positions.

By the time Roosevelt was elected President, Mrs. Woodward had accu­

mulated training and experience in politics, in administration, and

in social woxk— all of which made her an obvious and well qualified

candidate for the position as director of Women’s Work in the WPA, to

which she was appointed by Harry Hopkins in September, 1933.^

Her View of the Position

Mrs. Woodward’s basic philosophy and attitudes toward her po­

sition coordinated well with that of the Roosevelt administration;

they are scarcely distinguishable. "Very early in life I realized

that politics— as the science of government— bore a direct relation­

ship to the welfare of the home, community, state, and nation," she

later wrote, expressing an idea basic to New Deal reform philosophy.11

Political discussions in her home had made her realize that only re­

medial legislation could bring reform, and reform was made necessary 12 by the depression. "New social conditions call for new methods,"

she told a women’s group in Wisconsin while reviewing the origins of

the WPA programs, and the new methods which were required by the deep­

ening crisis in 1933 made it mandatory for the federal government to

9 Undated list, unnumbered page, Dewson bound letter book marked "Patronage", Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

^McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 166.

11Ellen Woodward, "Why Go Into Politics?", DD, XV (January, 1938), 13.

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assume responsibilities which the states, counties, and cities could

no longer meet.1^

Faced with a choice between the dole and work relief, the gov­

ernment had chosen work relief and Mrs. Woodward’s participation in

developing and administering that program was well suited to her own

philosophy, frequently expressed in speeches and articles:

The Congress and the Administration, weighing public opinion, were convinced that our people did not want the dole. They were convinced that true to the traditions of the settlers and build­ ers of this country, our workers wanted to work for their living. Both the necessary appropriation and the Works Program, there­ fore, grew out of the American tradition. ^

She quoted approvingly Harry Hopkins' philosophy, "Give a man a dole

and you save his body and destroy his spirit. Give him a job and pay

him an assured wage, and you save both his body and spirit."1'* Genuine

employment at useful tasks was more beneficial in sustaining the con­

fidence of unemployed people and of more value to society generally

than hand-out relief or projects of the useless."make-work" variety,

she often stressed.1^ Work relief, in her view, was only a means to

an end, the end of developing employment skills among the unemployed,

getting them off the relief rolls and back into regular jobs in private

industry.1^ "As we look ahead, logic requires that we face the fact

Woodward speech, November 17, 1937, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library. This speech is typical of many of her speeches which are filed in the Roosevelt Library, Schlesinger Library, and in the WPA Records at the National Archives, hereinafter referred to as RG 69, NA.

l4Ibid. 15Ibid. 16Ibid.

^Woodward to Horace Humphreys, March 25, 1935, FERA, Women's Work Correspondence H file, RG 69, NA; Woodward, "Work for Idle Hands; The WPA Restores Self Respect to Unemployed America," DD, XIV (June, 1937), 5-6.

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that a great works program shotild culminate in the return to private

employment of a considerable number of individuals," she wrote Harry

H o p k i n s . A l t h o u g h she spent enough time seeking and dispensing

funds for work relief projects to qualify as a reckless spender, she

claimed a feeling of responsibility about spending other people's 19 money as a result of her service in the Mississippi legislature.

Mrs. Woodward's roots and experience being in Mississippi

State activities, she brought to Washington a well-developed sense

of the importance of state and local participation and power in govern­

ment. She arrived in Washington at a time when the federal-state

relationship had been exacerbated by the problems created by the Vol­

stead Act, the 18th amendment, and the inability of the states to

meet the problems created by the depression. An expanded relation­

ship between the states and the federal government was beginning;

grants-in-aid would be given to states matching those grants out of

their own funds and administering them in accorddance with standards

set down by the federal government. WPA administrators, together with

state administrators^..would be engaged in forging these new relation­

ships, setting a pattern which would prevail for many years.

Mrs. Woodward stressed local participation in planning; she

believed in a participatory and localized democracy. "It is my*firm

conviction that a ready-made program imposed and made mandatory by

18Woodward to Hopkins, December 19, 1935, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, RG 69, NA.

l9Brink, "Ellen Woodward," p. 7.

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Washington will not fit the needs of individual states and so will

not take root and flourish," she wrote of a proposed foremanship

training program, expressing an idea recurring frequently in her re- 20 cords. Local planning and participation, in her view, helped peo­

ple help themselves and, if necessary, should be promoted from Wash­

ington:

As one effective method of disseminating information and at the same time stimulating community cooperation, it is my plan, with the assistance and approval of field representatives and state administrators, to foster in a systematic way state and local ad­ visory committees. I believe that much can be done by this means to make communities actually aware of their responsibility for seeking some solution to their own unemployment problems.

The value of local planning and participation could be measured by re­

sults: "... people are studying conditions in their own communities,

forming their own judgments as to the facts, and deciding on how they

want to remedy them. How effective this has been may be judged by the

work which has been accomplished," she told a radio audience in 1937.^

She made great efforts to keep the accomplishments of that work before

the public, in exhibits, displays, publications, speeches, and articles.

But she desired even greater local responsibility and participation,

particularly by women:

The greatest need in my opinion is for local groups to know the facts and to assume greater responsibility for conditions in their

20 Memo, prepared by her assistant, Anne Cronin, Woodward to Hopkins, January 8, 1937, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, RG 69, NA.

^^Woodward to Hopkins, December 10, 1935, ibid.

^^Woodward radio speech, April 16, 1937, Woodward speeches, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library.

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cities and towns. And they will assume more responsibility and show greater courage, I think, when more of our national women leaders . . . speak out forcefully in support of definite plans to help solve our unemployment problems.

Although Mrs. Woodward administered programs from the national level

and developed a more centralized point of view as time wore on, she

nevertheless worked for maximum flexibility and initiative at the

state and local levels during a time when new federal-state relation­

ships were being forged.

Mrs. Woodward agreed with Hopkins that relief should be based

on need, not on preconceived categories of people entitled to relief.

She believed in feeding hungry people and finding them worthy work re­

lief projects suited to their abilities regardless of whether those

abilities were theatrical, musical, artistic, or domestic. She shared

with some other members of the Roosevelt administration the conviction

that federal arts and white collar projects were a proper and needed

activity of government to aid writers, artists, and musicians, who 24 were equally subject to unemployment and hunger. Since the worker

was more important than the project, workers who did not measure up

were not dropped from the rolls; this philosophy created many problems

as is evident from her report on the theater project:

I might add that the theater project, particularly in New York City, is hampered in the effort to become more self-sustaining by

Woodward to Mrs. Roosevelt, undated, Woodward papers, Schlesinger Library.

^Woodward open statement, January 21, 1938, 1937 file, 210AAAA Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, General Subject Correspon­ dence, RG 69, NA.

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the presence on its rolls of many workers who were at one time professional actors of ability but who are now either too old or too neurotic, or whose skills are too outmoded, for then ever again to appear successfully before the public. Yet these people, having in many cases given their lives to the theater, and being certified for relief, are a charge on the theater project.25

Radical views held by some professional people were not a justifiable

reason for curtailing projects or cutting off relief to individuals,

she wrote to Molly Dewson in 1938:

Perhaps you have read that Congressman Dies and his investigating committee have been after us and we are expecting to be called be­ fore the committee most any time. I think there is entirely too much "loose talk about Communism." If they are hungry we will feed them just as we would anybody else.

And beyond all that, she believed that the federal arts projects con­

tributed significantly to American life for, "without art a nation 27 stagnates," she told a Congressional committee.

Mrs. Woodward’s concern for relief based on need extended to

the need of women for relief. Her attitudes toward women coincided

with those of Mrs. Roosevelt and Harry Hopkins. She believed in equal

pay for equal work and for equal opportunities for work and work re­

lief for men and women.2^ She was opposed to discrimination against

1937,^August, 1937 file, ibid.

2^Woodward to Dewson, October 10, 1938, bound letter book marked "Social Security 1937-1939," Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 27 Woodward open statement, January 21, 1938, 1937 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, General Subject Correspon­ dence, RG 69, NA.

speech to Democratic Women's Regional Conference for Southeastern States, March 19, 1936, Woodward speeches, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library; Brink, "Ellen Woodward," p. 7.

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29 women. Within the women's ranks, she consistently refused to dis­

tinguish between single and married women in regard to work relief,

believing that both groups might be equally in need.^ Nor would she

discriminate against women with small children for whom direct relief

administered by states and localities was usually prescribed. She in­

terpreted WPA regulations to the effect that women with children under

the age of sixteen were eligible for work relief if they could make

arrangements for the care of their children, stressing this interpre­

tation of the regulations because so many women had no employable

skills and particularly needed work relief in order to develop such

skills to support their children.^

Mrs. Woodward shared with many in the Roosevelt administration

the belief that women should serve in government positions for which 32 they were qualified. She was herself one of those qualified women;

during her years in the WPA she encouraged, trained, and appointed

many women to important positions in her division. Whether or not due

to her efforts, state directors of Women's Work, and state and regional

directors of Women's and Professional Projects while she was adminis­

^Brink, "Ellen Woodward," p. 7.

^Woodward to Verna Sissman, June 3, 1935, S file, and other similar letters in correspondence files, Women's Work, FERA; Woodward to David Niles, January 6, 1937, 105W, WPA General Correspondence, RG 69, NA.

^ ^Woodward, correspondence with Regional Engineer L. C. Benedict, June 5, 12, 1935, B file, Women's Work FERA, ibid. 32 Ellen Woodward, "More Women Needed in Public Office," DD, XXIII (April, 1946), 5.

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trator, were all women. One of her regional directors9 Mrs. Florence

Kerr, succeeded Mrs. Woodward when she was appointed to the Social

Security Board. She always had women assistants and section chiefs

in the Washington office, although there were also many men. She was

conscious of the desirability of appointing women to various positions;

when a Works Progress Advisory Board was created, she wrote a personal

letter to Congresswoman Caroline O'Day urging that she suggest to

Hopkins the appointment of one or two women to the Board.33 She

reinforced Mrs. Roosevelt's interest in the appointment of women

wherever possible.

Mrs. Woodward thought her WPA position was necessary, impor­

tant, and challenging. "Changes in our social, industrial and econo­

mic life have created new problems," she told women in Milwaukee, and

one of the primary problems was how to employ able-bodied men and women

in constructive ways: "This is the problem which chiefly concerns the

WPA." The great task of the WPA was "bringing together the people who

needed work and the work and services needing people," she said, con­

cluding:

. . . for all the communities of this country needed buildings, services and facilities that they could not afford with their re­ duced budgets. WPA projects are sponsored by public tax-supported bodies of states, counties, or towns. They represent, therefore, - . • ;vhat the communities need and ask for. . . . The work has been useful.^

33Woodward to O'Day, July 27, 1935, Woodward papers, Schlesinger Library.

^Woodward speech, November 17, 1937, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library.

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Molly Dewson, urged by Mrs. Jewell Swofford of the Employees’ Compen­

sation Commission to find an appointment for Mrs. Woodward which

"might seem to give further recognition for past performances,”

reported that, "She seems to think she has the biggest and best job

in the Administration. It is certainly one of the most difficult

and she likes challenges."^"*

Her Performance

The women1 s activities division of the Works Progress Adminis­

tration had its origin in the needs of women during the depression.

But these needs might have been largely ignored had not Harry Hopkins,

administrator of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and sub­

sequent programs, been aware of them and willing to do something about

them. The Federal Emergency Relief Act, passed by Congress May 12,

1933, provided $500,000,000 for outright grants to state relief organ­

izations. It was a grant-in-aid program in which the federal govern­

ment assumed financial responsibility, while the state authorities pro­

posed and administered specific relief programs. Washington might

have exercised minimal supervision to insure compliance with standards

as required by law, as was done by the Reconstruction Finance Corpora­

tion in its administration of the loans authorized for relief in 1932.

Hopkins, however, believed that almost anything that needed to be done

Swofford to Dewson, January 4, 1937; Dewson:;to Swofford January 29, 1937; Box 7, Correspondence, Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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could be and was willing to try.^ Hopkins was reminded of the need

for women’s relief by one of his friends who wrote to congratulate

him upon his appointment May 19, 1933 as FERA Administrator: "If, as

you work things out you can do something better than has been done to

date for women, that I know you will do. It is still plain fierce the 37 way they are being passed around in this town.”

Hopkins set up the Women's Work division of FERA September 21,

1933 notifying the states of the appointment of Mrs. Woodward to head

the new division October 10, and requesting each state to appoint a

properly qualified woman to work with Mrs. Woodward:

You may be able to deputize someone already on your staff. If not, the woman you appoint should be familiar with the existing govern­ mental, social and civic agencies; with the employment services; and with the relief work program now in operation. Possibly a well qualified person might be loaned from some other state agency— at any rate, she should give her full time to this work. Since the approval of this office is required before an appoint­ ment to this position can be effective, we would like to have sent up at the earliest possible moment the name and qualifications of the woman whom you would like to appoint. We are eager to start this work immediately.38

Molly Dewson was able to suggest the names of many deserving and well

qualified women Democrats and Republicans who had supported Roosevelt

36u.s., Federal Emergency Relief Administration, White House Conference on Emergency Needs of Women: November 20, 1933 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933), p. 9. 37 William H. Matthews, director of family welfare for The Asso­ ciation for Improving the Condition of the Poor in New York City (the original voluntary private charitable organization dating from the 1840‘s and for which Hopkins had done studies between 1912 and 1915) to Hopkins, May 23, 1933, old subject file, Hopkins, FERA, RG 69, NA. 38 Hopkins to all governors and State Emergency Relief Adminis­ trations, October 10, 1933, bound volume marked "Patronage," Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library.

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39 for these positions. Hopkins and Mrs. Woodward hoped to secure

women of ability with liberal social tendencies and the social work 40 philosophy. Governors and state relief administrators sometimes :

had contrary ideas; occasionally, tact or pressure had to be applied 41 to secure the appointment of women acceptable to all parties. "The

success of the entire program depends upon effective state organiza- 42 tion,” Mrs. Woodward believed. She worked on completing these ap­

pointments for several months; organized the Washington office of the

new division; appointed Dr. Chloe Owings, a former professor of social

work and director of the Social Hygiene Bureau of the University of

Minnesota, as her assistant; and began to build the efficient admin- 43 istrative structure for which she became well known.

From 1933 until 1936, when she was appointed assistant admin­

istrator of the WPA in charge of a new division which combined the

women’s projects and the professional, or arts, projects, Mrs. Woodward

was occupied with three major responsibilities: to devise and imple­

ment suitable work relief projects for women and to exercise supervi­

sion over the operational projects; to build up support throughout

39 See bound volume "Patronage,” Dewson papers, Roosevelt Library. 40 McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 43. 41 See Women's Work Correspondence 1935, FERA, RG 69, NA, for several examples.

42White House Conference, p. 10. 43 McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 167-168; Biographical Sketches, Division of Information, RG 69, NA.

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the country, especially with women, for the work relief program, the

WPA, and the Roosevelt administration; and to answer or refer the

thousands of requests for assistance from women which were pouring in

to administration officials, particularly Mrs. Roosevelt. The latter

two were extra-curricular responsibilities, which was partially true

of some of her other responsibilities.

Fifty thousand women were on state work relief projects at the 44 time Mrs. Woodward began her job. These projects consisted largely

of sewing centers, canning and homemaking programs, clerical work, re­

creational and educational programs, and one experimental residential 45 camp operated by New York at Bear Mountain. Since women were un­

suited to heavy construction work and their skills ran to white collar

activities, the Women’s Work division needed to institute many new

programs suitable for the experience and training of unemployed women,

providing employment for the large numbers in need but not entailing

excessive administrative expenditures or infringing upon areas reached 46 by normal government expenditures and public works. Acceptable pro­

jects had to meet three requirements: (l) all projects must be on pub­

lic, not private, property; (2) projects must be worthwhile; and (3) no 47 project worker could replace an already employed worker. To secure

^White House Conference, p. 8 . 45 Bruce McClure to Mrs. Walter J. Burpee, June 28, 1933, Women's Camps, FERA, RG 69, NA.

^Jacob Baker to Roy Smith Wallace, September 19, 1933, Work Relief Federal Department Correspondence, ibid.

^McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 16.

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ideas for possible projects, a White House Conference on the Emergency

Needs of Women was hastily assembled November 20, 1933. Fifty-nine

women leaders were invited by telegram to meet at noon at the White

House on that date, listen to short addresses, discuss the needs and 48 possible solutions, and have lunch with Mrs. Roosevelt. Hopkins

told the group that he believed there were between 300,000 and 400,000

women who needed the special services which could be provided under

the FERA and Civil Works Administration. He described two problems:

one, that the women who needed help were not distributed evenly

throughout the states but concentrated in those urban and industrial

states where women had been gainfully employed in large numbers in

1930; and the other, "an almost complete lack of imagination about

work relief projects for women throughout the country.11 He continued:

The White House Conference was called to develop imaginative ideas which could be realized quickly. . . . We have had the power now for several months. There can’t be any excuses because we haven’t the power. We have had it, and I don’t think we have done very much with it. We have done something, but we haven’t done nearly the things we should.^

Hopkins was defining the responsibilities of Mrs. Woodward’s position.

In choosing projects there were two major problems, Mrs.

Woodward told the White House Conference, the need to keep out of com­

petitive fields which would be viewed as a threat to private industry,

and the impossibility of using women on mass projects such as were

suitable for men. She listed over thirty possible types of projects

48 See file, White House Conference on Women. 1933, Women’s Work, FERA, RG 69, NA. 49 Ibid., p. 9.

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and variations thereof, and asked for additional ideas or specific

suggestions. She hoped women would go back to their organizations,

generate ideas and interest, and support their state relief organiza­

tions."^ The ideas had to be practical, for the aim of the work re­

lief projects was to have state or local governments or public in­

stitutions as sponsors, paying the cost of materials used and arrang­

ing for the distribution of any products, while the labor costs were

paid by WPA funds. Projects were largely planned and applications

made for Washington approval in the states and localities; theoret­

ically, each project was approved by the President, who designated

the Bureau of the Budget to act for him; as projects were activated,

the Washington office circulated news of them throughout the states

in order to stimulate further applications. Mrs. Woodward actively

solicited project ideas.She initiated a constant flow of news and

news letters and circulation of general information among all WPA of- 52 fices. She believed in frequent conferences with her state and re­

gional directors, where ideas and information could be exchanged, ob­

jectives outlined, and evaluations made; one example from many scat­

tered throughout the records of this division concerned the arrange­

ments she made to have the state directors attend the National Confer­

ence of Social Work in Montreal in early June, 1935 and have their own

5°Ibid., pp. 9-15.

^^Priscilla Edgerton to Woodward, January 29, 1935; Dr. Louise Stanley to Woodward, March 19, 1935; Federal Departments Correspon­ dence 1935, Women's Work, FERA, RG 69, NA. 52 For many examples, see ibid.

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53 WPA conference following the National Conference. 54 Sewing projects generated many inquiries.. Some sewing pro­

jects, especially in the early days before adequate procedures and

supervision were developed, did not produce useful articles^ most,

however, resulted in the production of clothing which was distributed

to relief recipients and household articles which were distributed to

public institutions. Mattress projects in Georgia and Florida used

surplus cotton and the mattresses were distributed to persons on re- . . . 55 lxef.

Projects requiring only limited clerical skills were also pop­

ular; programs for library assistants, filing and clerical workers in

public offices, and educational aides provided work for women in work

relief projects. One large project in Milwaukee for unskilled women

had them making scrapbooks for use in schools, hospitals, and other

public institutions. It was criticized during a radio broadcast and

investigated at Mrs. Woodward's behest by Mrs. Kerr, who reported,

"The sight of five hundred women pasting pictures in scrapbooks is

bound to cause criticism." She suggested decentralization, placing

the women in small groups in the schools, hospitals, and other insti­

tutions for which the scrapbooks were destined, a move which would

force the sponsors to assume more responsibility and offer better

53 Correspondence, Woodward and Frank Bane, April 16, 24, 1935, ibid. 54 Many examples in ibid.

"^See letters and memos re mattress projects, March-May, 1935, Federal Departments Correspondence, ibid.

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supervision.56 Mrs. Woodward and her staff followed up criticisms

promptly, conducted investigations, and took prompt remedial action.

One of Mrs. Woodward’s objectives was to develop skills which

would result in jobs in private industry and a decrease in the number

of persons on relief; to this end, she developed and encouraged handi­

craft skills and projects.5^ Professional assistance and direction

were often needed to produce handicrafts which appealed to the buying

public; when the public did want to buy the handicrafts produced,

problems arose concerning the sale of items produced by persons

collecting relief. If artists and workers sola their output, they

were taken off relief rolls, since products were considered to be 58 the property of FERA and later WPA. In order to stimulate public

interest in the handicrafts, it was necessary to have frequent ex­

hibits which, while not offering products for sale, would inform the

public about what was being produced and where it could be purchased.

Mrs. Roosevelt had suggested in 1934 that a professional be secured

to travel to the handicraft projects, provide guidance in the design

of marketable toys, and arrange for their exhibition and sale. Mrs.

Madeline M. Snyder, toy buyer with Saks Fifth Avenue Department Store

^ X e r r tc Woodward, February 10, 1936, 105W, General Corres­ pondence 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA.

^Correspondence between Woodward, Baker, Mrs.^Snyder, arid Mrs. Roosevelt, January-October, 1935, Toys and Mrs. Snyder, Women’s Work, FERA? RG 69, NA.

58Baker to Woodward, September 28, 1934, and Woodward to Baker, January 16, 1935, ibid.

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in New York City, was loaned by Saks to WPA; she visited southern

handicraft toy projects in March, 1935; toys were sent in from WPA

handicraft projects across the country; and at her suggestion, Mrs.

Woodward made plans for an exhibit at Saks, to be opened by Mrs.

Roosevelt, which would provide publicity and sales for the selected

toys of handicraft projects. Sometime between May 10, when Mrs.

Roosevelt endorsed the idea and agreed to open the exhibit, even

though she observed, "It’ll give Saks a lot of publicity but we

have to do that to get the lady’s plans and ability," and June 8 ,

when Mrs. Woodward suggested proceeding more slowly, the President

had evidently had some second thoughts about the political effects of 59 such an exhibit upon his administration. The exhibit was held, but 60 without Mrs. Roosevelt's presence and without WPA publicity. Mrs.

Woodward loyally and serenely carried out this change of policy

despite the time she had devoted to the project. The toys which were

sent in from around the country subsequently became the source of

much correspondence and clutter at the WPA Washington offices, due to

the lack of organized storage and the requests for return of toys 61 which could not be located.

The 1930's marked the first time in American history that

the Federal Government, and most state governments as well, had

59 Mrs. Roosevelt to Woodward, May 10, 1935; Woodward to Mrs. Roosevelt, June 8 , 1935, ibid.

^Mrs. Snyder to Woodward, October 1, 1935, ibid.

^ S e e memoranda, 105W, General Correspondence 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA.

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assumed responsibility for providing relief during an economic

depression. Prevailing public attitudes toward relief encompassed

much distrust and were ambivalent to both the dole and the work-

relief concepts; both were alternately praised and damned. The

President faced the dilemma of winning support for either or both

approaches to relief throughout the 1930*s. The President visited

a large exhibit of the Women's and Professional Projects in Washing­

ton in January, 1938. Mrs. Woodward described his visit in a letter

to the ailing Hopkins who was recuperating in Florida. She quoted

the President as saying, "we must do more to help develop markets

for these products and to assist our workers in getting out on

their own."^ The President knew that this was not easy to do in

view of the opposition. He asked Mrs. Woodward if Senator Harry F.

Byrd, a Virginia fiscal conservative, had been over to see the exhi­

bit. She wrote Hopkins:

I told him no, and he said he would give me a dollar if I would get him over there before the exhibit closes. Now you realize that this is a pretty tough assingment! I am planning to have the exhibit open several nights this week and to get as many of the Congressional crowd there as I can. If they would ever stop filibustering on the anti-lynching bill we might have better luck.

Despite continuing unemployment, Many Americans, including many Con­

gressmen, did not favor outright relief, nor did they like work-

relief any better.

Mrs. Woodward used many methods to build support for the WPA

^^Woodward to Hopkins, January 24, 1938, Woodward file, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library. 63_, . ,

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work-relief projects and the objectives of the Roosevelt administra­

tion. The exhibits of the work produced were frequent, and often 64 mobile, being displayed in several places. She travelled and

spoke at many women's meetings and arranged for Mrs. Roosevelt to

visit projects on her travels.**** Mrs. Woodward watched for favorable

publicity in newspapers and magazines and arranged for such stories 66 to be circulated. She wrote articles herself, or suggested that

the WPA information office do so, advancing ideas for pamphlets,

bulletins, and other publications.**^ Mrs. Woodward understood the

value of widely disseminated, favorable information.

She was equally adept in understanding the importance of

handling White House referrals. In WPA records are thousands of 68 letters which Mrs. Woodward handled for the White House. In the

early days, 1933 and 1934, she set up a standard procedure for such

64 Woodward to all employees, January 22, 1936; Woodward to Hopkins, June 29, 1936, 105W, General Correspondence 1935-June, 1937; both in RG 69, NA.

^Woodward to Hopkins, March 9, 1936, ibid.; see also file of Woodward speeches, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library. 66 Woodward to Mrs. Cole, April 28, 1937, 105W, General Corres­ pondence 1935-June, 1937; Woodward to New York Times. May 24, 1935, Correspondence 1935, Women's Work, FERA; both in RG 69, NA.

^"Women and Work Relief, Bulletin of Women's Section, Work Division," June 1, 1935, FERA; Woodward to Williams, November 21, 1935, 105 W, General Correspondence 1935-June, 1937; "News Notes on Women's Work Projects," copy sent by Mrs. Woodward to.Mrs. Roosevelt, April 2, 1935, Correspondence, Women's Work, FERA; all in RG 69, NA. 68 Referrals, too numerous to cite individually, are found in Correspondence with the White House, Women's Work Correspondence, FERA; 105W, General Correspondence, and WPA Central Files, RG 69, NA.

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referrals. Each person whose letter of appeal for help was forwarded

from the White House was sent a form letter reply signed by Mrs.

Woodward, to which was added the name and address of the appropriate

state relief administrator. In routine cases, the original letter

of appeal and a carbon of Mrs. Woodward’s reply to the writer was

sent to the state agency. Letters requiring a personal reply, often

because Mrs. Roosevelt had taken an interest in the case, were

answered individually.^ Referrals came not only from Mrs. Roosevelt’s

secretaries, Mrs. Malvina T. Schneider and Mrs. Edith Helm, but also

from Mrs. Roosevelt's daughter, Mrs. John Boettiger, who was in charge

of mail received in response to Mrs. Roosevelt's magazine column. In

the course of her travels, Mrs. Roosevelt frequently met desparate

people using daring methods to attract her attention; or the nature

of the appeal was such that Mrs. Roosevelt wanted to respond in a

personal manner. These cases were investigated under Mrs. Woodward's

auspices and she provided the First Lady with information for replies.

Occasionally, it was discovered that some appeals were not wholly

legitimate. In all investigations Mrs. Woodward instructed her

directors to remind case workers when they contacted the person

appealing for assistance to tell them that the contact was in res­

ponse to the letter to Mrs. Roosevelt. As the Washington office

expanded and the staff acquired more specialists, Mrs. Woodward

passed the referrals on to others for. reply;:ifor^examp!^, "the

^Woodward to Mrs. Helm, November 25, 1933, Correspondence with the White House, FERA, RG 69, NA.

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director of educational projects was asked to answer requests from

teachers who had been dismissed or were looking for positions in the

Adult Education program of the WPA. Mrs. Woodward was vigilant re­

garding these White House referrals, even when her work load had

multiplied. She evidently thought it good personal and Democratic

politics to handle referrals carefully. These requests also provided

a means for Mrs. Woodward to keep in touch with the needs of the

women in the country— contact essential to her position. These re­

quests engendered individual and humane responses to persons appeal­

ing for help. The responses conveyed to thousands of citizens

throughout the country the concern of the New Deal for the individual

citizen in need. Thus one sees a paradox of the New Deal— the use

of a personalized approach which contributed to the growth of an

impersonalized bureaucracy.

Mrs. Woodward also demonstrated political sensitivity in her

relationships with members of Congress. As in most government

agencies, letters from Congressmen were answered promptly, complaints

were quickly investigated, reports were rapidly forwarded, appoint­

ments were cleared with Senators, and all communications were expe­

dited. Mrs. Woodward's approach to Congress was to accomodate Con­

gressional prerogatives and to keep members of Congress well informed

of the activities and accomplishments of the Women's Work division.^

Numerous examples are scattered throughout the WPA records. See, for example, correspondence with Senators Warren R. Austin of Vermont in February, 1935, Arthur Capper of Kansas, December, 1934- February, 1935, James F. Byrnes of South Carolina, April, 1935, and

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In recommending to Hopkins the publication of a bulletin on non­

construction projects specifically for the information of Congress,

she wrote:

I think it is quite important for Senators and Congressmen to know more about this phase of the WPA. We get about 90% of the heat on something over 10% of the projects and I am confident that a wellrprepared booklet, simple, legible, and easily under­ stood, would be particularly helpful right now.

She was willing to disagree with her own Mississippi Senator, Pat

Harrison, on the prerogatives of Congress. Copies of a District

Guide, one of a series of geographical guides produced by the Writers'

Project, were requested by over fifty members of Congress. Aubrey

Williams, in Hopkins* absence, telephoned Senator Harrison for advice;

the latter thought it unwise to distribute copies to Congress. Mrs.

Woodward disagreed in a memorandum to Hopkins:

I do not agree with the Senator's point of view. All Senators and Congressmen know the book is out and they can purchase it in book stores; they naturally feel that since it's a government publication they should be presented with copies. I recommend sending a copy to any member of Congress who requests it.

Hopkins agreed, and the requests were filled. Officially, she treated

all members of Congress with the greatest diplomacy; privately, she

apparently held no brief for her own Mississippi Senator Theodore

Congressmen Richard Duncan of Missouri, March, 1935, and A. P. Lamneck of Ohio, April-May, 1935 in Congressional Correspondence, 1935, Women's Work, FERA; and memoranda to Hopkins regarding personal visits to Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, January, 1937, in 105W, General Correspondence 1935-June 1937; all RG 69, NA.

^^Woodward to Williams, November 21, 1936, 105W, General Correspondence 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA.

^^Woodward to Hopkins, April 24, 1937, ibid.

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Bilbo, who achieved considerable notoriety through his behavior and

white supremacist views. She sent the following clipping from the

Jackson (Mississippi) Daily News to Hopkins:

Senator Bilbo wants to cut a lot of poor folks off the WPA payroll. This comes with poor grace from a man who has been sucking at the public teat for over a quarter of a cenutry and who nearly starved to death during the brief intervals he tried to earn a living prac­ ticing law— a man who alternately lived on the charity of his friends and the forbearance of his creditors when not in office. 73 with the notation that "I thought it would give you a good laugh."

Mrs. Woodward displayed patience and tact in handling cranks

as well as complaints. A man writing that he had given twenty-five

years of his life to the problem of home canning and concluded that,

"Over 500,000,000 mason fruit jars packed every year by women and

150,000,000 are unfit for human consumption," was assured that the WPA

home canning projects were well supervised and had reported little 74 spoilage, but his interest and suggestions were appreciated. Com­

plaints, such as the one from a woman who wrote of being shuffled from

one agency to another with her work application, were referred to

state relief administrations, which were ever so gently reminded of

their responsibilities. A copy of the letter of complaint was sent

to the proper state administrator who was asked to follow through and

send copies of his correspondence to Washington. Mrs. Woodward conclu­

ded one such letter, "In the meantime, I am not writing her that I

have referred the matter to you because I believe it will be better

^Woodward to Hopkins, April 1, 1937, ibid. 74 Correspondence with Carl Schoonmaker, May, 1935, Women's Work, FERA, RG 69, NA.

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for the program for you to take the initiative. Don't you agree

with me ? " ^

During 1936, Negro groups protested the dearth of employment

opportunities for Negroes on WPA white-collar projects and the sug­

gestion was made that a Negro consultant be appointed. Mrs. Wood­

ward thought the suggestion was "a good idea," made impossible by the

tight budget and strict economy then in force, but she added, *Have

you compiled a list of women to be considered? We will consider any

names you submit if and "When such an appointment becomes possible.

The Negro white-collar employment situation was the subject of a

memorandum sent to all regional directors of Women's and Professional

Projects. Although drafted by Miss Anne Cronin, Mrs. Woodward's

assistant, it presumably expressed Mrs. Woodward's point of view:

It is our desire to do everything within our power to see that Negro white collar workers are given a fair chance to work at tasks to which they are suited in the WPA. It is, therefore, earnestly requested that you and all the members of your staffs urge upon the State Administrators that they take whatever mea­ sures are necessary to produce the desired result. We hope, in the near future, to issue sane specific sugges­ tions concerning projects particularly suitable for this purpose. Whenever local conditions permit, Negroes should, of course, be given proper representation on the regular run of white collars projects. In many communities, however, it may be found that this is impossible and in such cases it is essential that special projects be designed to meet the needs of this group. If any successful devices are worked out in your region,

^Correspondence with Margaret Haugen and Hugh E. Carroll, May 12, 20, 1935, ibid.

^Woodward to Alfred Edgar Smith, December 5, 1936, 105W, General Correspondence 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. please bring a description of them to Washington so information may be passed on elsewhere where it would be useful.

Assuming that this letter expressed Mrs. Woodward’s views, she appears

to have been a moderate on the race issue but fully aware of the

political and social realities of the era.

By the end of 1935, 275,000 women were at work on various

work relief projects, but that total represented only 57 per cent of

the number eligible and waiting to be placed. In her year-end report

to Hopkins, Mrs. Woodward described a well-organized, smoothly

functioning division which was planning for the future:

This showing is not satisfactory. . . . The women's program should be reviewed immediately in every state to see that the proper pro­ portion of women is put to work. We have issued instructions to all Directors of Women’s Activities to cover the "bare spots" in their programs by devising new projects, submitting supplemental projects, or resubmitting projects not previously approved. The fact that cleaning projects are ineligible, for instance, makes it almost impossible to place certain large groups of Negro women (as in Baltimore). Housekeeping aid projects, recently declared eligible, will now be of assistance in caring for some of the higher type manual workers. °

She proposed a re-employment survey in cooperation with various public

employment agencies and an emphasis on training in the next phase of

the works program. She suggested holding administrative costs of

women’s projects to an acceptable maximum level by combining the super­

vision of the women’s projects with those of the professional or

Cronin to Regional Directors, July 15, 1936, Employment Opportunities for Negro and White Collar Workers, 210AAAA, Women's and Professional Projects, ibid.

^Woodward to Hopkins, December 10, 1935, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, ibid.

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white collar, educational, and recreational projects under the state

and regional women's work directors where conditions did not warrant 79 maintaining more than one director. In so recommending, she was

reaching for more authority and competing with the Washington direc­

tors of the other projects; she had learned how to get ahead in the

bureaucracy.

Although the majority of the women's projects were of a manual

nature, many were closer to being professional or white collar. A di­

vision of professional and non-manual projects was established in FERA

in July, 1934, and technically included almost a quarter of the women

employed in professional or service (as the non-manual projects were

called) projects.8^ The lines of authority between the two divisions

were never clearly demarcated.8^ Both the new division and Mrs. Wood­

ward's division came under the authority of Jacob Baker, assistant ad­

ministrator of the WPA.82 During this time, Hopkins and Baker were en­

couraging the establishment of projects for writers, artists, scien­

tists, historians, librarians, teachers, and clerical workers, some to

be undertaken and sponsored by branches of the federal government ra­

ther than by state and local governments and institutions.83 The es­

tablishment of such federally-sponsored projects was unpopular with

state relief administrations, which resisted the loss of authority and

^McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 71, 167.

8lIbid., p. 167 82Ibid. 83Ibid., pp.38-39.

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money.The federally-sponsored projects evolved into the famous

arts projects; according to the most authoritative study made of these

projects, Baker was the real force behind their inception.®"* Mrs.

Woodward could not be happy about losing jurisdiction over professional

women who lent prestige to her work, and inevitably there was rivalry

between the two divisions and Baker. Political infighting within the

WPA over internal jurisdiction and organization intensified in late

1935 and early 1936, when Hopkins resolved the situation in Mrs. Wood­

ward’s favor.®® There is little in the WPA files to substantiate the

details of the struggle or to evaluate the outcome.State adminis­

trators were instructed to place a woman in charge of the combined

Women’s and Professional Projects division on the state level in Decem­

ber, 1935.®® The divisions were combined in the Washington office in

July, 1936 and Mrs. Woodward was made assistant administrator of the

WPA in charge of the new division.®9 Baker left the WPA shortly there- 90 after. Whether Mrs. Woodward emerged the victor due to her superior

®^Ibid., pp. 165-166. ®~*Ibid., p. 166.

®®Woodward to all personnel, July 8 , 1936, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects, April 1935-December, 1936, RG 69, NA.

®^Mrs. Woodward died in September, 1971. The Mississippi Depart­ ment of Archives and History, which had had a very small collection of Woodward papers, is expecting additional material; perhaps these will include the records of this period and which Mrs. Woodward is rumored to have taken with her when she left WPA.

®®McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 164. 89 Woodward to Hopkins, July 2, 8 , 1936, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects, April, 1935-December, 1936, RG 69, NA. 90 McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 165.

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finesse in dealing with regional and state administrators, Congress­

men, and public critics of the WPA, her administrative skill, her

increasingly close relationship with the White House and Harry

Hopkins, or simply because Baker had borne the brunt of the opposi­

tion to a federal program for the arts cannot be ascertained. William

McDonald suggests in his book, Federal Relief Administration and The

Arts, that Baker, in bringing the arts projects into existence and

overseeing their troublesome early years, made himself unpopular and 91 fell victim to Mrs. Woodward's diplomacy and determination. The

arts projects did not achieve professional status overnight, and it

was not until Mrs. Woodward took charge that the music, theater, art,

and writers projects began to produce the kind of results which

created some favorable publicity to counteract the almost continuous

criticism. Mrs. Woodward assumed leadership during a period when

the President was actively pressing for a reduction in the relief 92 rolls. Her work thereafter consisted largely of maneuvering for

adequate budgets to continue and expand projects to meet needs as

she saw them, and to defend the often unpopular and controversial

arts projects.

At the time of her takeover, the arts projects consisted of

the Federal Arts Project under Holger Cahill, Director; the Federal

"xIbid., pp. 165-168. This book is the best available account of the arts projects. It was written some twenty-five years before its publication in 1969.

^^Roosevelt to Hopkins, August 26, 1935, 105W, General Corres­ pondence 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA.

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Music Project under Nikolai Sokoloff, Director; the Federal Theater

Project under Mrs. Hallie Flanagan, Director; the Federal Writers'

Project ttnder Henry C. Alsberg; and the Historical Records Survey

under Luther Evans; these five projects were known collectively as 93 Federal Project Number 1, and were sponsored by the WPA. In addi­

tion, Federal Project Number 4, the Survey of Federal Archives, under

the direction of Philip M. Hamer and sponsored by the National

Archives, was getting under way. Additional federal projects spon­

sored by other departments of the Federal Government had been com- 94 pleted. Mrs. Woodward moved swiftly to establish the lines of her

authority, conferring with the Directors of the Federal Arts Projects 95 as early as July 2, 1936. An early Hopkins decision, of vital impor­

tance to the project directors, was reaffirmed: the Regional and

State Directors of Women's and Professional Projects and State Relief

Administrators had no authority to exercise technical or professional

supervision over the arts projects.^ Miss Anne Cronin, a former direc­

tor of training at Gimbel's Department Store in New York City, became

Mrs. Woodward's assistant, and Lawrence Morris, who had been an

Assistant Regional Director of the Professional and Service Projects,

National Archives, Records of the WPA Checklist (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1946), Appendix D, Administrative History, pp. 59-61. 94 Ibid., pp. 61-62.

^Woodward to Arts Directors, July 2, 8 , 1936, 21QAAAA, Pro­ fessional and Service Projects, April, 1935-December, 1936, RG 69, NA.

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97 became Coordinator for the Federal Arts Projects October 1, 1936.

Both proved to be valuable assistants, assuming many responsibilities

for Mrs. Woodward and giving her fast, dependable support. Morris

soon became Mrs. Woodward's Executive Assistant, and the new division

was carefully organized and staffed.Mrs. Woodward required weekly

reports to be submitted by her staff members. The files contain many

well-written, comprehensive reports from the Executive Officer, Frank

Cogan; Director of Projects (non-Federally sponsored), Frank March;

and the Director of Reports, Mrs. Charley Tidd Cole, among others;

these provide an excellent picture of the activities in various

offices of the division at that time, and they must have done like- 99 wise for Mrs. Woodward when she read them. Weekly staff meetings

were held. Mrs. Woodward's progress report to Hopkins, dated

September 26, 1936, describes the activities of a well-coordinated,

smoothly operating team.Mrs. Woodward often did not adhere to

the "unwritten rule" of the WPA to limit communications to one page.^^"

In this report, which ran to multiple pages as did others, she

characteristically emphasized positive achievements before discussing

97 Woodward to Hopkins, September 26, 1936, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, RG 69, NA. 98 Ibid. 99 See files for August 10-15, 1936 and September-December, 1936, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA. 100 See files in 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, Rg 69, NA.

^^McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 226.

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problems. She noted the large and enthusiastic audiences attending

various Theater Project productions, before reporting that although

"Injunction Granted" was playing to good audiences in New York City,

"I am very much concerned about its definitely Red tinge and I am

asking Mrs. Flanagan to make certain specific alterations in the

script at once," exercising a right of censorship which apparently

was not prohibited to the Assistant Administrator of the WPA in 102 charge of the Arts Projects. She concluded her report with

seven questions regarding problems and decisions required from

Hopkins. These covered both major and minor issues, ranging from

possible approval for a Federal Project for Household Workers’

Training, permission to publish a monthly progress bulletin, ques­

tions about the relationship of the Federal Projects with the

Educational and Recreational Division of WPA, to whether or not a

letter should be issued forbidding State Administrators to censor

Federal Theater productions.

Cutbacks in Federal Project Number 1 were ordered in the fall

of 1936, while Mrs. Woodward was on a trip to the northwest which

combined her inspection of WPA projects with speeches publicizing the

projects' achievements; her trip was probably not wholly incidental

to the election campaign then in progress. Hopkins wanted 8,000

people cut from the relief rolls and a strict adherence to the

102Woodward to Hopkins, September 26, 1936, 1936 file, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, RG 69, NA. 103ibid.

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formula which provided that, of those persons receiving payments

from Federal funds, 90 per cent must be persons certified as eligible 104 for relief and no more than 10 per cent non-certified persons.

This requirement was intended to insure that WPA relief funds were

used primarily and overwhelmingly to provide relief for individuals

actually in need, a policy consistently adhered to by the President.

The requirement was troublesome to the Arts Projects because they

required a large number of skilled professional supervisors who were

not eligible for relief, and because Mrs. Woodward believed that

professional trained artists should be paid more than the minimum

relief wages. Since Hopkins believed that state relief administra­

tions were "too hostile to the Federal Projects to give them a fair

break if they are to have a hand in reducing them," Mrs. Woodward

had the ultimate responsibility for cutting the program back.^^

Cuts were not made promptly or in sufficient numbers to meet the new

quotas early in 1937.^^ Cn February 12, acting upon the advice of

Daniel Bell, Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Presi­

dent in order to force compliance with the cut back refused to

104 Cronin to Woodward, November 7, 1936, September-December, 1936 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects April, 1935- December, 1936, RG 69, NA.

■^McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 238.

^^Cronin to Woodward, November 7, 1936, September-December, 1936 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects April, 1935- December, 1936, RG 69, NA. 107 Woodward to Hopkins, February 10, 1937, January, 1937- June, 1939 file, ibid.

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allocate funds for a three months' period.^8

From that time on, Mrs. Woodward loyally worked for the arts

projects, often in muted struggle with the President. Relatively un­

touched by the immediacy of the political realities facing the Presi­

dent, her concerns began to diverge from his policies. The President,

however, had to consider popular opinion, and he saw that Americans

would not support an arts program which cost more than ordinary relief

and was often operated as an employment program unconnected with re­

lief. The President wrote Hopkins July 9, 1937:

As I do not wish to approve blanket projects for these types of works on a nation-wide or state-wide basis. I have approved the programs for only one-third the amount requested in order to per­ mit the continuation of work under these programs pending sub­ mission of new applications .... I desire to have an applica­ tion for each type of work in each community only where such projects are justified by existing unemployment conditions.

Furthermore, he wanted the arts projects to have local sponsorship

and to be adapted to local needs. He saw that rural opposition to

arts projects centered in large metropolitan areas was potentially

decisive.. . . no The crisis passed after conferences and the original request

for funds was granted; the President had succeeded, however, in forcing

change. Mrs. Woodward moved rapidly to carry out his wishes for in­

creased sponsorship. She described action being taken to implement

108McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The A.rts, pp. 238-239.

109January, 1937-June, 1939 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA.

lj,°McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 238-239.

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the new policies in a memorandum to Hopkins:

As you will recall, it is desired to have these Projects tour their exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical companies through areas of three or more states, in order (1) to bring cultural advantages involved to people who never before have been able to enjoy them, and (2) to increase the contributions from communities and other sponsoring agencies, in order to make these Projects more self-sustaining.

She was also concerned during this time with the women's projects.

She wrote Hopkins November 19, 1936 proposing a training and place­

ment program for women and again on December 23 justifying the sewing

projects, in which she had also been requested to make transfers and 112 reductions of personnel.

Despite the pressures to reduce relief programs, at the be­

ginning of 1937, Mrs. Woodward could see unmet needs on every hand:

Unfulfilled needs for every type of service supplied by Women's and Professional Projects still exist and I feel confident that no aspect of non-construction work has yet approached its satura­ tion point. In November, our Division employed about 325,000 workers. This figure could be doubled, I am sure, but any whole­ sale expansion would be conditional upon the following modifica­ tions of WPA procedure: (1) A relaxation of the requirement that projects should be locally sponsored by a public body and that the sponsor should participate in financing the work. This would permit us to offer our services to areas most in need of them .... (2) A less rigid definition of normal functions of government. This would allow us to perform maintenance work in schools, hos­ pitals . . . etc.— work, which perhaps ought to be performed by local agencies, but has not been and will not be . . . . (3) Permission of a limited amount of production for u s e . ^

^^September 20, 1937, August, 1937 file, 210AAAA, Pro­ fessional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA.

^^Woodward, July, 1936 file, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, RG 69, NA. 113 Woodward to Williams, February 2, 1937, August, 1937 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA.

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She proposed expanded programs in such areas as school lunch projects,

the renovation and cleaning of rural schools, health work, house­

keeping aides, handicraft work, libraries, public administration, and 114 a diverse range of miscellaneous projects. Her proposals came at

a time when politically the desire for WPA programs was waning, and

they hint at a change in Mrs. Woodward’s outlook. There were other

changes.

The Social Security Act, which became law August 14, 1935,

was in operation by this time and in the public's view was either

supplementing, replacing, or overlapping with the WPA relief programs.11^

The Senate set up a Special Committee to Investigate Unemployment and

Relief with James F. Byrnes as Chairman, on June 10, 1937.A poll

taken later that year by the Committee showed "widespread dissatis­

faction with the Administration's unemployment and relief policies.

The Social Security Board, through its Bureau of Public Assistance,

was assisting state programs for old-age assistance, aid to dependent

children, and aid to the blind; it had registered and begun collection

of the taxes for old age insurance programs; and it was beginning to

114ibid.

^^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security, pp. 42, 93.

"^Byrnes to Altmeyer, December 16, 1937, Correspondence with Congress, Chairman's Files, RG 47, NA.

^"^Louis Resnick to Frank Bane, January 6, 1938, Committee to Investigate Unemployment and Relief, ibid.

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administer the unemployment compensation program. The Social

Security Act provided a long range preventative and ameliorative

solution for the same problems reached by WPA programs, but it was

not in complete operation throughout the country and a new recession

had begun.

Mrs. Woodward appeared before Congress in January, 1938 to

present an eloquent case for continued appropriations for the white

collar projects. Testifying before the House Appropriations Commit­

tee, she defended work relief by asserting that the taxpayers and 119 communities benefitted, as did recipients. White collar workers

were needed and deserved relief, she continued:

The Division of Women's and Professional Projects includes pro­ fessional, clerical, service, and production projects, and today employs approximately 325,000 needy men and women. . . . the- Arts Projects have from the beginning formed a part of a larger plan to provide projects for workers in all of the so-called white collar groups, those whose livelihood in private industry had depended upon mental skills rather than physical.1^0

In presenting a persuasive statement for, and a defense of, the arts

projects, she made the following points:

Among the many skills that were threatened by the depression . . . those of the artists of America had been left in the most dangerous neglect. . . . In 1935 the WPA recognized the need of writers as well as of workers in other fields and established the Federal Arts Projects. . . . It has taken art out of the museum and the few metropolitan centers, and established it in its natural scene, where, in the periods of its greatest vitality, it has always

■^Altmeyer, Formative Years of Social Security,

210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA. 120-,

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taken root, that is, among the people as a whole. I believe that in these Arts Projects a fresh current of life has begun to flow in America, which in one form or another, will continue long after we are gone to nourish the thought and aspiration of our children.

There was some sentiment to establish a federal department for the

arts. Bills were introduced in both the House and Senate to this

effect, and Mrs. Woodward and the Arts Directors testified at hearings

on the bills, describing WPA activities but expressing no opinions on 122 the merits of the proposed legislation. In envisioning the influ­

ence of an arts program on future Americans and their culture, she

was ahead of her time, and in stressing the importance of the arts to

a civilization, she had moved beyond the acceptance of materialistic

values as the major force in American life.

Despite Mrs. Woodward’s eloquent defense of the arts programs

before Congress, however, the battle of the budget, 1938, was in some

ways an intensified repetition of the 1937 struggle. The Congressional

appropriation was only the first obstacle, for the President and the

Bureau of the Budget had to review and approve all specific allocations.

WPA officials appeared to view the Bureau of the Budget and Daniel

Bell as adversaries causing their difficulties, rather than placing 123 the responsibility on the President’s policies.

^^Woodward to Hopkins, March 29, 1938, October, 1937-April, 1938 file, ibid. 123 Robert E. Asher to Woodward and Cronin, June 7, 1938, and attachment, ibid.; McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The A-rts, pp. 221, 224, 238.

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Mrs. Woodward requested additional funds in March; the Presi­

dent turned her down, writing:

As it is my desire to reduce the cost of these projects materially next year, I do not wish to authorize any increase over the amount I have already made available for the balance of the current fiscal year. To do otherside would necessitate an even greater cut in employment at the close of the fiscal year. I feel this would be undesirable.

Mrs. Woodward did not take this no for an answer; a note, dated

April 11, 1938, attached to the original request, to J. R. (James

Roosevelt), reveals that,

Mrs. Woodward calls at least once a day about the attached. She was given to understand some time ago that the President had verbally agreed to this and then it was turned down by him. She pleads with you and asks that you take it up again. Harry Hopkins is very much interested in it.

Not succeeding with this approach, she tried another. She wrote

Aubrey Williams April 14 that she understood all the 1935 and 1936

unexpended balances remaining from FERA were available to WPA; she

thought all the unencumbered balances remaining of allocations to

Federal Project Number 1 should be earmarked for the specific use of

those projects and not turned into a pooled fund for general WPA use.

"The use of these old balances would help greatly in the present

critical situation.She was not one to admit defeat easily.

The President, however, wanted the largest possible number

President Roosevelt to Williams, March 29, 1938; Bell to the President, March 28, 1938; both in October, 1937-April, 1938 file, 210 AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA.

^^Woodward to Williams, April 14, 1938, August, 1937 file, ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of people employed; one way to measure the effectiveness of WPA in

providing work for certified persons was to check the man-year cost.

The man-year cost of a project was the amount of federal money spent

for labor and non-labor costs to employ one worker on work relief for

one year. The lower the man-year cost, the greater the number of

people who could be employed under a given appropriation. The rela­

tively high man-year costs of the arts projects became a major pro­

blem in the spring of 1938; the President directed that the man-year

cost should be reduced to $1,000; Mrs. Woodward informed Hopkins in

April that the average man-year cost of the five arts projects was

$1,200, with wages constituting $1,128, or 94 per cent of the man-year 127 cost. She suggested three alternative course of action: abandon­

ment of the Federal Arts Program or its dilution with non-professional

people and a lowering of performance standards; an overhaul of the

entire wage structure of the whole WPA; or a continuation of the Arts

Projects at a man-year cost greater than $1,000 with the use of some

method of averaging out the higher cost of those projects by balancing

them against the lower costs of other projects to achieve the $1,000 128 cost limitation overall. She presided over much imaginative staff

work designed to ingeniously accomplish one of these alternatives

during May. On May 28, she wrote Hopkins that the necessary adjust­

ments in employment could be made to bring the man-year costs of each

of the Federal Projects within the $1,000 limitation. She proposed

127 Woodward to Hopkins, April 29, 1938, ibid. 128 Ibid.; see also Woodward to Hopkins, April 27, 1938, ibid.

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to accomplish this by increasing the employment quotas of the projects 129 by 22,000 additional persons. The additional persons would be paid

the minimum, well under $1,000 annually. Persons already on the rolls

at over $1,000 would be retained, but the large increase in personnel

would more than offset their higher wages, thus achieving an average

cost within the permissable limit. She had become a superlative

bureaucrat, expanding her program, while reducing it!

The President met with Aubrey Williams, standing in for Hopkins,

and Bell on June 7. While mediating and solving the difficulties be­

tween the Bureau of the Budget and the WPA, he made clear that he was

opposed to any person certified for relief drawing more than $1,200

per year.^^ The final resolution of the 1938 WPA budget battle,

evidently worked out at that conference and a subsequent one with

Hopkins, resulted in the Bureau of the Budget maintaining its author­

ity, the WPA reducing man-year costs from $1,192 in fiscal 1938 to

$1,104 in fiscal 1939, and the five projects of Federal Project

Number 1 increasing their employment by 9,000 persons.

By August, 1938, officials in Mrs. Woodward's division were:

concerned by the apparent sluggishness with which Federal Project #1 is reaching its new quota. It is desirable to reach and maintain the new quota as soon as possible, first, in order to keep within the man year costs which have been established,

129 Morris to Woodward, May 4, 1938; Woodward to Hopkins, May 28, 1938; ibid.

■^Robert Asher to Woodward, June 7, 1938, ibid.

~^~*~Ibid.; see also McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 233-234.

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and second, if we are to establish the necessity for the funds and the size of the program which we have requested.

In a short period of time, the arts projects reversed direction—

from cutting personnel to adding personnel. It was an election year

and there was much unemployment in the cities where the arts projects

were centered. Some of the affected groups had militant members; in

previous years delegations of Theater Project workers had visited WPA

Washington headquarters with a general attitude of "we demand,** "we 133 protest,*1 and **we won’t tolerate,** according to Mrs. Woodward.

Further such visitations might have unpleasant political consequences.

However, the cause of the reversal from cutting personnel to adding

personnel cannot be determined from the records.

Mrs. Woodward continued her activities as if this happy

change of status was permanent. She spent a day in July at Hyde

Park with Mrs. Roosevelt, discussing the possibility of future 134 approval for institutional service projects. These projects pro­

vided unskilled and clerical, research, and professional workers in

hospitals, county homes, and similar institutions. Although previous­

ly approved by the President, he had begun to question them on the

grounds that these activities should be regarded as normal functions

■^^Jay du Von to Woodward, August 26, 1938, August 1937 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69 NA.

■^^Woodward to Hopkins, September 26, 1936, Woodward July 1936 file, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda 1935-1944, ibid.; McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 233-236.

■^^Woodward to Mrs. Roosevelt, July 29, 1938, Woodward file, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library.

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of local government and therefore outside the limitations of

legitimate WPA functions. She urged Mrs. Roosevelt to bring these

institutional service projects to the attention of the President.

Mrs. Woodward followed up this visit with another, taking her Regional

Directors to Hyde Park during August for lunch and a reporting session

to bring Mrs. Roosevelt up to date on all regional projects.

Mrs. Woodward requested a brief analysis of the Federal Pro­

jects showing the accomplishments, total employment, and total costs

of the Arts Projects from their origins to July 1, 1 9 3 8 . She

planned for the future, asking for an outline of the definite plans

of the project up to March, 1939: "We should keep before us our

definite objectives and see that each report shows progress.

She requested information on the activities of the Federal Project

Advisory Committees which had been set up to broaden the understanding 139 of the projects and advise on their operation. And she probably

kept up to date by reading the detailed and specific reports on the

Women’s and Professional Projects Division submitted by Mrs. Cole

during this time, which show much activity, including many handicraft

^^Woodward to Major George Parkes, August 22, 1938, Woodward papers, Schlesinger Library.

^^Woodward to Jay du Von, August 17, 1938, August, 1937 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects, RG 69, NA.

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displays.i 140

And yet, those months of 1938 were the Indian summer of the

Arts Projects. As forecast by the actions of both the Congress and

the President, Congress abolished the Theater Project and returned

the other four national projects to state control in the Emergency 1 Af Relief Act of 1939, passed June 30, 1939. The WPA was in its

closing phases. Hopkins resigned as Administrator and was named

Secretary of Commerce in December, 1938, and Mrs. Woodward was

appointed a member of the Social Security Board in December, 1938,

succeeding Molly Dewson.

Her Impact

Mrs. Woodward’s impact, if measured by personal and lasting

public recognition, would have to be considered minimal; if measured

by the influence and effect of her work, her impact would be consider­

ably greater. She did not join the Roosevelt Administration as an

intimate of President and Mrs. Roosevelt, or other administration

leaders, as did Frances Perkins and Molly Dewson. But her influence

grew as she fostered one important aspect of the New Deal program,

that of helping to achieve some measure of what came to be known as

social security. Her ideas and philosophy were not new or original,

and they were so close to those of Mrs. Roosevelt and Hopkins that

140 Cole to Woodward, October 4, 1938, October 1938-June, 1939 file, ibid. 141 “McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, p. 305.

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it is not surprising that she developed the closest relationship and 142 friendship with them, and through them, with the President. Lack­

ing a political constituency of her own, she was not so much a leader

as a loyal follower. Mrs. Roosevelt said of her, "She has executive

ability, tact, the faculty to give in and see the other person’s 143 point of view, and yet she can be adamant when it is necessary.”

She used those qualities to advance a program in which she believed,

but one which had been conceived by others. The Roosevelt Administra­

tion was both fortunate and stronger for having a follower of her

ability to carry out its policies.

Her greatest impact, however, lay in the simple fact that

her work helped make the relief program work. She knew that govern­

ment could be used in new and creative ways for this purpose. She

made others aware of this knowledge through her excellent administra­

tive ability. She maintained high aims and a low profile, she mini­

mized obstacles, she sustained optimism regarding how much could be

accomplished, and she administered the WPA program in a non-political 144 manner, concentrating on the needs of people. She recruited and

inspired a staff to work together in loyalty and confidence.

142Woodward to Hopkins, March 29, 1938, Woodward file, 1935- June, 1937, 105W, Interoffice Memoranda, RG 69, NA; Woodward to Mrs. Roosevelt, July 29, 1938, Woodward file, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library; Hareven, Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience, p. 82.

DD, XVI (January, 1939), 10.

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Pressures to modify, compromise, or abandon the relief program were 14' continuous; she showed vigor and courage in resisting those pressures.

She helped Mrs. Roosevelt bring women into the forefront of

the search for relief and security. The fact that she was there, and

effective, in speaking for equal treatment for women, insured that

the relief programs of the New Deal would meet the needs of women as

well as men. She brought women into the relief program not only as

recipients, but as participants and leaders as well. She was sympa- 146 thetic and helpful to other women of the New Deal. She was herself

an inspiration for women. Coming into the WPA at the age of fifty, 147 she became the second most important woman in the Federal Government.

The WPA was setting a pattern in the establishment of relation­

ships between the Federal Government and the states, an area which

had not been clearly demarcated. This relationship was the basis on

which Social Security was developed, and on which the grant-in-aid

programs subsequently operated. Mrs. Woodward appears to have aided

this development by maintaining pleasant and effective working rela­

tionships with state administrations; these aided her own program, as

well as the Roosevelt and future administrations.

145 McDonald, Federal Relief Administration and The Arts, pp. 167-168, 308. 146 Woodward to Dewson- -March 4, 1935, Correspondence, 1935, Women's Work, FERA, RG 69, NA; Hilda Smith to Woodward, January 1, 1951, Woodward papers, Schlesinger Library. 147 Evening Star (Washington, D. C.), September 24, 1971, p. B7.

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Public acceptance of relief required education. Mrs. Woodward

made innumerable speeches stressing the themes of the benefits for

everyone resulting from relief programs and the responsibility of 148 society to think in terms of human needs. She was the author or

subject of many articles during the 1930’s and the 1940's dealing with 149 relief and social security. Her influence and publicity among

women's groups and publications were considerable; otherwise, she

was probably not widely known outside of relief and government

circles by the general public. By her presence she was able to de­

flect some of the criticism of the relief program; a gentlewoman of

the old school from Mississippi, speaking in a pleasant voice with a

southern accent about human values, does not conjure up visions of

Communists and wild-eyed radicals, of vast boondoggles, or of waste­

ful, power hungry Washington bureaucrats. Never underestimate the

power of an image, especially an unlikely one!

In evaluating her own work, she took the long view. She had

the foresight to look ahead and see the influence of a relief program

on the next generation. She had the vision to value the relief pro­

grams for their ultimate contribution to American life, and not alone

for their immediate alleviation of depression miseries. "Much as I

"^See files of her speeches, previously cited, at the National Archives, and Roosevelt and Schlesinger Libraries.

^ *S e e Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature for years 1935- 1947. For example: The Independent Woman, April, 1934, p. 104, May, 1943, p. 142, October, 1944, p. 312, and January, 1945, p. 11; Literary Digest, July 6, 1935; New York Times, July 7, 1935, p. 9.

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value the work accomplished, I believe that a future generation,

looking back upon all that we have done or tried to do, will be glad

that, in a time of great economic distress, we erected a bulwark for

citizenship. . • ." she told Congress.^ "It is then for you to

determine whether the next generation will be safer if we feed under­

nourished children. . . . to decide whether public parks and play­

grounds guarantee better citizens. It is your choice whether art

and books and music and education lead to a secure nation," she told

a radio audience.She was serenely confident of that the judgment

would be, and it is probably safe to say that most Americans today,

looking back, would confirm her confidence. The programs she believed

in have not been abandoned by friends or foes; they have been aug­

mented.

■'■'^Woodward, open statement, January 21, 1938, August, 1937 file, 210AAAA, Professional and Service Projects 1935-1941, RG 69, NA.

^"^Speech over WRG, April 16, 1937, Woodward file, Hopkins papers, Roosevelt Library.

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HILDA WORTHINGTON SMITH

Hilda Worthington Smith, a social worker and educator who

had specialized in workers’ education as head of the Bryn Mawr Summer

School for Women Workers in Industry, joined the FERA in September,

1933. Hired by Harry Hopkins, she was asked to develop a workers*

education program on a national scale in connection with relief for

unemployed teachers. She remained with the relief programs of WPA

until 1943, during which time she single-mindedly promoted the cause

of workers' education; subsequently she lobbied for a labor extension

service, of which workers1 education would have been a cornerstone.

She, more than any other person, preached the gospel of

workers* education in the Washington of Roosevelt and the New Deal,

an activity which many people thought was tantamount to preaching

radicalism, if not outright Communism. Despite political reper­

cussions, Hilda Smith remained isolated from partisan politics, so

complete was her dedication and so devoted were her energies to

workers' education. She was not a Presidential appointee, yet as

the person most qualified to establish this program, she is an ideal

example of the professionally experienced reformers brought into

various New Deal agencies.

185

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Tough and durable, endowed with a social conscience and

sensitivity, this maiden lady, called "Jane" by her friends, dedi­

cated herself and her worldly goods to a single cause. She still

works today on a temporary appointment with the Office of Economic

Opportunity. She still writes humorous verse, gives and receives

much friendship, and is renowned in labor circles.^

Her Background

Hilda Worthington Smith was born in New York City June 19, 2 1888, into a well-to-do and well-connected family. She lived in

New York City and spent simmers at the family home on the Hudson

River, across and not far from the Franklin D. Roosevelt home.3 She

was educated in New York private schools and attended Bryn Mawr

College, graduating in 1910. While a student at Bryn Mawr, she was

active in sports and in other extracurricular activities and was 4 head of the student government. At Bryn Mawr she received a

\john Carmody, "Jane Smith, 'Advanced Woman' at 80. Her Mother Warned Her," Washington Post, Potomac Magazine, May 11, 1969, pp. 20-30. 2 Autobiographical material, Workers' Education file, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library; Smith papers, Schlesinger Library; Smith to Francis Biddle, Statement of Training and Experience, June 17, 1941, Data on Workers' Education (hereinafter abbreviated WE), Workers' Service Program (hereinafter abbreviated WSP), Records of the WPA, RG 69, NA.

3 Ibid. /j. Hilda Smith, "The Day Before Yesterday . . .," Bryn Mawr A4«nnae Bulletin. XLVII (Spring, 1966), 2-11.

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rigorous education in the fundamental curriculum of the day, had the

opportunity to meet and hear suffrage leaders Dr. Anna Howard Shaw

and Mrs. Pankhurst from England, among others, and was exposed to the

liberal ideas of those progressive years.^ Bryn Mawr provided pre­

cise instruction in the fundamentals of grammar and punctuation; it

also provided the opportunity to play basketball and meet with and

entertain factory girls at a settlement house in Philadelphia.^ She

took a masters degree at Bryn Mawr in 1911 and during that year

worked with suffrage groups and community organizations.^ By the

time she had finished her schooling at Bryn Mawr, her experiences

had provided her first understanding of ’’self-governing groups and

how objectives could be obtained through analysis of problems and

group decisions.1'**

For the four years following Bryn Mawr, she did volunteer

work with delinquent girls, finding them jobs, visiting prisons and

reformatories, assisting girls in community recreational and educa­

tional groups. In the simmers she worked in the Hudson River valley,

organizing educational and recreational programs for both adults and 9 children. During this time she also attended courses at the New

York School of Philanthropy (later called the New York School of

5Ibid. 6Ibid.

^Attachment to letter, Smith to Dr. James Marshall, November 5, 1941, WE, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library. 8 9 Ibid. *Ibid.

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Social Work) and received the two-year diploma. She later wrote

that among her activities in social work while at the school were

the following:

I did case work with families as field work for one year, con­ ducted an investigation of scrub women, made statistical surveys of school children for the Board of Education, investigated housing conditions. For my second year of work, I did a research investigation of conditions of employment, visiting all private employment bureaus, for women, and working in the Public Employ­ ment Bureau, under supervision.^

She returned to Bryn Mawr in 1916 and organized and directed a

community center with a library, playgrounds, and kindergartens,

which provided school lunches for children, clubs and forums for 12 adults, and night classes for workers. From 1919 to 1921, she was

acting dean and dean at Bryn Mawr College, responsible for 400 under­

graduate students.^

In 1922 her training and experience in both social work and

education were combined to advantage when she became Director of the

Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, a pioneer experiment in

workers' education in the United States, founded by Bryn Mawr Presi- 14 dent M. Carey Thomas after observing similar schools in England.

Hilda Smith selected and trained faculty, worked on curriculum,

, WE, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

see also Lawrence Rogen and Marjorie Rachlin, Labor Education in the United States (Washington: National Institute of Labor Education at The American University, 1968).

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collected libraries and teaching materials, conducted discussions,

and supervised 150 people each summer.^ During the winters, she

travelled around the United States, speaking for the school and

raising funds for it, selecting students and faculty, and organizing

local conferences and committees."^ The Bryn Mawr Summer School led

to the establishment of seven similar schools, among them those at

the University of Wisconsin and Barnard College in New York City.

Miss Smith served as Chairman and Director from 1927 to 1933 of the

Affiliated Schools for Workers (now the American Labor Education

Service), which acted as a coordinating agency for resident workers*

schools.^ Mrs. Roosevelt visited the Bryn Mawr School when her

friend Marion Dickerman was teaching there one summer, and became

interested in the work. She later recounted the origin of her inter­

est in workers' schools:

I sat with some of the classes and talked to many of the students, and was impressed everywhere with the quality of eagerness which comes, I suppose, to minds which are denied the opportunity of studying certain things, and when they find that opportunity with­ in their grasp they at once respond with greater eagerness because their hunger for knowledge and their need for the special kind of knowledge they are attempting to acquire is far greater than is that of the average student.

Undoubtedly, Mrs. Roosevelt's interest and support had much to do

Smith to Marshall, November 5, 1941, WE, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

"*"^Ibid. ~^Ibid.

"^Speech by Mrs. Roosevelt, October 24, 1933, ibid;'

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with the establishment and continuance of a program for workers’

education in New Deal relief agencies.

Her View of the Position

The opportunity to set up a workers' education program in

Washington gave Hilda Smith the opportunity to achieve her lifelong

desire "to help workers to help themselves through greater knowledge."'

Miss Smith viewed workers' education as a "program offering to indus­

trial, clerical, domestic, and agricultural workers an opportunity

to train themselves in clear thinking through the study of problems 20 closely related to their daily lives as workers and as citizens."

Further, as she wrote in an early pamphlet describing the program

under FERA:

Its objective is to stimulate an active and continued interest in the economic and social problems of the times and to develop a sense of responsibility for their solution. The instructional program is based on . . . open-minded inquiry . . . and complete freedom of teaching and discussion. . . . The curriculum includes economics, economic history, government, legislation, history of the labor movement, individual and labor problems, international affairs, current events, English, public speaking, and parlia­ mentary law.2-*-

However, since workers' education had grown out of the needs of the

^ Our Weekly News, Teachers Edition, March 10-15, 1941, p. 1.

^"Workers' Education Under the FERA 1934-1935," Education, .. 1934-38, 214, Education and Retraining, RG 69, NA, unnumbered pages.

21Ibid. ; Miss Smith describes the program in similar terms in many articles. See, for example, articles filed in Historical Back­ ground, WSP, RG 69, NA.

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labor movement and assumed the right of the workers to organize and

take action on their own problems, officially she did not view the

federal program as "an attempt to initiate or conduct workers’

classes, but rather to create new opportunities for existing workers'

groups to use the resources of the government . . . to aid unemployed

teachers. . . . and to demonstrate the need for an extended program 22 of workers' education." In creating new opportunities,:however,

the workers' education program did initiate and conduct classes.

These classes were based on needs, desires, and experiences of students

and were flexible enough to meet the demands of working people at hours

and places of convenience to them.

Miss Smith was something of an educational innovator and

evangelist, in terms of teaching methods, and the position in Wash­

ington provided her the opportunity to train teachers in the methods

and techniques of informal education which, she believed, "is the 23 basis of all successful adult schools and classes." The teacher was

a leader, not an authoritarian figure; the teacher and class prac­

ticed democracy in the classroom; the class learned primarily through

discussion, rather than through the more formal methods generally

practiced at that time. In the classes people net only obtained edu­

cation they needed, but used their new knowledge to work as groups in 24 solving their problems and improving their surroundings.

22 Smith to Marshall, November 5, 1941, WE, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library. 23_, . , 24 , . Ibid. Ibid.

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Her Performance

Hilda Smith came to Washington during the summer of 1933 to

promote a program of workers.' education for unemployed teachers. She

had read that emergency relief funds v:ere available, and she urged

adult education programs which went beyond the literacy programs 25 being planned. She finally saw Hopkins and urged workers' educa­

tion for FERA. He told her it must not be propaganda for the New

Deal, and she replied that she had never heard of the New Deal, that

she was interested in "straight education."2^ She reported for work

September 25, 1933, and within a month presented Hopkins with a one-

page memorandum listing fundamental policies for such a program. He

read it, initialled it, and told her that this was "just what I 27 brought you to Washington to do." The policies she had listed

included the following:

The teaching emphasizes economic and social problems related to the experience of the worker. Its objective is independent thinking, based on a full know­ ledge of the facts. Freedom of teaching and discussion are taken for granted. The right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is recognized. The classes are organized as democratic groups, with the teacher as a leader and one of the group, not as an authority. Special training should be given to supervisors and teachers of this program. °

Workers' education was incorporated into FERA as part of the Emergency

2^Smith, "People Come First," I, 5-19.

2^Smith to author, August 4, 1970.

2^Smith, "People Come First," I, 25. 2^Ibid., 22.

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Education Program, It was set up as a branch of the adult education

program, with a more specialized purpose— to meet the needs of mature

persons handicapped by the lack of previous formal schooling, and to

deal with the social and economic problems of particular concern to 29 the worker. Such courses led in many directions, exploring the

groups' relationships with their communities and their government,

with labor unions, and with management. Sometimes the courses led

to understanding and action opposed by other groups in the community—

for example, southern tenant farmers might want to learn arithmetic,

whereas the owners did not want them to, for fairly obvious reasons.

Hiss Smith's concept of workers' education was not "adult”

education. She viewed workers' education as a separate and distinct

branch of adult education, not the literacy programs, vocational

training, or formal course work to meet high school or college re­

quirements. She exerted a great deal of effort to establish and

maintain a distinct identity for workers' education. It was more

closely related to labor education and was labor-oriented, but it

went beyond the usual concerns of labor education as defined in the

latest and most comprehensive work on the subject:

Labor education, or workers' education, is that branch of adult education that attempts to meet workers' educational needs and interests as these arise out of participation in unions. It is education directed toward action. Its programs are directed to enable workers to function more effectively as unionists, to help

U.S., Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Workers' Education Under the FERA 1934-1935 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1935), no page numbers.

^°Smith, "People Come First," I, 56-57.

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then understand society and fulfill their obligations as citizens and to promote individual development. It does not include train­ ing in job skills for the labor market, commonly known as voca­ tional training.^

As it has developed, labor education might be considered as having two

major thrusts: education for the rank and file (that is, how to func­

tion more effectively as a union member, and general upgrading) and

career development for labor professionals. Miss Smith's ideas of

workers' education, a term often used interchangeably with labor

education, was more comprehensive. She was concerned with the needs

of all working people, both organized and unorganized, of all back­

grounds, occupations, and races, and she stressed the use of demo­

cratic methods in the teaching and learning experience to help

groups solve their own problems and develop their own leadership.

As she envisioned it, workers' education conveyed overtones of

missionary and uplifting zeal more commonly associated with such reli­

gious movements as the YMCA and YWCA, and was based on participatory

democracy. Her concept of workers' education was a comprehensive

and ambitious, though a somewhat obscure one. Many local unions and

some labor leaders supported her work; many more did not, for they

saw it as a challenge to their positions. In insisting on the

separate and distinct identity of workers' education, Miss Smith may

have compounded her problems, for workers' education became a more

visable target for critics of both the educational and labor policies

of the New Deal. It did not draw strength from adult education,

>gen and Rachlin, Labor Education, p. 1.

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which subsequently enjoyed widespread public approval, or from labor

education, which might have prospered with the new status organized

labor was winning under the New Deal, had the unions wholeheartedly

supported it.

Workers* education under FERA was set up on a federal-state

basis in common with most other relief programs. Letters of inquiry

were sent to states, asking for a response indicating interest in

the program. Response was large, according to Miss Smith, but uneven- 32 ly divided among the states. Some states instituted programs,

others did not. Some states coordinated workers’ education with

other education programs, some kept it separate and distinct and

appointed state and local supervisors for workers' education. Over

a ten year period, Miss Smith later reported, projects were operated

at one time or another in thirty-six states altogether, with seven­

teen states having workers' education programs continuously.33

The program was planned with the assistance of the American

Federation of Labor's Workers' Education Bureau and the Affiliated

Schools for Workers' Education. A conference on workers* education

was called by the Secretary of Labor and the Commissioner of Educa- 34 tion and held in Washington February 2, 1934. Miss Smith selected

the unemployed teachers, which had to be done with care for not all

teachers believed in the objectives and methods of workers' education.

32 Smith, "People Come First," I, 22-26.

33Ibid.. 141. 34Ibid., 38-42.

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Those selected for the program were trained under the direction of

Miss Ernestine Friedmann, an economist brought in by Miss Smith.33

Some 500 teachers were trained in 15 centers, mostly university

campuses, during the summer of 1934. During the winter of 1934-1935,

it was reported that 45,000 individuals attended classes taught by

600 teachers. Seventy per cent of the classes were in social studies,

20 per cent in English, 5 per cent in drama and art, and 5 per cent

in miscellaneous health and science. The types of classes held showed

diversity: some farmers in the middle west were studying the coopera­

tive movement; seme executives of a new union were studying public

speaking and parliamentary procedure; while unemployed workers were

studying the new social security legislation.3^ A summary of WPA

education programs released to the press in December, 1936 claimed

that 1,300,000 people were benefitting from such programs, while

WPA had created jobs for 34,000 teachers. Of those totals, workers'

education had enrolled 46,576 workers in 2,685 classes taught by

836 teachers.3^ Miss Smith later made contradictory claims about

the extent of the program at its peak in 1937. In her unpublished

account she wrote:

35 Smith to author, August 4, 1970.

36w e , Emergency Education Program, October 1934-October 1935; Williams, July 1936-June 1937, 105W Interoffice Memoranda, 1935-1944; "Workers' Education Under the FERA 1934-1935," Education 1935-38, 214, Education and Retraining; all in RG 69, NA.

3^Press Release, December 13, 1936, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

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Approximately 2,000 teachers were employed at the peak period in 1937. One rough estimate made by persons associated with the pro­ gram placed the number of wooers reached in industrial and rural areas as close to a million.

This was, of course, a cumulative total for the ten years that this

type of program was in operation. In a five year plan she drew up to

expand the program, she reported that at its peak period in March,

1937, the program gave employment to "more than 1,000 teachers . . . 39 reaching at that time about 75,000 workers." Even if corroboration

for either claim could be found in WPA records, it is evident that

the figures themselves do not jibe, and furthermore, that the workers1

education program was a relatively small one in the overall relief

program.

There is considerable reason to question both the reliability

and the accuracy of the figures of the workers’ education program.

Miss Smith herself does so in her unpublished account:

A ten year effort throughout this program to secure accurate re­ ports and statistics from the states was only partially success­ ful. The bare statistical reports received were often inaccurate and unintentionally misleading. State and local officials often failed to give a clear statement of their workers' education activities either through a confused idea of what they included, or sometimes, in areas where the program had been under fire, be­ cause they tried to protect themselves and their program by bury- ing these facts in a mass of statistics on general adult education.

Miss Smith fought to keep workers' education separate and distinct

Smith, "People Come First," I, 141. 39 Smith, "A Five Year Plan for the Development of Leadership in Workers' Education and Allied Fields," erroneously dated 1936, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library. 40 Smith, "People Come First," I, 141.

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from adult education, but the line separating the two was fuzzy, and,

in any case, the programs overlapped on the state and local levels.

Eventually workers’ education was separated from adult education

programs. The evidence suggests that Miss Smith, herself, was at

least partially responsible for the unreliability of the statistics;

she was a victim of her own optimistic hopes for the program and

habitually inflated the figures she reported. She was a prolific

writer, filling the records with correspondence, memoranda, reports,

plans, and so on, and in almost all of them, she reports an "increas­

ing" demand for, "increasing" needs of, and "increasing" interest in,

workers’ education programs. Large numbers of letters expressing

these "increasing" demands, needs, and interests have not been located 41 in WPA records. Many of these expressions may have been made

orally to program workers, and to Miss Smith and Miss Friedman on

their numerous field trips. The suspicion, however, remains that

both the demand for the program and actual implementation of it were

somewhat exaggerated by Miss Smith in her zeal to promote it.

Miss Smith had one other responsibility in the early WPA

years. There was much demand for resident camps for unemployed

women during the first few years of the New Deal. Many inquiries

were sent to Mrs. Woodward, who referred the writers to their state

relief administrations. Conferences held in Washington during the

41 It should be added, however, that WPA records are so exten­ sive and in some areas so disorganized that it cannot be claimed that these letters do not exist. It should also be added that in the early days, relief operations were free of administrative bureaucratic con­ trols later instituted.

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fall of 1933 resulted in the issuance of authorization for such 42 camps. Mrs. Roosevelt invited a conference to the White House

at the end of April, 1934 to make plans for camps; from the beginning

because of her experience, Miss Smith was partially responsible for

their operation, and about 90 camps enrolled some 8,000 women for 43 periods of two to four months. The camps were discontinued in

1937 by the National Youth Administration, to whose jurisdiction 44 they had been transferred. Miss Smith had opposed this transfer,

because many older women also needed to be included. She had also

suggested year-round operation, wages for women attending, vocational

guidance rather than training because of the limited periods of time

involved, and a limitation of the camps to 60 to 100 women, because

larger groups were unsuited "for an effective program of student 45 government which we consider an essential of these camps. She also 46 urged that the camps be revived and federalized in 1940.

In 1939 the future of workers* education in the WPA was

doubtful for several reasons, one of which was the continuing criti­

cism of it as radical and Communistic. There had been criticism of

4 ? Smith, "People Come First," I, 74-76. 43 Ibid., Chapter V, "Resident Schools and Educational Camps for Unemployed Women," 74-92. 44 Ibid.

45Smith to Christy, April 30, 1936, WSP, Smith 1936, RG 69, NA. 46 Smith to Mrs. Roosevelt, May 15, 1940, Smith papers, Schlesinger Library.

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workers* education from the beginning. These attacks centered on

the use of free discussion techniques, reading of all kinds of

material (from reactionary to radical) in workers' education classes,

and the charges that the teachers were instructing students in 47 methods to foment strikes and overthrow the government. Miss

Smith later recalled that she was often called down to Hopkins'

office late at night because something had "blown up" in some

workers' education project; this often happened when appropriation 48 bills were pending in Congress. The teaching methods, although

widely adopted throughout public education in the late 1960's, were

new, and therefore suspect, in the 1930's. There were some teachers,

some students, and some bystanders not connected with the classes who

concluded that the reading of books by Karl Marx and a free discussion

of them was equivalent to teaching and advocating Communism.

Another source of vulnerability was the fact that the workers'

education projects were not operating in most of the states and not

reaching large numbers of unemployed; this made the continuation of

the program less vital at a time when the whole relief program was

being decreased and phased out. As with other WPA relief programs,

workers' education projects had to be initiated in the states, and

despite valiant efforts to persuade local unions and groups to

47 Smith to Williams, March 1, 1935 and "Headlines Bulletin and What's Behind Them," undated, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library; Williams to Hopkins, January 25, 1936, Williams, 105W, 1935-June, 1937, RG 69, NA. 48 Smith to author, August 4, 1970.

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sponsor projects, in many states Miss Smith was never able to over­

come the indifference, reluctance, or even hostility toward the

program that discouraged sponsors. The administrative costs of each

WPA program had to be balanced against the number of people reached

and helped, and with too few projects, workers’ education was in

trouble on this score. As in early 1936, Miss Smith had known that

the future of the program was ”clouded,,, but "with characteristic zeal

and optimism, she had worked out plans to put it on a permanent 49 basis. She suggested making workers’ education a cooperative

service program, coordinating functions with the Women’s Bureau,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Labor Standards at the

Department of Labor, the Office of Education, the Social Security

Board, Public Health Service, and the Extension Service of the Agri- 50 culture Department. To justify another plan which provided for an

expanded and permanent workers’ education program, she wrote:

Workers’ education is in a period of expansion . . . with the rapid development of labor organizations. . . . there has been a growing interest in an education movement designed to help workers understand the problems they meet in their own organizations, and as citizens of their communities. . . . From all parts of the country, from all types of workers, from.craft, industrial, and agricultural organizations, urgent requests for teachers are re­ ceived almost daily in the Washington Education Division of the Works Projects Administration.51

49 Smith to WE Supervisors, December 31, 1936, Smith 1936, WE, 211.43, RG 69, NA.

Roosevelt Library.

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These requests, however, could not be located in the records and it

appears that Miss Smith's justification for an expanded and more

permanent program rested at least as much on wishful thinking as on

actual demand in the states. As the future of the program became

ever more uncertain, Miss Smith did attempt to secure letters of

support from persons friendly to the program to be sent to Congress 52 during the spring of 1939. Later that same year, after WPA officials

had dismissed Miss Friedmann and the two secretaries who made up the

staff while Miss Smith was on a field trip, she sought letters of

endorsement from project sponsors to help persuade WPA officials to

continue the program.

However, Miss Smith and her program did have influential

support in Washington. She later wrote of Hopkins who had sponsored

and backed the program:

He understood the difficulties of this specialized program, the constant opposition it met and the need for trained personnel if the job were to be done at all. He believed in the fundamental purposes of workers' education, and the part that an industrial group might take in responsible civic action.

She also had the backing of John Carmody, who had been with the

relief programs since the beginning, and who, by 1939, was Adminis­

trator of the Federal Works Agency. He interceded for her and

^Smith to Edward Mertz and Henry Hough, April 12, 1939, Historical Background, Legislation, WSP, RG 69, NA.

"^Endorsements, 1939, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library. 54 Smith, "People Come First," I, 62.

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offered advice when her program was endangered.^ But perhaps it

was Mr6. Roosevelt's continuous interest and support from the ear­

liest days, and the public knowledge of it, which was ultimately of

the greatest benefit. Mrs. Roosevelt invited the workers' education

supervisors, and WPA officials, to the White House during a confer­

ence of the supervisors in 1936. She did so again in 1939."*** Miss

Smith kept Mrs. Roosevelt informed of developments in the program,

received aid and advice from her, and neither made any secret of

this close relationship."*^ It has been argued that it was Mrs.

Roosevelt's interest which was responsible for the interest or

tolerance of other administrators and of the President himself in

the workers* education program."***

Miss Smith had established communications with a number of

other agencies and departments of government. She had served, for

example, as chairman of the Technical Committee on Workers' Education,

which she suggested and organized in 1936 as an adjunct of the Inter­

departmental Committee on Health and Welfare, chaired by Miss Josephine

Roche. It acted as a clearing house for various federal departments

Correspondence between Carmody and Smith, August 19, 22, 1939; Williams to Kerr, August 29, 1939; both in Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

"*^Smith to Alderman, July 28, 1936; Kerr to Harrington, November 3, 1939, WE, 211.43, RG 69, NA.

^Correspondence between Mrs. Roosevelt, Dickerman, and Smith, 1933-1934; Smith to Mrs. Roosevelt, January 12, February 1, 2, 1939, spindle file; all in Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

"***Hareven, Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience, p. 78.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. concerned with workers’ education and was composed of representatives

from the Office of Education, Labor and Agriculture Departments, the

National Labor Relations Board, the Social Security Board, and the 59 Public Works Administration. The Technical Committee met several

times in 1937, with Hilda Smith presiding and dominating the meetings;

the meetings do not appear to have served a particularly vital purpose 60 _ other than a public relations one for workers' education. In most

cases, the designated representatives, who outranked Miss Smith, did 61 not attend but sent lower ranking substitutes.

Mrs. Florence Kerr replaced Mrs. Ellen Woodward as Director

of Women's and Professional Projects in January, 1935. During the

spring of that year, Mrs. Kerr raised the question of the extent of

support for workers' education on the part of organized labor. Much

of organized labor did not support workers' education and she had

heard that John L. Lewis opposed it. John Carmody interceded for

Miss Smith with Aubrey Williams, who in turn wrote Mrs. Kerr:

John Carmody tells me that you are of the understanding that I stated that John L. Lewis did not have any interest in the work that Hilda Smith was doing and that he didn't think it was of any particular value. I don't know where you could possibly have gotten that impres­ sion because I don't ever -remember having even discussed this

^Interdepartmental Cocmittea, Historical Background, WSP, RG 69; WE, Technical Committee, Central Files, SSA, RG47; both NA.

^Minutes of meetings, September 10, 21, 1937, Health and Welfare, Health Conferences, Central Files 1935-1947, SSA, RG 47, NA.

61m d .

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matter with John L. but, to the contrary, have received many evidences in support of the Workers' Education program from such members of the CIO as Philip Murray and others. . . . I hope that . . . you will find it possible to have Miss Smith continue the work she has been doing. I think this work is one of the finest things we have ever done.and that it ought to be continued, if possible. I realize the difficulties you are under in cutting down the WPA.and that everything must take its share, but I do hope you find it possible not to take more from the Workers* Education program than its proportionate reduction.

Miss Smith offered her resignation, feeling that since the program had

been in operation for six years and since "repeated requests from the

unions for its extension" were being received, "The WPA Administration

should be able to decide whether or not it wants to include any pro­

gram of this sort in its future plans. . . ." She added that she did

not want to push the program if the Administration did not want it,

but with a little encouragement from Carmody, she did just that and

sought and received at least sixteen endorsements of it.^

Miss Smith had proposed various plans for the future of the

workers' education program. A labor advisory committee composed of

various labor movement members proposed both a federal project and

the conversion of workers' education to workers' service, a coopera­

tive venture combining many kinds of training with the emphasis on

drawing labor into full participation in communities involved with 64 defense production. In November, 1939, the workers' education

62Williams to Kerr, August 29, 1939, Williams file, Smith papers,.Roosevelt Library.

^Smith to Carmody, August 17, 1939, and Endorsements, 1939, ibid.

^Smith, "People Cone First," I, 93-94.

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program became the Workers’ Service Program, set up independently of

the adult education program. Mrs. Kerr described the change in a

general letter:

During six years under the Adult Education Program, it became in­ creasingly clear that groups of farmers and workers were isolated and not receiving benefits they needed from various community ser­ vice projects. Requests were received by the Workers' Education unit for services in addition to classroom teaching which they could not give: Recreation, art, library, visual aids, etc. Workers and farmers are ready to continue and sponsor these services. WSP has been made one of the Community Service Projects. It offers classes related to workers' interests along industrial and agricultural lines, channels services of other projects to reach workers, which sometimes have to be modified: For example, a recrea­ tion project becames posture improvement where workers develop poor posture at their jobs.^

Using personnel borrowed from other projects, and with a program based

on cooperative functions, Miss Smith lost her semi-independent status.

It became clear that Mrs. Kerr, or other WPA administrators, intended

to establish a firm measure of bureaucratic control and accountability

over her.

Workers' Service Projects operated from November, 1939, through

1943, although they were downgraded in January, 1942, and phased out

the following year. Apparently the projects operated in fifteen states:

Miss Smith reported in February, 1941, that the projects were employ­

ing 2,000 WPA workers, 46 non-relief supervisors, and reaching 150,000

industrial and rural workers.^ The Washington staff continued to

consist of the Director and Assistant Director, Ernestine Friedmann,

^ Kerr to Dort, March 23, 1940, General Letter No. 292, Kerr 1939-40, WE, 211.43, RG 69, NA.

^Smith to Carmody, February, 1941, Historical Background Data, Smith Historical Articles, WSP, RG 69, NA.

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who had been rehired, and two secretaries. The new program operated

very similarly to the old one and Hiss Smith continued to call it

workers' education on occasion. She made many field trips, often

two or three a month to the states in which the program was operating

or to others, in which it was hoped sponsors could be found and pro­

jects initiated. During these trips, about which she wrote extensive

and detailed reports, she visited union meetings, conventions, and

conferences; she conferred with union leaders, WPA state officials,

and with project sponsors; she conducted workshop training programs;

and she visited defense and housing projects and migrant labor camps.

She was observing, listening, and reporting back the concerns and

needs of workers that could be met with new workers' service projects.

She also reported her general impressions of WPA operations and public

opinion as she sampled it and made recommendations.^ She was seeking

and suggesting new ways in which community projects could be useful

to the evolving defense program, as she had been instructed to do by

Mrs. Kerr.^

In all of her activities she was very careful to report in

detail, to summarize in memorandum form the understandings reached in

^ S ^ e reports of these trips in Field Trip Reports, Historical Background Data, WSP, RG 69, NA.

^Smith, "General Impressions of the WPA Program," ibid. 69 Smith to Kerr, August 5, 1940, summarizes "our" conference July 29; Smith to Greene, "Suggestions for Civilian Service of Women in National Defense Program Planning," July, 1940; ibid.

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conference, and to request permission for her activities, all of

which indicate a greater measure of control from above being exer­

cised than in previous years (assuming that the WPA records are rea­

sonably complete).^ She reported new developments in the Workers'

Service Programs, such as the establishment of workers’ service cen­

ters in trade union halls, of information centers in defense areas,

the use of housing projects for workers’ service activities, and the

new emphasis on labor relations and health education*^ She organized

an interproject committee which met on November 6, 1939 and January 11,

1940, and again she dominated the meetings and circulated information

to members of the committee who represented other agencies and depart- 72 ments of government. WPA administrators discouraged her from

calling further meetings of this committee during the summer of 1941

by questioning the need for them.^

An example of the broad scope of both the workers’ education

and workers’ service programs is evident in the reports of Miss Smith's

field trip to the west in early 1941. While in California in January,

she visited public and private housing projects, migrant camps, and

^Smith to Kerr, April 24, 1941, Kerr, Historical Background, ibid.

^Memoranda and minutes of meetings are in Data on WE, Inter­ project Committee, ibid.

September, 1941, ibid.

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Mexican communities, in addition to labor meetings and her more 74 customary conferences. Noting the conditions of squalor she

encountered, and the lack of necessities such as water, sewers,

garbage collection, fire and police protection, she reported that

the residents themselves wanted and needed classes in hygeine and

health and consumer education, discussion groups to provide better

information on the responsibilities of governmental authorities

and real estate developers to provide sanitation, running water, fire

and police protection, and assistance in setting up recreational and

educational projects undertaken by groups of residents. She was

asked to rewrite part of her report, after one WPA official commented:

It would be well to note clearly whether Miss Smith made the suggestions or whether they were derived from the group. Relation­ ships with other agencies present peculiar local problems in Cali­ fornia and WPA relationships are better left in the hands of local representatives.^-*

Her observations and activities were not welcomed by all, for she was

the "do-gooder" from Washington trodding on local toes. Local interests

resented her because they thought she was stirring up trouble— putting

ideas into the heads and words into the mouths of downtrodden people.

But even among WPA administrators, who should have been the most sen­

sitive to the deplorable conditions she reported, she was censured

rather than conmended.

Xiplinger, March 13, 1941, Smith, WE 1941-42-r RG 69, NA.

^Black to Kiplinger,Kiplinger attached to memorandum Kiplinger to Smith, March 20, 1941, ibid.

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Other difficulties she encountered are well illustrated by

her experiences in North Carolina during these years. In the south,

•where labor had not yet organized in strength, it was difficult to

make even a modest start in workers* education or service projects.

Workers were afraid to join classes for fear of losing their jobs,

labor organizers were run out of town, and community opposition

developed as soon as classes started.78 One of the North Carolina

WPA directors was a long-standing opponent of workers' education

projects, although his disapproval was friendly. When Hiss Smith

travelled to the state at the request of some local groups, he told

her to make visits but to do nothing until conferring with officials

in Washington. Miss Smith agreed, being unwilling to do anything in

his area of which he disapproved, and not wanting to force the issue

because that would have been "contrary to my own philosophy of edu­

cation, as unwilling people would never give a genuine opportunity to

a 'must* program."77 In the following year, however, a project was

planned by Dr. Frank Graham, President of the University of North

Carolina, which was to be sponsored by the .University Extension

Service.78 Miss Smith spent two weeks in Chapel Hill acting as a

78Smith to Kerr, May 10, 1939 and Field Trip Report, Smith Travel Correspondence, 214, Education and Retraining, RG 69, NA.

77Smith Conference Report re trip to North Carolina May 27- 29, 1940, Field Trip Reports, WSP, RG 69, NA.

78Smith to Kiplinger, April 5, 1941, WE 1941-42, RG 69, NA.

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consultant in training instruction. The sessions included discussions,

workshops, demonstrations in teaching methods, individual interviews

and reports, and talks by the University staff and WPA personnel.

But only eight potential leaders, or teachers, for the project could

be found to participate in the training, due, Miss Smith believed, to

the fear of labor organization and the hostility to a project which 79 would work with labor groups. The project in North Carolina was

closed by the state relief administration, presumably because of the

small number of workers recruited as teachers and leaders. Yet Miss

Smith reported that the project supervisor had been told by WPA state

administrators to proceed slowly in adding personnel to the project.8^

Whether coincidental or not, one of the North Carolina leaders who

had participated in the project training was investigated by the

FBI at that time.8’*'

Miss Smith heard from several of her leaders in various

sections of the country that they were being investigated by the FBI.

She had a conference with Francis Biddle, Solicitor General of the

Department of Justice June 4, 1941. He reassured her that anyone

who was questioned should ask for identification of the agent for

many were passing themselves off as FBI agents.8^ He also requested

that she submit a full statement to include a summary of her own

background, the purposes of the Workers* Service Program, its methods,

^Ibid. 88Smith to Kerr, May 19, ibid. 83TbicL

8^Smith to Kerr, June 10, 1941, Investigation of WSP, Histori­ cal Background Data on WE, WSP, RG 69, NA.

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its contacts with trade unions and other workers' groups, a list of

program supervisors, and specific accounts of persons investigated 83 and the questions asked. Mrs. Kerr signed a confidential memoran­

dum, drafted by Miss Smith, to regional directors asking for the

requested information and Mrs. Kerr also forwarded under her signa­

ture the statements regarding Hilda Smith and the Workers' Service 84 Program.

Undaunted by setbacks, Miss Smith was constantly thinking in

terms of expanding the program. Toward this end, she had requested

and received permission to borrow personnel from national labor

unions and from other agencies and departments of the government to

assist with the Workers' Service Projects.^ She outlined steps to

be taken to achieve "an adequate program with an adequate staff" in

February, 1941.^ This was an interesting example of her curious

isolation from the political realities, or perhaps her refusal to

bow to them. Her program was doomed.

^ K e r r to regional directors, June 25, 1941, and Kerr to Biddle, June 26, 1941, ibid.

^Smith to Kerr, November 16, 1939 and March 13, 1940, Kerr, Historical Background, WSP; Correspondence between Smith and Kerr, February 26, March 13, 24, 27, April 10, 1941, Data on WE, Kerr, Historical Background, WSP; Smith to Kerr, August 8, 1941, Smith, General Correspondence 1941-43, 105W; all in RG 69, NA. 86 Smith to Carmody, February, 1941, Historical Background Data, Smith Historical Articles, WSP, RG 69, NA.

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By early June, 1941, new quota reductions were being made

throughout the WPA and Miss Smith fought to maintain the most impor­

tant aspects of her program which she outlined for Walter Kiplinger,

the administrator in charge:

1. Work projects directly with large trade unions and farm groups. 2. Labor information services, especially in defense centers. 3. Work with foreign background groups and aliens.8 '

Mrs. Roosevelt again showed her interest in the program by giving a

luncheon at the White House September 2, 1941 to discuss the Workers*

Service Program. Miss Smith wrote Carmody about the impending luncheon:

Mrs. Roosevelt suggested this meeting because she is aware that we have been going through a crisis in the program. Four states ter­ minated these projects (Kansas, Utah, North Carolina, Washington) to reduce administrative costs or on other technicalities. (On the other hand four new states are starting projects). . . . I can ima­ gine that one or two people here would be glad to have me resign, and have the whole program abandoned. . . . So the main object of this luncheon is to bring out the fact that Workers* Service is needed, in many urgent situations, and to consider the question of its immediate resources for this year.88

At the time she wrote the letter, her two stenographers had been taken

away and Miss Friedmann did not know whether her position would be con­

tinued beyond two months. The reason given for this action was that

the administrative cost of the Washington office staff was not justified

by the size of the program.^ Miss Smith did not want to continue

Smith to Kiplinger, June 2, 1941; Kerr to Regional Directors, June 14, 1941, Kerr and Smith files, General Correspondence 1941-43, 105W, RG 69, NA.

^Personal and confidential letter, Smith to Carmody, August 28, 1941, Carmody, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 214

without Hiss Friedmann, but in characteristic fashion she recommended

“intensive field work in at least a dozen states where new programs 90 will be developed without additional staff." Such field work in

the states probably did little to improve federal-state relationships.

As in 1939, another reorganization of WPA took place early in

1942, allowing a general reduction in staff, and downgrading the

Workers’ Service Program. Of this new setup, Miss Smith wrote Mark

Starr, Education Director of the International Ladies Garment Workers

Union, that:

. . . this relegates Workers1 Service to a very low status and that instead of being one of a group of projects, or on an equal level, we are now consolidated into a section where the project has no real status, or identity of its own. . . . Ernestine is out. . . . So far as I can discover she is the only one of the Assistants for whom another place in WPA has not been found. 1

In her letter, she further noted the irony of the fact that Mrs. Kerr

had asked Starr to urge Miss Smith to stay on with WPA, ". . . it

shows that she must be rather worried as to what would happen if I 92 left just now." In addition to all her other troubles, she wrote

Starr that she had been called on the carpet by Mrs. Kerr for sending

out confidential letters to her supervisors, "I have the feeling I am

being quietly disciplined by my various bosses here. Not that it 93 worried me particularly, and Mrs. Kerr and I parted amicably."

^ Smith to Mark Starr, February 13, 1942, Starr, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

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Walter Kiplinger was also present, and Miss Smith reported that he

was upset that one of his staff would reflect discredit on his

administration, so she accepted full responsibility for the confiden- 94 tial letters. She also believed that she would be accused of

stirring up protests if she did anything to protect the program and

was resigned to the inevitable since WPA funds were short and, "If

the authorities here choose to squeeze out this particular program, 95 there is very little that we can do." She continued to pin her

hopes for a reprieve of the program on favorable action in the states,

where the unions and other interested groups could exert pressure on

state WPA agencies to save Workers’ Service, and urged Starr to work

on creating such pressure.^

Miss Smith never got off the ground under the new organization

and in her new inferior status. She complained to Lawrence Morris,

her new superior, that:

We have been given no idea as to the place of this project or its relation to other projects. I have been told that we were to be considered a sub-unit of a section called "etc." tinder Education. . . . Until the position of Workers’ Service is clarified, I am unable to rewrite again the many statements which I have submitted the past six months. . . .^7

She attempted to have a pamphlet which she had written, "Workers'

Service Projects Aid National Defense," distributed through the

regional and state WPA offices. Although the material had been

97 Smith to Morris, March 18, 1942, Smith 1941, General Corres­ pondence 1941-43, 105N-S, RG 69, NA.

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previously approved— passing through the hands of many officials,

each of whom shifted the responsibility of decision— and the printing •

cost had been paid by a private group, Miss Smith was refused permis­

sion."^ It was an example of one of the problems she had continuously

faced, as she wrote:

As in many other cases affecting this program, important decisions were made by people entirely ignorant of the purposes and methods of Workers’ Service— often, indeed, by sane who seemed to disap­ prove of everything for which the program stood.

The end of Workers’ Service came May 2, 1942 when Mrs. Kerr signed,

ironically enough, a confidential letter to the regional directors,

drafted by Kiplinger, which read:

With consolidation of Workers’ Service as part of the educational phase of the War Services Program, we no longer have on our staff a consultant on Workers' Service. Miss Hilda Smith is remaining on our staff, however, for a limited period to work with other Federal Agencies, with State Labor Departments, and particularly with union groups in an en­ deavor to have union groups themselves take over. . . . their - own education programs. . . . In this capacity Miss Smith will operate from and report to the Service Division of WPA at Wash­ ington, but in her travels and negotiations with union groups and others she will not act as a representative of the Works Projects Administration.-*-®®

Those who wanted to end the program were successful. Miss Smith was

disavowed as a representative of WPA, although she remained on the

payroll for a short time.

^Smith to Kerr, February 21, 1942; Smith to Morris, March 21, 1942; ibid. See also Smith to Kerr, August, 1940, Kerr, Historical Background, WSP, RG 69, NA. 99 Draft, incorrectly dated 1939, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

■^Confidential letter, Kerr to Regional Directors and Super­ visors, May 2, 1942, Kerr,‘May 1942, Correspondence 1941-43, 105K, RG 69, NA.

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Hiss Smith, however, accepted the new assignment with enthu­

siasm and optimism, writing Hrs. Kerr a preliminary report on her

plans and preparations a week after the official announcement of her

new status.She reported that the reaction of all to whom she

had spoken was so enthusiastic about this new approach by WPA to

the field of lafcor-government cooperation in education that MI feel

more sure than ever that you have made the right decision in initiating ,,102 this new plan.11

She chose her own title, '’Consultant in Labor Education," had

many conferences and took many field trips promoting education.

She was also trying to find a permanent home for workers* education

with government support in some federal agency. Toward this end,

another meeting was held at the White House September 27, 1942, where

Mrs. Roosevelt and a group of twenty-five labor representatives and

Hiss Smith and Hrs. Kerr, decided that a bill providing for a Labor

Extension Service (patterned after the Agriculture Extension Service) 104 would be drafted and introduced in Congress. Hiss Smith talked with

Prances Perkins on at least two occasions, December 22, 1942 and

101Smith to Kerr, May 10, 1942, WE, 211.43, RG 69, NA.

Ibid.

"^^Smith Field Trip Reports, April 29, 1942, Smith, 1941, Correspondence 1941-43, 105N-S, RG 69, NA. 104 Smith, "People Come First," I, 155-156; general report, Smith to Kerr, September 15-October 31, 1942, Data on WE, Historical Back­ ground, Kerr, WSP, RG 69, NA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 218

February 4, 1943, about the proposed bill but had doubts that the

bill would pass, despite strong endorsement from both national

labor conventions in the fall of 1942.^** Miss Smith was afraid that

Miss Perkins would not present the case convincingly, that Congress

was reluctant to appropriate funds for the Labor Department, and she

had learned that Mrs. Clara Beyer, acting head of the Bureau of

Labor Standards, was developing an education service in that bureau

of the Department of Labor. Her doubts were well founded. The

bill died, and Congress also refused the Labor Department request for

an appropriation to develop a working conditions service, out of

which Miss Perkins had hoped to develop preliminary plans for a labor

extension service.Miss Smith's days with the WPA were over. The

labor extension service was not set up. In early June, she started

work with the Federal Public Housing Administration as Chief of the " 108 Education and Recreation Section.

■^Smith, "People Come First," I, 156.

^^Smith to Starr, undated, around January 15, 1943, Starr Smith papers, Roosevelt Library; Smith to Kerr, February 15, 1943, WE 1941-43, 211.43, RG 69, NA.

■^^Perkins to Smith, July 13, 1943, endorsements, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

^^Smith to John Friedman, December 9, 1943, Personal letters 1941-42, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library. Miss Friedmann went to Georgia with the Consumer Division of the OPA, while John Carmody became Maritime Commissioner.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 219

Her Impact

Miss Smith was completely identified with and by workers'

education; her single-minded advocacy of the program defined her

life. Since so much of what she meant by workers' education has

been accepted by educators, liberals, and young people in the

1970's, it might be concluded that she was most effective, that

she had lasting impact; that she was a visionary, a pioneer, a

reformer working ahead of her time.

She summarized the results of her workers' education program 109 in her unpublished account, "People Come First." She listed the

following: people of different backgrounds were drawn together in

educational programs; both teachers and students learned in new ways,

using new methods; they developed a new interest in government; the

labor movement found new leadership and learned to cooperate with

government;in the field of education; communities developed a greater

understanding and a better attitude toward organized labor; both the

public schools and the universities were influenced by the new atti­

tudes and methods; and last, much support developed for a labor exten­

sion service.

It seems unquestionably true that the workers' education

program contributed to these results or had these effects. It is

also true that public education and the emphasis on higher education

since the New Deal, together with labor education undertaken by

109 Smith, "People Come First," I, 148-157.

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unions, has supplanted many of the methods and functions first advanced

on a national scale by the workers’ education program.

The objectives of workers’ education and workers’ service

programs were to provide opportunity for wage earners to secure

facts related to social and economic problems and develop a feeling

of responsibility for their solution through democratic processes,

and to provide opportunity for leisure time activities, and some of

these objectives were fulfilled to some degree. Hilda Smith was one

of those who helped the New Deal open "a hitherto unapproachable

avenue by which the goal of a well educated citizenry at all economic

levels might be fulfilled.”^ ^ By treating working men and women as

worthy and valuable citizens of a democratic nation, the teachers in

the workers’ education program ’’promoted the sharing of ideas and in­

formation among those who have previously been American education's

forgotten people."^'

Miss Smith, who is still alive and working in Washington at

the Office of Economic Opportunity, has lived long enough to see

much of what she worked for put into practice; that the process is

incomplete and that there is still much to be done, she is well 112 aware. She expresses both optimism and pessimism. Labor is

11 Carol Hoffecker, "Hilda Worthington Smith, Democracy Through Education in the New.Deal" (unpublished paper written for Professor Frank Freidel Seminar, Harvard, 1961), p. 1.

i;L1Ibid,, p. 23. 112 Smith to author, August 4, 1970.

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finally renewing interest in the establishment of a labor extension

service and a national labor education center, but for many years,

organized labor generally did not support the labor education move­

ment. This change represents achievement and progress, but she

did not achieve what she set out to accomplish in 1933.

Miss Smith’s effectiveness in bringing about this change was

affected by the milieu in which she worked. It is difficult to gauge

the extent and depth of hostile attitudes toward workers’ education

and labor between 1933 and 1943. She was, after all, presenting a

challenge to the status quo, seeking to educate workers, to promote

labor organization, and to encourage workers to think critically

about the nature of the economic and political and social systems •_

tinder which they lived. That is dangerous ground, especially so

when the economic syston has broken down and some Americans had

lost faith in it. Hilda Smith was not an economist, nor a Marxist;

she was a social reformer and educator who believed that the economic

system could work for everyone's benefit. She dedicated herself to

an unpopular, misunderstood, and feared program which drew hostile

attacks, particularly in local areas where she set up programs.

Despite these attacks, the program continued— testimony to the

underlying philosophy of the New Deal and to her own perseverance.

She stood for an uncompromising and undeviating attitude of concern

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for the welfare of people, a concern of basic importance to tbe early

New Deal.

Yet she also presented some paradoxes which interfered with

her effectiveness. She was an individualist dedicated to group action,

whose individualistic modes of work probably lessened her effective­

ness. Yet she was at the same time a shrewd, ambitious bureaucrat,

who was constantly promoting her program and able to keep it going

in the face of odds of some consequence. She was devoted to an

unpopular program which needed all the support it could get, yet

she was not able to willing to modify her program in order to draw

support from some of the most logical sources, adult education and

labor unions— another paradox which contradicts her shrewdness. She

was promoting a program which had many political consequences, but

she steered clear of the political arena.

She was a tireless advocate of using a democratic approach

and solution for the needs of workers through a broadly defined educa­

tional process. Despite antagonisms and obstacles, she kept the pro­

gram in operation for ten years, a program called by Aubrey Williams 114 "one of the finest things we have ever done." John Carmody

commended her and her small staff for their accomplishments in

meeting "the great need for an informed public opinion, particularly

among those large groups of workers who have little time to spare,

114Williams to Kerr, August 29, 1939, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

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and in many cases find it extremely difficult to get accurate infor­

mation about their own government and its policies.

Miss Smith may have exaggerated the desire for9 and the

extent of, the workers* education programs under the WPA, but she

did not exaggerate the need for them, for she was a person of con­

science, sensitivity, ideas, and vision. But was it her own energies

and abilities which sustained the program for ten years, or was it

the support of Mrs. Roosevelt? One author believes it was the latter:

Miss Smith* s carte blanche to bring her troubles to the White House, her close friendship with the First Lady, and the latter*s interest in the project secured for it the respect of ogher administrators and the interest and attention of FDR.

On the other hand, John Caxmody wrote:

. . . she is one of God's noble women, who has made great sacri­ fices to carry forward a program of worker education in the face ^ 7 of great difficulties, much misunderstanding, and some prejudice.

It is true that without Mrs. Roosevelt the program might have been

abandoned in 1939, without Hilda Worthington Smith, however, it is

difficult to believe that there would have been any program at all.

115Carmody to Harriett Elliott, July 8, 1940, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

1^Hareven, Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience, p. 78.

117Cazmody to Elliott, July 8, 1940, Smith papers, Roosevelt Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER VI

MARION GLASS BANISTER

Marion Glass Banister was the first woman to be appointed

Assistant Treasurer of the United States; she served for eighteen

years in that capacity and her successor was a woman. Toward the

end of her service, the first woman was appointed Treasurer of the

United States and that office has been held by a woman ever since.

Mrs. Banister's position had lost its raison d'etre before she

occupied it and was abolished in 1954.^

Mrs. Banister was one of the first Roosevelt women appoin­

tees. Some believed that she was appointed to the office in recog­

nition of her long years of service to the Democratic Party; others

suggest that being the half-sister of prestigious and powerful Sena­

tor Carter Glass had some bearing on her appointment; her friends

emphasized her experience in writing, public relations, and politics

as factors contributing to her appointment.

Mrs. Banister came from, and married into, aristocratic

Virginia families. She was a synthesis of the old South and emanci­

pated womanhood. In her personal bearing and manners she personified

Public Law 516, 83rd Congress, 2d Session, approved July 22, 1954.

224

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and perpetuated the traditions commonly associated with the First

Families of Virginia, while her New Deal politics, rapier wit, and

emancipated career woman status did not fit the stereotype of sou­

thern womanhood. Mrs. Banister was tall, intensely blue-eyed, brown

haired, and so dignified and aristocratic that she sometimes awed

strangers. She dressed "smartly” and often in black and she never 2 left the house without gloves and a hat, except in evening attire.

Mrs. Banister spiced a gracious manner and the mellow subtleties of

the southern gentlewoman with plain speaking and a clever, pungent

wit. Her life style was disciplined and orderly: the spacious apart­

ment on lower Connecticut Avenue operated efficiently by dint of a

maid and Magruder's, Thompson’s Dairy, and the Palace Laundry, firms

which provided home deliveries; she attended plays, concerts, and

social affairs, both personal and official, to which she received

many invitations; she was sociable and hospitable to her numerous

friends and relatives; she took long simmer vacations in the moun­

tains of Virginia; and she climbed the Peaks of Otter every July

Fourth.^ She assumed a patronizing concern for those who served her;

she expected that the services rendered would be creditable, and when

they fell short, she protested with vehemence. She treated blacks

Sliss Margaret Banister (Mrs. Banister’s daughter) to author, October 7, 1970; DD, VIII (October, 1933), 11, described Mrs. Banister's hats as having "a breezy, swift quality . . . that shortens one's breath."

1. . ^Personal correspondence in Marion Glass Banister papers, Library of Congress (hereinafter abbreviated LC); Miss Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 226

who served her with kindness but not with equality. She called her­

self by her husband*s name, Mrs. Blair Banister, a traditional cus-

tomeshe found difficult to forego when she became Assistant Treasurer.

Yet she was emancipated: she believed in woman’s rights; she voted;

she had a career; she managed her household, but did not keep house

or cook or clean; she not only admired President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

but Mrs. Roosevelt as well; she provoked some of her Virginia rela­

tives with her approval of the New Deal; she was strong in spirit and

language. She was, in short, a fascinating synthesis of old and new.

Her Background

Marion Glass was b o m in Lynchburg, Virginia December 14,

1875, the daughter of Major Robert Henry Glass, Confederate veteran 4 and editor of a Lynchburg newspaper. She was one of twelve children

of Major Glass and his two wives. Three of the children became

prominent: her sister, Dr. Meta Glass served as President of Sweet

Briar College in Virginia for many years; her half-brother, Carter,

seventeen years older than Marion, was a United States Representative

for sixteen years and Senator for twenty-six years, Secretary of the

Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson from 1918 to 1920, and was

among those whose names were placed in nomination for President at

Wellington Brink, "Southern Personalities: Mrs. Blair Banister, Assistant U.S. Treasurer," Holland’s, The Magazine of the South, March, 1934, pp. 11, 15; J. C. Bratton, Acting Chief, Civi­ lian Reference Branch, National Personnel Records Center, General Services Administration to author, November 30, 1971; Carter Glass III to author, August 27, 1970.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 227

the Democratic Convention in 1924; and Mrs. Banister herself.

Educated in Virginia public and private schools, Marion Glass

taught History at Kitchen High in Lynchburg and started writing, not

surprisingly, for the papers owned by her father and brother, the

Lynchburg Daily News and Daily Advance. S h e early developed an

interest in political and public affairs and maintained this interest

throughout her life.** The women's page which she developed for the

Sunday edition of the Daily Hews around 1910 was one of the first to

eschew food, fashions, and family in favor of activities of women as

citizens.7 She also served as secretary to her brother for a year or

two during the years he was a Virginia Representative in Congress from

1902 to 1918.** They had a very close relationship, sharing their in- 9 terest in politics and many of their viewpoints.

Marion Glass married Blair Banister, a descendant of two

families prominent in Jamestown and Williamsburg and early Virginia

history, the Blairs and the Banisters. They must have made a striking

pair, both handsome, dignified, and aristocratic. Mr. Banister, a

gentleman and scholar, never found his calling in life, dabbling in

insurance and other ventures, and Mrs. Banister worked both out of

^Hattie Plunkett Deane to Mrs. Banister, November 18, 1935, Banister papers, LC.

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7S 1970.

7Ibid. 8Ibid.

^Ibid.; Rixey Smith interview with author, December 29, 1970.

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necessity and because of her interests and abilities."^

When her husband went to France with the YMCA in World War I,

Mrs. Banister came to Washington, permanently as it turned o u t . ^

She worked as one of four publicity writers in the Department of

Labor's Bureau of Public Information, which became part of George 12 Creel's Committee on Public Information. The Creel Committee

acted not only as a newsgathering agency, but as a propaganda agency

as well, which one prominent historian believes made the Creel Com­

mittee "the principal architect of Democratic defeat" in 1920.^

Paradoxically, Mrs. Banister was an ardent supporter of Wilson's

peace proposals and she worked for them and for the Wilson Eounda- 14 15 tion. She was a close friend of Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.

Always personally and philosophically interested in women's

progress, although not a militant feminist, Mrs. Banister was drawn

into the changes resulting from the 19th amendment almost immediately

after its passage. Cordell Hull asked Mrs. Bnily Newell Blair, the

^Smith to author, December 29, 1970.

^^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970. 12 Brink, "Mrs. Blair Banister," p. 11; New York Times, July 26, 1933, p. 17.

■^Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 886. 14 Smith to author, December 29, 1970.

■^See letters, Mrs. Banister to Mrs. Wilson, 1933-1947, Banister papers, LC.

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Democratic committeewoman from Missouri, to organize Democratic

women, which she did with the help of Mrs. Banister as her assistant

and director of publicity.^ Mrs. Blair described Mrs. Banister’s

role to a meeting of the Democratic National Committee early in 1924:

From February, 1922, to September, 1923 our office force con­ sisted of my assistant, Mrs. Blair Banister, who not only pre­ pared our literature and edited our Bulletin, but, while I was on speaking tours, met the visitors to the office and took charge of all the other work, without whose sympathy and devotion not half of the work outlined would have been possible; one secretary and a filing clerk.^

During this period Mrs. Banister wrote or edited several pamphlets

which were distributed nationally by the Democratic Party, particu­

larly to women voters: "The Tariff as a Tax on Women— What Women

Pay to Profiteers"; "Democracy and Labor"; "Civil Service— Clean or

Corrupt"; and "The Lands Ye Possess— Who Shall Administer Them?", an

expose of the oil scandals.^ The circulation of these pamphlets 19 ran into the millions. Mrs. Banister also founded The Fortnightly

Bulletin, a small publication which was sent from the National Demo- 20 cratic Headquarters twice a month £62 all women’s Democratic Clubs.

The women's loyal work during these years paid off and won them a

greater voice in party affairs. They converted Senator Glass, who

^Proceedings Democratic Convention 1924, pp. 1086-1098.

17Ibid., p. 1098.

^Copies of these pamphlets are in the Banister papers, LC.

^ N e w York Times, July 26, 1933, p. 17.

^°Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

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told a meeting of the Democratic National Committee preparing for

the 1924 convention that although he had opposed woman suffrage he

wanted to give it a chance, and he introduced a resolution providing 21 for women delegates at the 1924 convention. Mrs. Banister wrote a 22 Women* s Democratic Handbook for use in the 1924 campaign. After

the Democratic defeat in the 1924 election, the Democratic headquar­

ters folded up, and Mrs. Banister took a non-political position. She

2' continued, however, to contribute much time to the Democratic cause.

The Fortnightly Bulletin was taken over by the Women's National Demo­

cratic Club, of which Mrs. Banister was a founding member, and even- 24 tually became The Democratic Digest. Her only child, daughter

Margaret, who also became a writer and journalist, edited it for

several years. The Women’s National Democratic Club became probably

the liveliest and most publicized Democratic activity in Washington 25 during the remainder of the Republican twenties.

In 1924 Mrs. Banister accepted a position as director of

public relations for a new Washington hotel, The Mayflower, and spent

four years publicizing its services.2^ She started a typical hotel

^^Proceedings Democratic Convention 1924, pp. 1115-1118.

22New York Times, July 26, 1933, p. 17.

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

24Ibid.; see also DD, XII (April, 1935), 19-20.

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

26Brink, "Mrs. Blair Banister," p. 11.

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publication, The Mayflower* s Log, in 1925 and was its editor

until she converted it to an independent national magazine,

The Washingtonian, in October, 1928. She was publisher and editor

of this magazine which featured social and political news and

comment. The Washingtonian prospered briefly, but went out of 27 business as a result of the depression December 31, 1931. During

her editorship of the magazine, Mrs. Banister was typically undaunted

in bringing suit against Drew Pearson, Washington newspaperman and

columnist.^ Cause of the suit was an article written by Rixey

Smith, Senator Glass's secretary. Smith had been recornnended to

the Senator by Mrs. Banister who had been favorably impressed with

his work at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. The article he wrote was

titled, "The Mills of The Gods," and was a history of the fortune of

the Mills family, one of whom was Ogden Mills, Under Secretary of the

Treasury. The article was published in The Washingtonian and copy­

righted. Pearson paid Smith $100 to use it in a book, and when it

was printed in the book without a single word being changed, Mrs.

Banister brought a copyright suit. She won a judgment but was never

able to collect anything because Pearson's assets and property were 29 held in his wife's name.

Ibid.; Democratic publicity on Mrs. Banister and Banister to George A. Sirow, August 5, 1935, Banister papers, LC. See also The Mayflower's Log and The Washingtonian, I-VII (1925-1931).

^Smith to author, December 29, 1970.

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Within a year after The Washingtonian ceased publication,

Mrs. Banister resumed editorship of The Bulletin, then a monthly

publication.^ She also acted as Chairman of the Inaugural Commit­

tee on Housing and Hospitality in early 1933, when Franklin D.

Roosevelt was inaugurated as President and the Democrats returned to

power.^ She was appointed by the President to be Assistant Trea­

surer of the United States July 25, 1933 and sworn in August 1, 1933. 32 She served in that post until her death September 30, 1951. Prior

to the election in 1932, many people thought that Senator Glass

would be Secretary of the Treasury in the Roosevelt cabinet if

Roosevelt were elected. Glass remained, however, in the Senate, wary 33 of Roosevelt's economic policies. No mention of Mrs. Banister's

appointment had been made prior to the election for this reason; the

appointment appears to have come as a surprise to both the appointee

and her brother. She had only recently resinned editorship of the

women's Democratic magazine with a staff of six women,.sand the first

word Senator Glass had of the impending appointment, according to his

secretary, was when President Roosevelt called Glass on the telephone

30 The Bulletin. December, 1932.

^^Democratic publicity, Banister papers, LC.

^^National Personnel Records Center to author, November 30, 1971.

^Smith to author, December 29, 1970; Jessica Smith to Banister, July 27, 1933, Banister papers, LC. See Raymond Moley, The First New Deal (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966), Chapter 6, for a discussion of why Senator Glass was not appointed Secretary of the Treasury.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 233

3 4 and asked if the appointment of his sister would be objectionable.

While brother and sister agreed on many issues, the New Deal and

its fiscal policies was not one of them. Mrs. Banister was a more

ardent supporter of President Roosevelt and the New Deal programs 35 than was her brother, Senator Glass.

It was a popular appointment, according to one author of

the era, who described the reaction of women:

No single appointment . . . elicited more general approval from the women of the country, and from the press, than that of Mrs. Banister, who...... signifies the arrival in government of the new womanhood— womanhood professionally trained, sophisticated in business and politics, asking no favors in tie free-for-all scramble and giving none; a generation born of typewriters, coeducation, finishing schools, bridge, newspapers, and social service.36

Mary Anderson, head of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor,

wrote Mrs. Banister: "I feel in your case it means even more than a

position— it is a help to all women. I know you are well qualified

for the position, which means a great deal to women. . . Mrs.

Banister's qualifications for office were based on much political

experience— in writing, editing, and public relations— experience

she duplicated in private business.

^ Smith to author, December 29, 1970.

^ I b i d .; Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

^Brink, "Mrs. Blair Banister," pp. 11, 15.

^Anderson to Banister, August 7, 1933, Anderson papers, Schlesinger Library.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Her View of The Position

As one who had experienced first hand the lean years of the

Democratic Party during the 1920's and the effects of the depression

on the fortunes of The Washingtonian, Marion Banister was happy to

have the security afforded by her appointment, and she could sympa­

thize with other women seeking government positions. Mrs. Pattie

Jacobs, Democratic committeewoman from Alabama, wrote that all the

jobs were filled before she heard about than, and Mrs. Banister re­

plied with sympathy, "I have been through it all myself.She en­

joyed the importance of her position, writing in answer to one con­

gratulatory letter that, "everyone makes me feel my position is barely 39 second to that of the President." She appreciated the opportunity

to be a part of the New Deal, writing in 1935, "Life in Washington at

the present time is, of course, very stimulating and enthralling, and 40 I naturally count it a great privilege to be a part of it."

The early Roosevelt days were exciting ones for women, as Miss

Margaret Banister, who knew many of the Democratic women, points out:

The fact that the President was appointing so many women to positions which women had never before occupied was a source of great rejoicing on the part of all the old advocates of woman suffrage. It looked as if their hopes and expectations of the

^Banister correspondence with Jacobs, September, 1933, Banister papers, LC. 39 Banister to Mrs. Robert Slaughter, September 2, 1933, ibid. 40 Banister to Mrs. C. M. Crow, March 2, 1935, ibid.

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part women, could play in public life were beginning to be fulfilled.41

Mrs. Banister considered her role as a woman official to be "blazing

a path for numberless women yet to cone,1' as she expressed it in a 42 letter responding to interest in her career. Further, she continued:

Everytime a woman achieves public recognition, I feel that the way is being made easier for her successors, and consequently whatever enlightening experiences may have come to us or what­ ever lessons we may have learned belong, it seems to me, more or less to all of us. Always I have been interested in the fight women have made to gain recognition in politics, in the professions, and in the teem­ ing world of business. In each victory, as it was won, I have rejoiced. At each setback, as it came, I have grieved. But— we go on. . . . and each one helps the other-

Mrs. Banister viewed herself as a trailblazer, a pioneer, one whose

individual performance and example would, hopefully, open the way for

other women. She and the other women appointees felt they were "being

given the opportunity to prove that women could conduct the functions

as well as men. It was a challenge to them and they were all eager / |- /| to accept the challenge." Mrs. Banister was "happy in her appoint­

ment because she thinks that to employ the services of competent 45 women is in the interests of an efficient state."

The New Deal days were exciting to Mrs. Banister and other

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

^Banister to Miss Laura E. Burmeister, February 14, 1937, Banister papers, LC.

author, October 7, 1970.

Brink, "Mrs. Blair Banister," p. 15.

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women appointees for another reason than the fact that they were

the first of their sex to break into the upper echelons of govern­

ment: the women appointed believed in what Roosevelt was doing,

they were ardent New Dealers* It was a time of great hope and con­

fidence and Mrs. Banister espoused a political philosophy which coin­

cided with the dominant ideas of the Roosevelt administration, accord­

ing to her daughter:

Mother’s concept of the Democratic Party's philosophy from Thomas Jefferson on down fitted perfectly into the liberalism of Franklin Roosevelt; she followed his leadership with deep conviction and rejoicing at each of the economic and social welfare stecs he took.46

Mrs. Banister herself referred to the ’’almost continuously thrilling

New Deal era,” in a letter congratulating Josephine Roche upon her 47 appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1934. It was

thrilling because many social reforms were being proposed and tried.

Mrs. Banister could use her new prestige to promote those

social reforms and she did so. She appeared before the Virginia

General Assembly urging the ratification of the Child Labor Amend- 48 ment in February, 1934. The women appointees were in great demand

as speakers for all kinds of conferences and group meetings during 49 the early New Deal days. Mrs. Banister made many speeches and

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970. 47 Banister to Roche, November 17, 1934, Banister papers, LC.

^ DD, IX (March, 1934), 6, 18. 49 Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970; see also issues of The Democratic Digest. VIII-XII (1933-1935).

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wrote articles. She became the major spokeswoman on the government's

fiscal policies, a subject on which the New Deal was often criticized.

She was glad to have the opportunity to speak on this subject, for

she knew that women had long been the fiscal agents in many American

homes. Women, she believed, were the big spenders, handling the

purse strings in many households, owning vast amounts of proprety

and exercising power in business.^ She therefore believed that

women could make the NRA a success and that they could restore confi­

dence in the nation's financial institutions.^ She refuted critics

of New Deal taxation policies by using the argument that "Everyone,

every where, complains about high taxes— meaning that they are higher

than they used to be— if we don't want a government service we should 52 work to eliminate it."

She, along with other women appointees, took an active part

in the election campaign of 1936 in a drive for women’s votes master­

minded by Molly Dewson. They were using their positions to win the

reelection of the President whose policies would achieve the social

reforms in which they believed. She met with other Washington women

to plan for the Democratic Convention in Frbruary, 1936, and coinci­

dentally, the women decided that they must petition the President to

urge the repeal of Section 213 of the Economy Act which prevented the

■^Brink, "Mrs. Blair Banister," p. 15. 51Ibid.

^Siarion Banister, "Your Taxes Pay Dividends," DD, XII (November, 1935), 8, 9, 30; see also DD, XIII (February, 1936), and Banister, "Pay-As-You-Go in Plain Terms," DD, XX (June, 1943), 7, 14.

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hiring, or allowed the firing, of wives whose husbands were govern­

ment employed.^ Mrs. Banister spoke in Syracuse, New York April 30,

1936 on taxation and then, at the suggestion of Molly Dewson, "swing­

ing into a discussion of the Social Security Act, with emphasis on

Old-Age Insurance"; in preparation for this speech, Vincent Miles,

a member of the Social Security Board, went to her office and gave 54 her "the inside dope on the subject." Mrs. Banister made two

speaking trips in the fall of 1936 to the west and mid-west, and

helped start the women's caravans which travelled throughout New York

State. She also made trips around Virginia and West Virginia during

the c ampaign.Congresswoman Caroline O'Day, vice-chairman of the

New York State Democratic Committee, wrote to thank her for her

"important part in our victory in New York State. We appreciate your

help in starting our caravans through a successful tour, 1 just want

you to know that we feel your interest and your work a great help to

u s . " ^ Mrs. Banister continued to contribute her time and efforts to

the Democratic cause, and after the onset of illness, her contribu­

tions of money increased and took the place of her own efforts."^

53 Correspondence with Mrs. James Wolfe, Democratic National Committee, Banister papers, LC. 54 Banister to Anna Roosevelt Boettiger, April 17, 1936, ibid.

■^Banister to Fred W. McBane, October 15, 1936, ibid.

^O'Day to Banister, November 4, 1936, ibid.

^ S e e Banister correspondence with Democratic National Committee, Dorothy McAllister, and Miss Lorena Hickok, ibid.

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Her support of the New Deal was wholehearted. Her brother, the

Senator, believed in party regularity and supported Roosevelt after

he was renominated, but opposed his renomination and many of his

policies. Her sister, Dr. Meta Glass, was such an active and persis­

tent New Dealer that she raised the antagonism of many of the Glass 58 family in Lynchburg.

Her Performance

The office of Assistant Treasurer of the United States— like

that of the Treasurer— was one in which most of the functions were

actually perfoxmed by career civil servants and policy decisions were

made at a higher level. Nevertheless, at the age of fifty-eight, Mrs.

Banister plunged into mastering the technicalities of the office,

writing several correspondents that she felt she had much to learn

and planned to forego other activities in order to devote the winter 59 of 1933-1934 to a real study of what she needed to know. Being

conscious of setting an example for women, she frequently mentioned

the time-consuming nature of her official duties during the first

few years, writing to one correspondent, "I go like a steam engine

from seven o ’clock in the morning until one in the night,” and to

another, "What with the complete absorption of my daylight hours with

^ Smitn to author, December 29, 1970. 59 Banister to Mrs. Robert Slaughter, September 2, 1933 and to Mrs. Charles B. Hamlin, President of the Women’s National Democratic Club, undated, 1933, Banister papers, LC.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 240

60 office matters. . . ." She appears to have expended much effort

on the position in the early years and before she began to be over­

taken by illness in 1939.

The nature of Mrs. Banister's position was anomalous in that

the chain of command did not run from the Treasurer through the

Assistant Treasurer to the Administrative Assistants to the Trea­

surer and from them through the Administrative Division of the

Treasurer's Office to the other divisions of the Office: Accounting,

Cash, Currency Redemption, General Accounts, and Securities.^ The

office of Assistant Treasurer was drawn on the organizational charts

as an adjunct to the office of Treasurer but isolated from the chain

of command. During the existence of the subtreasuries, from 1846 to

1921, the Assistant Treasurers performed functions similar to those

of the Treasurer under his supervision.**2 But after 1921, the posi­

tion of Assistant Treasurer lost its original function.

The Office of the Treasurer of the United States, created

September 2, 1789, is:

. . . essentially the banking facility for the Federal Government, being particularly charged with the receipt and disbursement of an accounting for public funds; the procurement, custody, issue,

^Banister to Mrs. William B. Banister, January 29, 1935, and to Miss Bertha Bolling, March 24, 1936, Banister papers, LC.

^Organization and Functional Charts of US Treasurer's Office Personnel by Divisions, Sections, and Units, General Correspondence 1933-56, Office of the Secretary, General Records of Department of the Treasury, Records Group 56 (Hereinafter abbreviated RG 56), NA.

62Registration. of Record Group No. 50 (Hereinafter abbreviated RG 50), Records of the Treasurer of the United States, July 18, 1968, NA.

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and redemption of the United States paper currency and coin; the furnishing of checking-account facilities to all agencies of the government; the payment of principal and interest on the public debt...... The Office prepared and issues the Daily Statement of the ted States Treasury and other published fiscal reports and maintains the Treasury general ledger accounts of the trust, re­ serve, and general funds. The Treasurer directs the activities of Federal Reserve banks when such banks.function as fiscal agents in paying checks drawn on the Treasurer.63

Most of the operations-of the Office of the Treasurer involve routine

banking and bookkeeping functions and correspondence concerning these

matters. Because of the routine nature of these functions, most of

the records have not been kept by the National Archives or the Trea­

sury Department since 1932 and it is impossible to determine from

available evidence the exact nature of the work of Mrs. Banister.

However, it appears that her position was a difficult one,

because of the lack of authority and responsibility of her office.

The Executive Assistant to the Treasurer often acted as Assistant or

Acting Treasurer, and was also in the direct chain of command. The

Treasurer of the United States from 1933 until 1949 Iras William A.

Julian, a bank president, shoe manufacturer, Democratic National

Committeeman from Ohio during the 1920’s and 1930's, close friend of

Franklin D. Roosevelt, a devoted worker for him, and a lifelong and

active Deuocrat.^ Julian succeeded Walter 0. Woods July 7, 1933, at

which time Julian took official charge of over nineteen billion

64 Proceedings Democratic Convention 1948, pp. 260-261. Julian's name was offered in nomination for the Presidency at that convention, but he withdrew his name and asked people to vote for Harry Truman.

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dollars of United States monies.^ The Assistant Treasurer under

Woods had been George 0. Barnes. He stayed in the Office under the

new administration and became Executive Assistant to the Treasurer 66 under Julian. His functions were to assist the Treasurer in mat­

ters of policy, methods and procedure; to maintain adequate safe­

guards in the custody and handling of cash and securities; to super­

vise expenditures and preparation of appropriation estimates and bud­

get reports; and to act as liaison officer for contact with other 67 Bureaus and Departments. That did not leave much responsibility

to Mrs. Banister's position; her official duties were to act as the

Treasurer in his absence and to assist him in his work. A few years

later, Mrs. Banister challenged the authority by which Barnes acted

as Acting Treasurer of the United States when both Mrs. Banister and

Mr. Julian were temporarily out of the office. Barnes assured her

that, "I have no interest in the matter other than to facilitate the

transaction of the public business" but suggested that she seek an

^~*New York Times, July 8, 1933, p. 14. 66 U.S. Civil Service Commission, Official Register of the Uni­ ted States 1931: containing a list of persons occupying administra­ tive and supervisory positions in each executive and judicial depart- ment of the Government, including the District of Columbia (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1931), p. 9, and Official Register of the United States 1933: containing a list of persons occupying adminis­ trative and supervisory positions in each executive and judicial de­ partment of the Government, including the District of Columbia (Wash­ ington^ Government Printing Office, 1933), p. 9. 67 * G. 0. Barnes, Executive Assistant to the Treasurer, Novem­ ber 16, 1933, General Correspondence 1933-56, Office of the Secretary, RG 56, NA.

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opinion on the legality of his action through the Secretary of the

Treasury.68 She received an opinion rendered by John G. Harlan

and transmitted by William H. McReynolds, Administrative Assistant

to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, which held such 69 action to be legal and valid under the appropriate law.

According to her daughter, Mrs. Banister’s work at the

Treasury consisted of ’’the regular administrative functions of the

Office of Treasurer, involving much correspondence with banks and

financial institutions throughout the country, much signing of

official papers, and much personnel work, which increased as time 70 went on because she was very good at it.” Almost none of this

type of her official correspondence survives, although one of her

personal letters indicated that she wrote a great deal. She wrote

J. F. T. O ’Connor, Comptroller of the Currency, in another connection,

that "In spite of the fact that I carry on a brisk daily correspon­

dence with you. . . ." but no samples of this brisk correspondence

can be located in the records. ^ The few examples of Banister corres­

pondence which do remain do not deal with subjects concerning the

major responsibilities of the Office of the Treasurer as the banking

^Barnes to Banister July 27, 1936, General Correspondence 1933-56, Treasurer’s Office, Office of the Secretary, RG 56, NA.

^Harlan to McReynolds, July 19, 1936, ibid.

^Margaret Banister to author, October 7, 1970.

^Banister to O'Connor, April 14, 1937, Banister papers, LC.

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facility of the United States. For example, a letter to Senator

Arthur Vandenburg who had requested the names of payees for a list

of government check numbers which he sent, and a letter to a Yale

student who wanted an uncut sheet of one dollar bills; the latter

would not take Mrs. Banister's "no" for an answer and subsequently

wrote to Secretary Morgenthau and to Senator Augustine Lonergan, but 72 the answer was still the same.

Mrs. Banister apparently acted as an unofficial personnel

officer at the Treasury Department. Letters written to her while

she was on vacation by her office assistants were full of references

to pending personnel matters.^ She seems to have been the last

resort for the Treasury Credit Union in trying to collect payments

on loans made to Treasury employees. One letter from the President

of the Credit Union notes that the Union would not call on Mrs.

Banister until every other means had been exhausted, but, "We would

appreciate any instructions you might give -^he- delinquents] as to 74 their action in settling their long standing debts."

Her personnel activities were not confined to the Treasury

Correspondence between Banister and Senator Vandenburg, April-Mav, 1936, and between Banister and Douglass Campbell, Octo- ber-November, 1938, General Correspondence 1933-56, Treasurer's Office, Office of the Secretary, RG 56, NA. 73 Margaret Offutt to Banister, July 31, 1934 and Ruth Werheim to Banister, August 8, 1934, Banister papers, LC. 74 Gabrielle E. Forbush to Banister, September 14, 1939, Banister papers, LC.

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Department, however, for like all other women appointees, she re­

ceived large numbers of appeals for jobs from women for themselves,

or their husbands, sons, or brothers. Her own correspondence indi­

cates that she must have spent considerable time and energy in writ­

ing references and referrals, advising and counselling, securing

interviews for job applicants. The offices of Senators and Repre­

sentatives, she wrote one applicant, were "lined with a double row

of job seekers.She advised job applicants to get endorsements

from their Senators and Representatives and local party leaders, or

be prepared to go through Civil Service. She called on old friends,

such as Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper, for help; and she made a

personal appeal to Senator McAdoo of California to urge him to support

Mrs. Annette Abbot Adams in her campaign to be named Judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of California.^

After years of this activity, she concluded, "My own observation here

would lead me to suppose that the safest way to get a job is to sit

continuously on the doorstep of the job giver.

During the years Mrs. Banister served as Assistant Treasurer

significant changes in her office were taking place. She wrote to

her secretary, who had been sent to Germany in 1945, that the usual

Tuesday morning staff meetings were being held in Mr. Julian’s office

^Banister to Minor Davis, October 13, 1933, ibid.

^Banister-Adams correspondence, March-May, 1935 and other examples too numerous to cite individually, ibid.

^Banister to Mrs. C. Corliss McGee, September 20, 1940, ibid.

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and “things are grinding along pretty much in the same poky

waye" Yet she noted that while results were "impressive . . . the

minutiae of getting these results is apt to be rather dull and 78 stupid." The government abandoned the five and one half day work

week after World War II, "which cut everyone's income" according to 79 Mrs. Banister. The work in the Treasurer's office— and in other

branches of the Treasury Department as well— was being automated.

The use of machines to process the checks being issued, a number

which by 1943 averaged over a million a day, brought savings in 80 money and personnel. The number of employees in the office of the

Treasurer decreased from over 3,000 in 1944 to 1,600 in 1949.^ And

the first woman was appointed Treasurer of the United States. When

Mr. Julian died in an automobile accident in 1949, President Truman

appointed a woman, Mrs. Georgia Neese Clark, a banker and Democratic

National Committeewoman from Kansas, to the position. Secretary of

the Treasury John Snyder welcomed her appointment on June 6, 1949 by

noting that, "Mrs. Clark is an experienced and successful business­

woman and will able fill the position to which she has been appointed.

^Banister to Margarett Offutt, September 18, 1945, ibid.

^°News release, October 13, 1943, General Correspondence 1933-56, Treasurer's Office, Office of the Secretary, EG 56, NA.

^Organization charts of US Treasurer's Office and Press re­ lease, June 21, 1949, ibid.

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I consider this appointment is proper recognition of the prominent

role that women are playing in the public life of our nation."^

There were great national changes as well during the years

of Mrs. Banister’s incumbency— war, peace, a new President, new

Cabinet members, and death— the older generation was passing from

the scene. She was shocked by the death of her old friend, Daniel 83 Roper. She mourned the resignation and illness of Cordell Hull,

”1 simply feel bereft with him no longer at the head of things in

the State Department.She described President Roosevelt’s death

as a ’’terrible national tragedy which is to me a personal tragedy

too.”^ She was sorry to see Secretary Morgenthau go, since, ”1 was 86 very fond of him.” But the loss she most keenly felt v'as that of

Senator Carter Glass, who died after a prolonged illness in 1946.

Mrs. Banister was in the hospital, ill herself, and not able to go

down to Lynchburg on one of the two special trains reserved for the

Congressional delegation and the family.She later wrote:

Since Senator Glass died all my props at the Capitol have apparently been knocked from under me— at least I feel that they have. His successor, Senator Robertson, I have never even met, although he is an intimate friend of members of my family

^^News release, June 6, 1949, ibid.

^Banister to Mrs. Roper, April 12, 1943, Banister papers, LC.

^Banister to Mrs. Hull, December 2, 1944, ibid.

^Banister to Mrs. Ted Barlow, April 17, 1945, ibid.

^Banister to Meta Glass, July 23, 1945, ibid.

^Banister to Mrs. Hull, June 11, 1946, ibid.

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who live in Lexington. . . . Senator Byrd, of course, I have known for years, although I have never been very close or chummy with him. . . . I don't even have Rixey Smith, who was Carter’s Secretary for 27.years, to fall back on now, as he is no longer on the Hill or in politics. And all the members of this adminis­ tration- from the President on down, are practically strangers to me.88

Mrs. Banister, having suffered severe illnesses in 1939, 1942, 1946,

and 1947, died at her Washington home September 30, 1951.89

Her Impact

When Mrs. Banister died, she was Seventy-six years old and

had served as Assistant Treasurer for eighteen years. Of her service,

Treasury Secretary John W. Snyder wrote Blair Banister,

The passing of Mrs. Banister has brought genuine sorrow to the Treasury family, of which she was a capable and popular member for such a long period. As the first woman to occupy the office of Assistant Trea­ surer of the United States, Mrs. Banister exemplified the finest characteristics of the faithful public servant, and her presence at the Treasury, I can assure you, will be missed.

She, and the other two women appointed to high Treasury position,

brought to a Federal Department which was staffed at lower levels

by 80 per cent women, its first women executives. This was note­

worthy to all and especially encouraging to women.

Mrs. Banister had been the first woman in an office which

came to be headed by women. She established a precedent. Mrs. Clark,

^Banister to Mrs. Samuel Herrick, May 14, 1947, ibid.

89DD, XXVIII (November, 1951), 1. 90 Snyder to Blair Banister, October 3, 1951, General Corres­ pondence 1933-56, Treasurer's Office, Office of the Secretary, RG 56, NA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. as Treasurer, was succeeded by Mrs. Ivy Baker Priest in the

Eisenhower administration. Mrs. Banister was followed by Mrs.

Mabelle Kennedy of Oklahoma. Miss Katherine Cleary was made

Assistant to Treasury Secretary Humphrey in the Eisenhower adminis­

tration after serving six months as Assistant Treasurer. At that

time, Secretary Humphrey announced that he was going to request 91 Congress to eliminate the position "in the interests of economy."

The position of Assistant Treasurer had been tangential to

the efficient operation of the Treasurer's Office prior to Mrs.

Banister's appointment. Automation, in addition to the nature of

the work, made it more so during her tenure. It cannot be deter­

mined what contributions she made either to the hastening or to the

retarding of this process. She did, however, function creditably

in an anomalous situation, carrying out assigned responsibilities

and accepting peripheral duties. She was a woman and a New Dealer

and a loyal Democrat who had worked hard for the Party during the

lean years of the 1920's. She brought a dedication to the ideals

motivating President Roosevelt and the New Deal into the Treasurer's

office. It is impossible, however, to measure her effectiveness, or

that of Mr. Julian, in terms of what they contributed to the success

of the Roosevelt administration.

^^News release, December 15, 1953, ibid.

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Mrs. Banister's influence on the administration and on the

country at large was small and yet, because she was a woman, she

received more public attention than her superior, Mr. Julian. Hers

was not a post, however, in which a person can excell by reason of

background, training, experience, and the challenges offered by the

position.

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FRIEDA BASKIN HENNOCK

Frieda Barkin Hennock was appointed by President Harry

Truman to the Federal Communications Commission in May, 1948. The

first woman ever to serve as a Commissioner, she became "identified

as the evangelist for educational TV."^ Admired and loathed, com­

mended and criticized, she aroused conflicting emotions and reactions

in those who knew her. Commission Chairman Wayne Coy said of her,

’•We’ve had rectitude, fortitude, solemnitude, but never before 2 pulchritude." As it turned out, she contributed more than comeli­

ness to the regulatory agency.

Born in Poland, her parents emigrated to New York City when

she was six years old. A product of New York City public schools, a

and a brilliant student, she had finished Brooklyn Law School by

the age of nineteen. She contributed to Democratic campaign coffers

and was probably chosen for appointment to the Federal Communications

Commission for political reasons. She moved from relative obscurity

Richard B. null, "The History Behind ETV," NAEB Journal, XVII (February, 1958), 5. (NAEB is National Association of Educational Broadcasters).

^Newsweek. June 7, 1948, p. 52.

251

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to a position which she used to promote a cause. She crusaded for

that cause with such vigor that she is better remembered and more

honored than the other Commissioners who served with her.

Appointed by President Truman to the Federal Court for the

Southern District of New York in 1951, Miss Hennock did not win con­

firmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee, probably because of

charges of "an adulterous relationship," and because she lacked..;

"judicial temperament." She had her nomination withdrawn, thereby

losing the position she is thought to have most desired. Married in

1954, she completed her term on the FCC in 1955, joined a prestigious

Washington law firm and died as a result of a brain tumor in 1960.

Her Background

Frieda Barkin Hennock was born in Kovel, Poland, September 27,

1904, the youngest of eight children; the family moved to the United 3 States in 1910, and she was naturalized in 1916. She attended Morris

High School in the Bronx and night school at Brooklyn Law School 4 which unlike others in the area accepted women as students. Of her

^Helen R. Atkinson, "Frieda B. Hennock, FCC's Misunderstood Crueader," unpublished article, Frieda Hennock Simons papers, Schlesinger Library (Hereinafter abbreviated FHS papers, SL).

S u Franklin Smith, "Madame Commissioner," Journal of Broad­ casting. XII (Winter 1967-68), 69-81; Brooklyn Law School to Senate Judiciary Committee, July 17, 1951, U.S. Congress, Senate, 82d Cong., 2d sess., Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearings, Nomination Frieda B. Hennock, Sen 82 B-A3, Record Group 46, National Archives (Hereinafter abbreviated Sen, Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA).

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decision to be a lawyer, she later said:

I was not bora a lawyer— at registration day, the law school was the only one that had any good courses left— teaching was crowded with women, medicine almost impossible. I wanted some profes­ sion, and this meant law.-*

Her father, a real estate broker and banker, hoped she would be a

professional musician, and so he did not finance her legal educa­

tion.^ A brilliant student, she finished law school at the age of

nineteen and had to wait until she was twenty-one to take and pass

the New York Bar Examination, at which time she became New York's

youngest woman attorney.^ Although she did not become a professional

musician, she played the piano very well, enjoyed the music of Mozart

and Bach and also the lighter music associated with the dancing,

parties, and gay good times she enjoyed.**

A year after being admitted to the bar she formed a law

parnership with Julius Silver, in which capacity she practiced a

wide variety of general legal work, including criminal, and later 9 civil, cases. The partnership agreement with Silver, she believed,

provided for an equal division of the assets of the firm; after the

^Article, undated and unsigned, FHS papers, SL.

^Atkinson, "Frieda Hennock," p. 2.

^Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 69-70. **Ibid., 78. 9 Hennock to Senator Owen Brewster, June 1, 1948, U.S., Con­ gress, Senate, 80th Cong., 2d sess., Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Executive Nominations, Hennock, Sen 80 B-A3, Record Group 46, National Archives (Hereinafter abbreviated Sen. Commerce Comm., Norn. Hennock, NA).

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partnership was dissolved April 27, 1934, she sued Silver regarding

the division of aasets. This lawsuit, Hennock v. Silver, figured

prominently in the confirmation hearings on the Federal Judgship to

which she was appointed in 1951 before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^

Mr. Silver had been a counselor and friend of a young inventor, Edwin

H. Land; when Land's inventions relating to the polarization of light

led to the founding and subsequent prospering of the Polaroid Corpora­

tion, Silver received 4,233% shares of Polaroid stock at a cost of $1

per share (market value for which was reputed to be between $25 and

$125 per share) and $22,500 cash for legal services performed while

the partnership was in force. Miss Hennock sued for her share and

ultimately won a $9,000 settlement in 1940, but she did not agree

with the judgment.^

Following the dissolution of the partnership, Miss Hennock

returned to the private practice of law, specializing in criminal

and civil law cases. She also accepted a part time appointment as

an attorney for the New York Mortgage Commission, serving in the 12 Commission's Laws and Appeals Bureau and the Bureau of Legal Research.

The Mortgage Commission was set up by the New York Legislature to

handle the orderly management or liquidation of several hundred

10 Complete records of Hennock v. Silver are in the restricted records of Sen. Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA.

^ I b i d .. Hennock statement, October 15, 1951. 12 Leo P. Dorsey to Senator Pat McCarran, July 11, 1951, Sen. Commerce Comm., Norn. Hennock, NA.

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millions of dollars of certificated mortgages in New York which went

into default during the depression. She handled many legal matters

and problems for the Mortgage Commission and did so "with outstanding

conscientiousness, expedition, and ability.""^ One of the three mem­

bers of that Commission later wrote of her work:

Miss Hennock participated in the drafting of many briefs, opinions, memoranda, and other legal documents on a variety of issues. She also took an active part in research regarding the creation of Mortgage Banks. All of her work reflected high legal ability, character and integrity, as well as calm deliberation so necessary for judicial office. She also has a very keen sense of public service.1^

She joined the well-known law firm of Choate, Mitchell and

Ely in 1941, where she practiced corporate law, the only Democrat

in a firm which still served tea every afternoon.^ She remained at

Choate, Mitchell and Ely as an associate until appointed to the

Federal Communications Commission in 1948. She also served as a

part-time lecturer at the Brooklyn Law School.^

During the years she practiced law in New York she began

contributing to the Democratic Party and to individual Democratic

candidates for office. She contributed to the gubernatorial cam­

paign of Herbert H. Lehman in 1938, and the Senatorial campaign of

Robert Vagner in 1944; she also secured contributions from her

friends. Bror Dahlberg, President of the Celotex Corporation of

Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 70.

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Chicago, seat his check for $1,000 made out to the Democratic

National Committee to Democratic Party leader Edwin J. Flynn, "to

help take care of a particular situation which Miss Hennock mentions

to me . " ^ She became known as a member of the liberal wing of the

Democratic Party, "a champion of women’s rights,” active in New York

and national Democratic campaigns, and not affiliated with Tammany.

By the time of her appointment to the Federal Communications

Commission, she had practiced law for twenty-two years, and had be­

come known and active in New York Democratic circles. She had had

no specific experience in communications, as she told the Senate

Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee considering her nomination:

The little experience I have had in these fields is only that which would incidentally come to a general corporation lawyer with an active practice. I have simple knowledge and experience which would normally be acquired by any active lawyer. Neither I nor any of my present associates have ever repre­ sented in a legal capacity any licensee tinder the Communications Act or any person or corporation engaged in telecommunications.19

Variety reported that she said the closest she had cone to the radio

was to listen to it, showing her outspoken and independent character.

She brought other characteristics and attributes to her new

^Lehman to Hennock, November 4, 1938; Wagner to Hennock, November 9, 1944; Dahl berg to Flynn, June 24, 1944, all in FHS papers, SL.

18New York Times. May 25, 1948, p. 29. 19 Hennock to Brewster, June 1, 1948, Sen. Commerce Comm., Norn. Hennock, NA. 20 Variety. May 26, 1948, p. 2.

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position. She spoke like actress Jean Arthur, whom she also

physically resembled. Variety called her a glamour girl, an

attractive, brown-eyed blonde, “looks thirtyish, admits to 40,“ and 21 "as sharp a dresser as she is an attorney." She was feminine,

popular with men, called "Fritzi" by some, a social person who enjoy­

ed both giving and going to parties. She was of a younger generation

than previous women appointees.

Her View of the Position

Frieda Hennock was appointed to the Federal Communications

Commission during its fifteenth anniversary year of operation, at a

time when radio was being used for an increasing number of public and

private purposes, and applications for television stations were multi­

plying, causing the Commission to order a freeze on the processing of 22 these applications shortly after Miss Hennock became a Commissioner.

Prior to her appointment, she had apparently given little thought to

the field of communications and had expressed no opinions about the

position. However, she grasped the potential of television: "I be­

lieve electronic energy is second only to atomic energy. . . . and

that television is one of the greatest inventions in the history of

21Ibid. 22 Fifteenth Annual Report Federal Communications Conmission. Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1949 (With notation of subsequent impor­ tant developments) (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 11, 41, 43 (Hereinafter abbreviated FCC Fifteenth Annual Report),

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23 the world." She also studied the provisions of the Communications

Act and found that the Federal Communications Commission "shall study-

new uses for radio, provide for experimental uses of frequencies, and

generally encourage the larger and more effective use of radio in the 24 public interest." She believed that this "statutory, affirmative

duty of the FCC" included a responsibility for the future and for the 25 use of new developments in the field.

She hoped to see this great potential of television, and

radio as well, used the way that Congress had intended, that "the

Commission must see to it that the use of the valuable public domain

of the airwaves, the property of the people of the United States,

shall be in the public interest, which means nothing more or less

than that it shall be for the benefit of the people of the United

States."2^ To her, it appeared that the broadcasting system could

be of the greatest benefit to all the people if it was used for

education and was useful to the people. She never clearly defined

precisely what she meant by education, but she apparently believed

that "education"— used in a generalized, expansive context— was 27 equivalent to the use of the airwaves for the public benefit.

23 Article, unsigned and undated, FHS papers, SL.

^Quotation from Section 303 (g) of the Communications Act, in Hennock speech to the Rational Association of Women Lawyers, Washington, D.C., September 15, 1950, FHS papers, SL, reprinted in The Journal of the AER, X (November, 1950), 14-15 (AER if the Asso­ ciation for Education by Radio).

25Ibid. 2^Ibid. 27Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 72.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Toward the end of her term on the Commission, she wrote:

The dynamics of educational television as a national movement at least equal, if not surpass, the dynamics of television itself as a communications medium. . . . these education stations, when established and their special programing will allow the general public greater opportunity for education in school and at home. ®

She told members of the Minnesota Education Association that, "The

full use of educational television will result in the spreading of

knowledge, enlightenment, and culture to all our people on a scale 29 hitherto undreamed of.*' She thought that television would be a

powerful weapon in democracy’s struggle against totalitarianism,

echoing an argument of the Cold War.3^ She repeated these themes on

countless occasions, equating education with the public good and in­

vesting it with a generalized and mystical virtue.3^-

Closely related to her faith in education was her belief that

a broadcasting system should be ’’useful" to the general public.3^

She reported that she had visited the "grass roots” and found TV

Frieda Hennock, "My Most Rewarding Experience in TV,” Journal of the AERT, XIII (April, 1954), 6-7 (AERT is the Association for Education by Radio-Television). 29 Hennock speech, "Basic TV Facts for Education," (October 23, 1952, FHS papers, SL, reprinted in The Journal of the AER, XII (November, 1952), 15-17, 20.

3°New York Times. March 20, 1951, p. 33. 31 Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 72; see also lists of her articles and speeches in her papers, together with reprints and mimeographed copies. Much of her writing and most of her speeches repeat these themes.

33Heimodf speech, September 15, 1950, FHS papers, SL.

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antennas "popping up on the wrong side of the railroad tracks” ; she

concluded that for people who could not afford theater and night- 33 clubs, television was a necessity; not a luxury. She therefore

repeatedly appealed to people to exert pressure to achieve the kinds 34 of programs they desired and found useful. In her view, the FCC

and the broadcasters could not do the job alone, for the FCC was

limited in both its authority and capabilities, and the broadcasters

needed to be continually reminded to improve the quality of their

programs.^ She valued competition and diversity in programming as

a means of achieving both quality and usefulness, telling women

lawyers:

It seems to me that there would be a great advantage in trying to assure some real diversification among broadcast licensees. . . . If we are to prevent television from assuming the char­ acteristics of our aural broadcasting system. . . . we must in­ troduce some new blood. This would stimulate a different type of competition. . . . and would, I feel* prove a great stimulus for the production of better programs.

She used her position to urge public action to make television useful.

She appears to have Viewed her role as a Commissioner as a

representative of the public and a protector of the public interest

in the use of communications. "I bring to the Commission a woman's

viewpoint, but I also bring a lawyer's, and a businessman's,” she

told the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's

^Article, undated and unsigned, FHS papers, SL.

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37 Clubs. In her work on the Commission, she asked the kind of simple,

direct questions about highly technical matters that most listeners

would ask. She asked a scientist who was describing technical devel­

opments in color television when a color set could be purchased in a

New York department store; in insisting upon~a simple, direct answer

she cut through the complexities and obfuscation of his testimony to

reveal the true status of color television at that moment for the

public viewer.^ Because she viewed her own role as a Commissioner

as a representative of the public, rather than of the communications

industry, and because she tried to protect the public's interests, it

was reported that the commercial broadcasters could view her possible 39 departure from the Commission in 1951 "with dry eyes." There was

even a rumor making the Washington rounds that commercial broad­

casting interests and other members of the FCC and some political

figures had sought her judicial appointment in order to remove this

vigorous champion of the public interest from the Federal Communica- 40 tions Commission.

^7Hennock speech, October 10, 1948, FHS papers, SL.

^Article, undated and unsigned, FHS papers, SL. 39 Bill Ladd column, Louisville Courier Journal. June 17, 1951, Sen. Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA. 40 Transcript of confidential hearing, October 3, 1951, ibid.

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Her Performance

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent

agency, created by, and reporting to, Congress* It is composed of

seven Commissioners, appointed by the President for tezms of seven

years and subject to confirmation by the Senate; not more than four 41 members may be of the same political party. When Frieda Hennock

was appointed to the Commission by President Truman on May 14, 1948.

to fill an upcoming vacancy, her nomination came as a surprise and

her confirmation was considered doubtful. In that late spring of a

Presidential election year, the Republicans confidently expected to

win the. White House in November and they had put a "freeze*1 on

confirmations for long-term appointments. Also GOP leaders called 42 Miss Hennock* s appointment "an outright political" one. Her nomina­

tion was referred to a subcommittee of the Senate Interstate and

Foreign Commerce Committee, headed by Senator Owen Brewster of „ . 43 Maxne.

The exact and specific reasons which led to Miss Hennock*s

nomination are not to be discovered in the official or personal

records presently open to researchers. It was the first major

appointment of a woman, not previously in government office, made by

Fifteenth Annual Report, p. 12. 42 Variety, May 26, 1948; letter, Senator Taft to Julius Klein, July 10, 1948, FHS papers, SL. 43 Sen. Commerce Comm., Norn. Hennock, NA.

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President Truman; some thought that Truman had decided to appoint a

woman to meet an expected Republican charge that he had failed to 44 appointed competent new women to high office. It was generally

considered to be a political appointment, perhaps an effort by

Tin m a n to enlist support of the liberal wing of the New York Demo- 45 cratic Party and win the so-called Jewish vote. One rumor was that

Justice Ferdinand Pecora of New York, Miss Hennock*s friend of long- 46 standing, had promoted her appointment. Letters in Miss Hennock*s

papers indicate that Dr. Armand Hammer, President of United Distillers,

and other Hennock friends, had requested and recommended her appoint­

ment to General Julius Klein, National Commander of the Jewish War 47 Veterans of the United States. Miss Hennock apparently promised

to look after Klein's interests and also to be more discreet in her

private life in return for Klein's support; he did present her case

to Senator Brewster and to Senator Robert Taft, and felt responsible

for her receiving a hearing and confirmation, "for which I fought 48 single-handed," he wrote her later. She was confirmed June 20, 1948

44 Broadcasting, May 31, 1948, p. 21. 45 Atkinson, "Frieda Hennock," pp. 1, 4. 46 Sen. Jud. Cans. Hearings, Hennock, NA. 47 Klein to Hammer, July 1, 1948, FHS papers, SL. The other friends mentioned were Samuel Pryor, Leonard Lyons, Bror Dahlberg, and Ed Weisl, who called Tom Clark. 48 Klein to Hammer, July 1, 1948, and Klein to Hennock, October 19, 1948. The former letter contains this passage, "You understand that I assumed full responsibility for her when I related to Senator Brewster and Senator Taft the pledge she made in your

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49 for a seven-year term, and took office July 6, 1948. Klein

evidently had the key which opened the door to her confirmation,

for he subsequently received two letters from Senator Taft both

written July 10, 1948, in one of which Taft thanked him for his

campaign help, and in the other stating that he had withdrawn his

opposition to confirming anyone for a long-term appointment at that

time because of Miss Hennock*s excellent recommendations as an attor­

ney and in spite of her political activity in several Roosevelt cam­

paigns.^® He added, "I appreciate very much your arranging for me to

meet Miss Hennock personally, because it is fair to say that her con­

firmation grew out of that interview."^ Klein also received post­

confirmation letters from Senators Brewster and Albert W. Hawkes of

New Jersey, who made a speech regarding Miss Hennock on the floor of

the Senate; both letters reaffirmed that the Senators had supported

Miss Hennock because of Klein's and Hassner's recommendations and 52 hoped that her character and qualifications would measure up.

presence." The latter letter contains this sentence: "While I was happy to back you in your fight at the suggestion of Dr. Hammer and others, 1 recall the many promises and assurances you made BEFORE your confirmation— of your interest in my future; of your offer to obtain for me public relations clients; and of always being at my service. Of course, I discouraged you in your kind offer, declining any future material consideration for me."

^ N e w York Times, June 21, 1948, p. 2; J. C. Bratton, National Personnel Records Center, to author, November 30, 1971.

^°Taft to Klein, July 10, 1948, FHS papers, SL. 51Ibid. 51 Brewster to Klein, June 29, 1948, and Hawkes to Klein, July 6, 1948, ibid.

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Apparently, they were having some qualms, judging by what Senator

Brewster wrote Klein:

I trust you will understand the very great embarrassment that would be occasioned to all concerned if our confidence in your judgment should be found to be misplaced. I have taken considerable satisfaction in this confirmation mingled with occasional concern as to the consequences to those who relied upon our leadership if the very critical tests applied to women in high office should reveal any flaws. Caesar’s wife had a picnic compared with what women in public life must face today as they move to the upper levels. I am as anxious for the young lady to make good on her own account and the cause of woman's progress in general as I am on_ account of the Senators who shared the responsibility with me.

Her confirmation was surprising not only in view of the fact that as

a Democrat she was confirmed for a long-term appointment in the summer

of 1948, but perhaps more surprising because of the rumors that her

conduct did not adhere to the pure, strict, and traditional moral

standards required of women, if not of men, in public life. These

rumors, however, whether or not true, surfaced again at the time of

her nomination to a Federal judicial post in 1951.

The purpose of the Federal Communications Comnission was set

forth in the Communications Act authorizing its creation:

For the purpose of regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, a rapid, efficient, nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communica­ tion service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges, for the purpose of national defense. . . . promoting safety of life and property . . . for centralizing authority.

"^Brewster to Klein, June 29, 1948, ibid. 54 Federal Communications Commission 20th Anniversary, Annual Report for Fiscal Year efifl6d June 30, 1954: with introductory summary and notations throughout of subsequent important developments (Washing­ ton: Government Printing Office, 1955), p. 11.

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At the time of its establishment in 1934, all authorized radio

stations numbered 51,000, and commercial and amateur radio operators

fewer than 67,000. In 1948, when Miss Hennock joined the Commission,

in the words of its Chairman, Wayne Coy, the nonbroadcast services

were "mushrooming** and interest in television was "booming." The

Cosanissicn:s regulatory function was taxed by the growth and multi­

plicity of use in the common carrier field (comprising telephone and

telegraph use, both public and private). The Commission was hard

pressed to keep up with the "kaleidoscopic technical developments

affecting both wire and radio communication."^^ The Commission made

policy and directly supervised all activities of the 1,340 persons

employed by the FCC."^ Seven years later, when Miss Hennock's term

expired and she was not reappointed, there were 800,000 transmitters

in about 60 different kinds of radio services and more than 1,100,000

radio operators, but fewer Commission employees, 1,094, to supervise 58 that expanded communications network. It is not surprising that

the annual report for 1955 noted:

The current report emphasizes the plight of the Commission in trying to regulate radio's tidal-wave expansion with about the same money but with less personnel than it has had in any year

55Ibid.. p. 12.

~^FCC Fifteenth Annual Report, p. 111. ^Ibid.

^Federal Communications Commission 21st Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1955: With introductory summary and notations of later developments (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1956), pp. 1-16.

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since World War II. In the last 5 years, for example, its administrative burden.has not only more than doubled but has become more complex. As a result, the Commission has difficulty in keeping up with its mounting routine and lacks the manpower to deal with many important matters which need policy determination.

Miss Hennock served on the Cosmission during a period of unbelievable

growth and fantastic technical developments in the communications

field, which multiplied the responsibilities and the problems of the

Commission. Congress did not appropriate the money or authorize the

personnel which might have helped solved the problems.

At the beginning of her texm, Miss Hennock found her work on 60 the Commission "intriguing and a real c% illenge to any lawyer."

With the aid of the professional staff «. 1 egal assistants, each

Commissioner had demanding and varied responsibilities. The Commis­

sion met once or twice a week to take official action on petitions

(applications for licenses and construction permits for broadcasting

stations, for reconsiderations or rehearings of previous decisions,

for promulgation of new rules or modifications of old ones); indiviti

dual Commissioners reviewed the work of hearing examiners, served on

special committees to cover the extensive scope of FCC work, testi­

fied before Congressional Committees as needed, and were responsible

for a wide range of correspondence and speeches before various groups.

As with other federal agencies, it is difficult to follow the role of

any one individual, since the official Commission minutes record

59 Ibid.. p. 8.

^°Hennock to Klein, July 27, 1955, FHS papers, SL.

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only official actions, not the discussions and decision-making

process; personal correspondence is scattered among personal records

and various official actions; nor do the official records reveal the

interactions between the Commissioners and their relationships with

other government figures and private individuals. The work load on

each Conanissioner was heavy, and became more so. Each Commissioner

did not take part in every decision; in fact, the official records

show that in relatively few cases did all seven Commissioners parti­

cipate. The Commission officially adjourned for only short periods

and the individual Commissioners appear to have alternated time off

and vacations. The records show that, aside from the summer of 1951,

from June to October, when her confirmation as a judge was pending

before the Senate Committee-on the Judiciary, Miss Hennock fully

participated in the work of the FCC. Her private papers, however,

reveal an extraordinary amount of additional activity— speeches,

meetings, conferences— on behalf of educational television and the

public interest in better programming. It is that phase of her work

which brought her much publicity and commendation and also animosity

from the commercial television industry and some political figures

of opposing views. She also received much publicity for the large

numbers of her dissents from majority decisions and orders of the

FCC. An examination of the records reveals that while she dissented

slightly more often than most other members of the Commission, her

dissents show a pattern consistent with certain attitudes and guiding

principles. They also show that she had extraordinary foresight.

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Her dissents represented positions not yet shared by commercial

broadcasting interests and some political leaders, but in the early

1970's, these positions are still being recommended.

Just before Miss Hennock became a Commissioner in early July,

1948, hearings had been started on broadcast channel allocations.^

A joint Commission-industry conference was held in mid-Septesnber,

1948 to "discuss procedural problems in light of the latest engineer­

ing information which had been introduced into previous hearings."^

A "freeze" order, halting the processing of applications for new

television stations pending the adoption of new rules and standards

based on the latest available engineering information with respect

to coverage and interference, was issued September 30, 1948.^ An

Ad-Hoc Committee, composed of members from the Bureau of Standards,

Engineering Bureau of the FCC, and donsulting engineering firms, was

formed to study the problems and the particular characteristics of

UHF (ultra high frequency) and VHF (very high frequency) transmis- 64 sion. The Technical Information Division of the FCC undertook a

number of studies and experiments. ^ FCC presented a status report

on the "freeze" and a working schedule for lifting it, to the indus­

try and to the public May 26, 1949.^ On July 11 that year, She

Commission announced a new rule-making procedure for opening up

61FCC Fifteenth Annual Report, pp. 42-43. ‘"'Ibid.

^Ibid. ^Ibid., p. 43.

65Ibid., pp. 146-148. 66Ibid., p. 43.

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forty-two additional UHF channels; none of the new channels was 67 reserved for educational television. Concerning this "Notice of

Further Rule Making," a history of the National Association of

Educational Broadcasters notes:

Frieda Hennock, alone among the seven Commissioners, proposed vigorously in a separate opinion that a portion of the UHF band be reserved for education. Her opinion encouraged immediate pro­ test against FCC plans from NAEB, followed by similar responses from the US Office of Education, the National University Exten­ sion Association, Land Grant College Association, and others.

Her official activities in behalf of reserving channels for educa­

tional use appear to date from this time and she moved into a full

scale campaign to accomplish reservation of channels for education.

Fortunately and unexpectedly, the "freeze" order continued

until 1951, for both technical reasons and because of the conflicting

interests of the commercial and educational broadcasters. Hearings

before the FCC continued, as did technical studies and experimental

broadcasting; the hearings extended from September, 1949 to early

1950, and from October, 1950 to January 31, 1951

During this time, Miss Hennock undertook an extraordinary

67Ibid.; Wayne Alford, NAEB History. II (Washington: National Association of Educational Broadcasters, 1966), 6.

68Alford, NAEB History. II, 6.

^Federal Communications Commission Sixteenth Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1950 (with notation of subsequent ■important developments) (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951), pp. 149-152; Federal Communications Commission Seventeenth Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1951 (with introductory summary and notation of subsequent important developments) (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1952), p. 114.

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campaign to encourage and stimulate educational television. She

made at least fifteen speeches, wrote eleven articles, and was the

subject of over sixty-five articles in newspapers and magazines; in

most of these she was promoting the use of television in the public

interest and for broad educational purposes: ’’Radio and television

are but tools, merely vehicles for bringing ideas into your homes,”

she said in one speech.^ In another, she told the Women’s National

Democratic Club that "television in the hands of our educators can

become one of the most vital forces for dynamic democracy that the

world has ever seen.”^ She preached the gospel of better program­

ming, she urged more programs for public information, and, above all,

she emphasized her conviction that television was a new force of tre­

mendous power to shape, change, and mold Americans and American life.

She helped organize and worked with the Joint Committee on

ETV (as educational television was known), and with other ETV advo­

cates in their efforts to counter the opposition of the commercial

broadcasting industry expressed at the FCC hearings, and to provide

the type of testimony needed to win a favorable allocation from the

Commission.^ She entertained advocates of ETV at her home and at

^Speech, September 15, 1950, FHS papers, SL.

^Speech, February 1, 1951, ibid. 72 See file of her speeches, instances too numerous to cite, ibid.

^Robert A. Carlson, 51951: A Pivotal Year for ETV,” Educational Broadcasting Review, I (December, 1967), 47-52; Smith, "Madame Commissioner,” 73.

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one point reportedly told a group of educators who had decided they

would have to raise a little money in order to prepare their testi­

mony: ,rYou educators have just got to learn to think big, or you’re

not going to make the impression you’ve got to mak e before the Commis- 74 sion.” She urged the educational broadcasters at their convention

in October, 1950 to appear at the FCC hearings and testify.7^ Early

in 1951 she accepted Philadelphia’s Adult Education Council Award

for aiding education through her work for ETV; on that occasion, as

on others, she urged that the FCC should give the American people a

democratic freedom of choice in television programming by establish­

ing an alternative program service through education-owned-and-opera-

ted stations; she desired a fourth network of educational stations,7^*

It was a time, however, when Senator Taft was launching his

drive for the White House by marshalling conservative backers, and

when Senator McCarthy was launching his drive against Communists in

government, and Miss Hennock was discouraged about the chances for

success in the fight to get channel allocations for educational

television. Miss Hennock was "running scared":

Confronted by an increasingly reactionary America and by what she saw as extreme pressures on the FCC to vote against reserva­ tions, Miss Hennock feared that the Commission early in 1951 was ready to reject the ETV concept despite the effective case made for it in the hearings and the modest public support it had achieved.

74Alford, NAEB History. II, 9-10. 75Ibid.

7^Broadcasting. February 19, 1951, 60.

1 Carlson, "1951: A Pivotal Year for ETV," 51.

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The hearings were widely reported, often as an education

versus television industry duel.78 It was reported that Miss Hennock

telephoned her fears to President Truman during this time; it is 79 known that he favored ETV allocations* According to this story,

the President invited the Commissioners to the White House, told

them he recognized their status as members of a regulatory commission

independent of Presidential control, but that he, as President, had

a responsibility to work for the public good and he felt the reserva­

tion of channels for educational television was in the public interest;

he told them that if they rejected the ETV reservation policy, he

would appear on a special national television program that evening

and denounce each Commissioner who voted against education. The

source of the story was George Probst, a pioneer ETV advocatedand

head of the NAEB Finance Committee; when he repeated the story before

a Senate subcommittee, he said that Miss Hennock told him this story

on the evening that the FCC decision was announced and gave him a

bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon given her by President Truman in com­

memoration of the decision.88 Scholar Robert Carlson, who investi­

gated the story and attempted, without success, to corroborate it,

Time. February 5, 1951, p. 51; see also Telford Taylor, ’•Finding A Place for Education on TV,” The New York Times Magazine. January 28, 1951, pp. 9, 14, 15. Taylor was Counsel for the JCET (Joint Committee on ETV).

79Carlson, '*1951: A Pivotal Year for ETV," 52, footnote 23.

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nevertheless concluded:

. . . it seems that an event at least similar to the one des­ cribed did, indeed, occur and was crucial in gaining favorable action on ETV reservations. . . . Given the history of the FCC’s actions and. attitudes, it seems quite likely that Presidential intervention would be required to bring the FCC to reserve TV channels for education, especially the commerdially valuable VHF channels.

The Commission, in its "Third Notice of Further Proposed Rule Making,"

issued March 22, 1951, reserved 209 of the 1,965 assignments (both

UHF and VHA) for "noncommercial educational s t a t i o n s . E i g h t y - t w o

of the 526 VHF allocations, 15 per cent, were reserved for education.

Wayne Coy concurred in the plan but warned educators to utilize the

channels quickly; Commissioners George E. Sterling and E. M. Webster

dissented in part from the decision; Frieda Hennock also dissented

because they did not reserve enough channels; she wanted 25 per cent

reserved, or enough to make possible a "fourth network" to complement 83 and compete with the major commercial networkds.

Winning the allocation of some channels for ETV was, however,

only the beginning. It was necessary for schools, colleges, univer­

sities, and community groups to organize and find financial support

for educational television stations. In this endeavor, Miss Hennock

again resorted to speaking and writing— encouraging, instigating,

prodding— and she continued her efforts until the end of her term.

In a typical speech, such as the one she made to the Minnesota Educa­

81Ibid. ^Seventeenth Annual Report FCC, p. 114.

88Hennock dissent to 'Third Notice of Proposed Rule Making," FES papers, Si.

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tion Association in October, 1952, she set them straight on what

the FCC had done, then told them the important thing was to get on

the air, to start in a modest way if necessary and not be discouraged

by what she believed were the “unrealisticaily overstated" costs of

construction and o p e r a t i o n . S h e urged local groups to do their

own programming and financing; while the FCC had placed no time limit

on the reservations, she urged that there be no delay:

. . .there are already pressures being brought to bear by selfish interests which seek to make the reservations a short-lived policy. . . .educators must therefore act to make use of the reserved channels as fast as they can. In so doing they will be aiding the FCC to resist these pressures which must be termed short-sighted from the viewpoint of the public interest.

In an article for the Journal of the AEBT, she asked readers to get

in touch with leading citizens and call their attention to educational

television channels lying idle, "the channel that can serve the com- 86 munity day and night with education and culture." Before the end

of her term she had made more than thirty-seven speeches, testified

before Congressional committees, and attended dedication ceremonies

for educational television stations. In the words of a spokesman

for the commercial television industry, Sol Taischoff, editor of

Broadcasting magazine, "Let no one mislead you on her posture vis-a-

vis educational television. She was its moving spirit. She encour­

aged— even cajoled— television broadcasters into providing equipment,

^Speech, October 23, 1952, ibid. ^Ibid.

^Hennock, "My Most Rewarding Experience," 7.

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ETV operations.8^ Her legal assistant, Arthur Stambler, wrote that

’’she got the educators to apply, wrote letters and pleadings for

then, got then attorneys. . . . She physically did everything for

ETV. At that time, Miss Hennock was ETV.’’88 Her personal corres­

pondence is full of examples of letters to various educators and

educational institutions, in which she helped then plan and find

financing for ETV stations.89 She attempted to arouse the public

and build support for ETV by giving speeches before conventions and

meetings of educational associations, school administrators, univer- 90 sity and professional women, and universities. Disappointed in

the public response and support for ETV, by 1954 she was urging

Congress to freeze the channels until something could be done to 91 insure that educational stations would survive and thrive.

Coordinated with her fight for ETV was her advocacy of all­

channel TV receivers. She felt that if UHF reception were not pro­

vided by the manufacturers of TV sets, ETV stations would not have a 92 chance. She also advocated a thorough and continuing study of the

8^Quoted in Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 73 . 88Ibid.

89Hennock correspondence while on FCC, FHS papers, SL. 90 Hennock speeches while on FCC, ibid.

91Alford, NAEB History, II, 23. 92 Congress did require that all sets must include UHF recep­ tion in 1962, long after her term was over.

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competing systems for color reception before a final decision was

made for she wanted the system which would prove most satisfactory 93 to the public.

Frieda Hennock acquired a reputation for her dissents. These,

when considered with the many cases in which she voted with the major­

ity, show consistant philosophical attitudes toward the various issues

involved. She was for impartiality in broadcasting and she felt

that past performance of a licensee, or the background of an appli­

cant, should be carefully examined as the best guide to future per­

formance. If objectivity was found lacking, and there was another

qualified applicant, she believed the license should not be granted 94 or renewed. The FCC lacked policing methods and sanctions to

guarantee fairness and she thought it "foolhardy" to permit editorial­

izing by licensees themselves until the FCC could be sure that con- 95 troversial issues would be fairly presented. Because the FCC

93 Dissenting views of Commissioner Hennock to FCC Second Report on Color Television Issues, adopted October 10, 1950, FHS papers, SL. 94 Report of the Commission, Editorializing by Broadcasting Licensees, Dissenting Views of Commissioner Hennock, Federal Communi­ cations Commission Reports; Decisions and Reports of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States July 1, 1948, to June 30, 1949, XIII (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954), 1270. Volumes XIII through XIX of this series cover the years of Miss Hennock's tenure on the Commission and were published in Washington between the years 1954 and 1967. (Hereinafter referred to as FCC Reports). See also Hennock decision as part of the majority, Inde­ pendent Broadcasting Company, Inc., August 19, 1945, FCC Reports, XIV, 72-96, and Concurring opinion of Chairman Coy and Commissioner Hennock to Memorandum Opinion and Order, KMPC, et. al., November 23, 1951, FCC Reports, XVI, 370.

95FCC Reports. XIII, 1270.

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lacked adequate means of enforcement, the problem was a difficult and

recurring one. Yet she maintained that FCC rules should be enforced

and that licensees must abide by FCC rules and regulations. The only

means of enforcement available to the Commission was the denial of a

license and some Commissioners thought this was too drastic a punish­

ment. Inone case, where the majority had voted to renew the li­

cense of a broadcasting company which had exhibited an ''indifferent1'

attitude toward FCC regulations because the denial of a license was

a death penalty and too harsh, Miss Hennock wrote in her dissent:

This case puts to us squarely the question of the enforcement of our network regulations, and further raises even broader ques­ tions of the responsibility of broadcast licensees. . . . I should like to say that I feel as do most of the other members of the Commission, that in seme cases we are defin­ itely hampered by the fact that virtually the only substantial sanction available to us . . . is the deprivation of the broad­ cast license. . . . It would certainly be salutary for the Con­ gress to give some consideration to the problem here raised, and, if possible, to design some other sanctions to add to those al­ ready available, sanctions of ^gtermediate severity which might be applied more expeditiously.

She would also hold a licensee accountable to fulfill the responsi­

bilities that accompanied the privilege of holding a license, as

she voted to deny a petition of the American Merchant Marine Insti­

tute that they be exempted from maintaining a watch on vessels using 97 _ radio-telephone communications. She was opposed to the Commission

^Dissenting views of Commissioner Hennock, Don Lee Broad­ casting System, May 11, 1950, FCC Reports, XIV, 1015-1018.

^Commissioner Hennock dissenting and concurring in the views of Commissioner Bartley, American Merchant Marine Institute, December 30, 1S53, FCC Reports. XVIII, 506.

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acting as a court of appeals in relation to the actions of its

predecessors, and she did not believe that a petitioner who had

been turned down was entitled to a rehearing simply because the 98 membership on the Commission had changed.

Although the work load was very heavy, she dissented from

the FCC decision to increase the licensing period for TV broadcasters

from one to three years, feeling that it was being done for the con­

venience of the broadcasters and the Commission, and not in the public 99 interest. She felt that in the rush to get the television on the

air, there had been less scrutiny of applications and performance

than there should have been, and what was really needed was a

thorough, factual study of television programming and hearings open

to the public. She believed that programming was most important:

In my view . . . in any competitive situation . . . in which no distinction can be made between the applicants upon the basis of their technical proposals, the programming of the proposed sta­ tions is the transcendent consideration. . . . other factors . . . are useful only insofar as they are relevant to the sole material determination which operation in the public interest.

^Report and Order, Greater New York Broadcasting Company (WNEW) et- al., May 9, 1949, FCC Reports. XIII, 877; Special concur­ ring statement by Commissioners Hyde and Hennock, Establishment of Physical Connections, etc., March 23, 1953, FCC Reports, XVII, 506. 99 Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Amendment of Section 3.630, etc., November 5, 1953, FCC Reports, XVIII, 255-258.

^^Dissenting Views of Commissioner Hennock, Eugene J. Roth , May 12, 1949, FCC Reports. XIII, 937-938.

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Her concern for the public interest is evident in both her dissents

and from the decisions in which she agreed with the majority. She

often called for hearings so that all parties and the public could

be heard. She agreed with the majority which denied a petition of

the Transit Riders Association of Washington, D. C. protesting the

renewal of the WWDC FM license because loudspeakers in the vehicles

of the Capital Transit Company were carrying WWDC programs, thus

making riders a captive audience. Although concurring with the

majority in this case because she believed that a licensing proceed­

ing was nbt the appropriate place for an investigation of the pro­

blem, she issued a separate statement which said in part:

I believe that "transitcasting," as well as all other specialized uses to which FM has been put, raises serious legal and policy questions of deep import to all of broadcasting and the listening public which should be promptly and completely investigated and determined by the Commission. . . .102

She opposed the approval of makeshift, temporary arrangements for

broadcasters which would undercut the fair consideration of all

applications. She disagreed with the dismissal of a protest by a

station which alleged that the approval of a new station was result­

ing in economic injury, nAs Congress obviously intended, a hearing 104 is the only proper place to ascertain the facts.”

102 Concurring Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Capital Broadcasting Company, August 20, 1952, FCC Reports, XVII, 89.

"^^Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Interim Television Corporation, September 18, 1953, FCC Reports. XVIII, 92. 104 Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Versluis Radio and Television, Inc., February 5, 1953, FCC Reports, XVII, 261-263.

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The bulk of her dissents, however, concerned the related

problems of competition and monopoly, ownership and diversification,

and the development of vested interests which decreased the oppor­

tunity for new applicants to have a fair chance. In an early case

she was part of the majority which held that of three applicants

for a license in Norman, Oklahoma, the license should not be granted

to the company which owned the local newspaper. Although this owner­

ship was “not a disqualifying factor,” in the absence of persuasive

reasons to the contrary, "we believe that the public interest will

be better served by the encouragement of a genuine and unfettered

competition in the dissemination of news, information and ideas

within the orbit of service" of the newspapers and the proposed

radio broadcast station.She opposed monopoly, approved competi­

tion, wanted varied ownership in order to insure diversification of

control over the mass media.

She joined with Commissioner Rosel Hyde opposing the majority

which did not require Bell Telephone to join their proposed inter­

city video transmission channels and facilities with those of the

Western Union Telegraph Company. In effect, this gave Bell Tele­

phone a monopoly over such facilities. Commissioner Hyde wrote:

The decision of the majority . . . effectively does grant such a monopoly to Bell. . . . The establishment of this monopoly, moreover, is directly contrary to the national policy favoring competition, its preservation and encouragement. . . . The

■^Decision, Norman Broadcasting Company et al., June 29, 1949, FCC Reports. XIII, 1133-1157.

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Commission decision here is particularly unfortunate in view of the fact that this video transmission field, as well as the television broadcast service, of which it is so essential and integral a part, are both comparatively new industries with their major expansion to come. This intercity video trans­ mission service, therefore, is not one of those which history and practical experience have shown to fall into the area of natural monopoly. . . . For these reasons, I believe that the present decision of the majority will effectively preclude any possibility of full, or even of limited, competition in this field.106

Miss Hennock dissented from a decision in which all acting

Commissioners dissented in part— that of the proposed merger of

Paramount Pictures Corporation and Allen B. DuMont Laboratories

with Balaban and Katz Corporation, United Paramount Theaters, and

American Broadcasting Company. This decision, adopted February 9,

1953, found Consnissioners Hyde, George E. Sterling, and Robert T.

Bartley united in an opinion dissenting in part; Commissioners

Edward M. Webster and Frieda Hennock dissenting in part in separate

opinions; and Commissioner Eugene H. Merrill concurring in part and

dissenting in part. In this complicated case, Miss Hennock*s dissent

was long, running to thirty-six printed pages in which she discussed

all aspects and issues involved. Applications for hearings in the

case had been filed by the parties involved in August, 1951. Hearings

were held for ninety-three days from January to August, 1951.^^ The

proposed merger would form an organization which would have resources

106 Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hyde, in which Commis­ sioner Hennock Concurs, The Western Union Telegraph Company et al., October 9, 1952, FCC Reports. XII, 175-177.

Inc. et al., February 9, 1953, FCC Reports. XII, 264-404.

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rivalling those of the NBC and CBS networks, plus a tie-in to motion

pictures. In her dissent, Miss Hennock wrote:

. . . there is, in my opinion, no more reason to permit a con- tiiiuation of such control of a leading broadcast network by major motion production interests, than there is to permit the creation of a combination of another such network with motion picture exhibition interests, as is involved in the proposed ABC-UPT merger.

She feared that FCC action would permit a full scale invasion and

conquest of television by motion picture producers and exhibitors 109 and would substantially reduce or eliminate competition.

She was concerned with the problems occasioned by multiple

ownership of broadcasting facilities by individuals. She believed

that the FCC ought to study the question of overlapping ownership

and the concentration of ownership within a geographical or regional

area: ". . . when faced with the problem of regional monopolies, the

Commission has repeatedly failed to give it the careful and mature

consideration that it deserved,1' she wrote in a dissent to an FCC

Report and Order of November 25, 1953, amending the rules and regu­

lations relating to multiple ownership of AM, FM, and television

broadcasting stations.In this new order, FCC limited multiple

ownership to a maximum of seven AM, seven FM, and five TV stations.

issue and dissenting on all others, Paramount Television Productions, Inc. et al., October 9, 1953, FCC Reports, XII, 175-177.

^^Separate Views of Commissioner Hennock concurring in part and dissenting in part, Amendments of Sections 3.35 etc., November 25, 1953, FCC Reports. XVIII. 297-299.

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In her dissent, Miss Hennock wrote:

The purpose of the multiple ownership rule is to prevent undue concentration of ownership of the mass media of communications. . . . He are not serving the public interest by refusing to face this problem now. Our failure to do so will undoubtedly result in a further regional concentration of ownership of media of mass communications, with its well known consequences of (a) limiting competition, (b) adversely affecting the diversification of con­ trol over the services of programs to the television public, (c) causing excessive concentration ir. the dynamic TV field, and (d) seriously threatening the capacity of other licensees to compete effectively.

Further, she believed that even when an individual had an interest in

less than the maximum permitted number of stations, if these were

concentrated in one state or geographical region, it might have a

"more deleterious effect on competition and constitute a more stifling

concentration, than ownership in excess of the permitted maximum 112 scattered throughout the United States." And again she maintained

that the rules and regulations, and the public interest they repre­

sented, toed: precedence over licensees:

It is axiomatic that even licensees have no vested right in their authorizations. They are bound by new rules which we adopt in the public interest. Yet, here the Commission intimates that appli­ cants may have such a right in their applications, because they "may have gone to considerable expense and otherwise relied on the policy prevailing before this change." This is bad law and worse policy. The Commission should not feel restrained in adopting rules in the public interest by the fact that such rules may ad­ versely affect an applicant. I am not aware of any compelling pub­ lic interest considerations that would require the Commission to afford such special treatment to the applicant or applicants who will benefit from this provision.

^^Separate views of Commissioner Hennock, Amendments of Sections 3.35 etc., November 25, 1953, FCC Reports, XVIII, 297-299.

112Ibid., 299. 11SIbid., 298.

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In another case she wrote, ,fThat a licensee does not acquire a per­

manently vested right in a frequency is one of the most basic prin- 114 ciples." She believed that the purpose of the Commission was to

protect the rights of new applicants: "The renewal procedure, design­

ed to bring about the practical realization of this principle, insures

a continuing opportunity for the licensing of all radio and television

stations to the most qualified applicants.In accordance with

this principle, she did not consider that licenses which passed

through inheritance or merger to others should be renewed without 116 heatings providing equal opportunity to other applicants. She

placed her faith in diversity of ownership, adherence to the rules,

and a continuing search for the most qualified applicants.

It seems clear that in her work on the Federal Communications

Commission, Miss Hennock was adhering to certain fundamental beliefs

and principles: that the FCC should operate in the public interest

and that this public interest could best be served by competitive

ownership, useful and diversified programming, and the use of tele­

vision for broad educational purposes. In summing up her work as he

knew it, Chairman Wayne Coy, who was Chairman from the time she came

114 Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Zenith Radio Corporation, April 8, 1953, FCC Reports. XVII, 607-608.

115Ibid.. 608.

"^Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Hennock, Milwaukee Area Television Corporation, June 30, 1953, FCC Reports. XVIII, 742-744; Dissenting Opinion, Don Lee Broadcasting System, May 11, 1950, FCC Reports. XIV, 1015-1018.

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on the Commission until 1952, wrote:

During Miss Hennock*s tenure, the Commission’s work had unques­ tionably been among the most comprehensive, vital, and far- reaching in its history. This period has seen the emergence of television as a major broadcasting force, with proceedings now being held and decisions made which will see the foundation of a full-scale, nation-wide television. . . . Miss Hennock has actively participated in decisions on all phases of its business, in many she has taken a particularly significant part.-^

Her Impact

There can be no question that Frieda Hennock made a consider­

able impact as a member of the Federal Communications Commission;

she has been more written and spoken about than any other of her

colleagues, and even her opponents give her credit for much that

was accomplished in educational television. The ultimate acceptance,

or the continued advocacy, of many of her views and positions have

served to vindicate her judgment.

In the preparation of his article, •’Madame Commissioner,"

the author, Professor R. Franklin Smith, interviewed most of her co­

workers and sent questionnaires to prominent educators. He reported

that the responses ranged from giving her most of the credit for the

development of educational television to only a small share. Those

who gave her little credit generally preferred to remain anonymous.

They based their judgment on the fact that she was not the only advo­

^ ^ T e s timony, Coy to Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Con­ fidential hearing, October 3, 1951, Sen. Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA.

^^Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 72-74, 77-79.

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the same time they did not deny that she had been active. Professor

Smith concluded that "she contributed positively to the ETV movement.

. . . She was ETV’s most vocal champion . . . not necessarily its

primary one.1'119 For those Americans, however, who shared her views

of the extraordinary power of television and her concern for the

ways in which it was to be used, she was the visible and vocal

Commissioner, the one who was working to arouse the public and make

the public aware of television’s potential— a potential not limited

to the commercial vision of the communications industry. In her other

work on the Commission she served as a representative of the public

interest— taking positions in favor of variety and diversity in owner­

ship, control, and programming— a variety and diversity which left

room for differing concepts of what that public interest really was,

but did not allow that public interest to be determined by, and be

synonymous with, a narrowly controlled monopolistic industry.

The main controversy concerning her impact centers on her

effectiveness as a Commissioner. Her critics, again often anonymous,

repeat that she harmed her cause by alienating people who did not 120 agree with her. This raises the question of her personality. She

was an aggressive, ambitious, brilliant, clever, driving, emotional,

energetic, feminine, outspoken, passionate, and volatile women— a

119 Ibid., pp. 74, 79. 120 Ibid.; Rosel Hyde to author, August 3, 1970.

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combination of characteristics which would make her anathema to 121 many people regardless of what she did or did not do. Some 122 critics said she was not as capable as she appeared. Although

most of her speeches and decisions were written by her staff, they

were based on her perceptions, intuitions, and ideas, and, to borrow

a phrase from President Truman, she was the one in the kitchen feel­

ing the heat. Further, as even her critics acknowledge, she had a T93 talent for picking out people of ability to work for her.

Her opinions and dissents have a noticeable sharper tone

and phrasing toward the end of her term which may have been attri­

butable to her greater experience in FCC matters and her familiarity

with the issues and the cases, many of which reappeared for recon­

sideration several times. Or she may have come to believe that it

was necessary to speak out sharply and clearly to command attention

for her views. Other factors may also have contributed: The rotating

membership on the FCC (one member’s term expired each year); the

changing administration and political climate in Washington; or the

changes in the communications field and their effects on American life.

It is also possible that she felt she had little to lose. Her

disappointment over not winning confirmation as a judge in the Federal

121 All of those adjectives were used by one source or another to describe Miss Hennock*s personality. 122 Arthur Stambler to author, August 3, 1970; Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 78-79; Rosel Hyde to author, August 3, 1970. 193 Smith, "Madame Commissioner," 77-78.

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Court for the Southern District of New York was undoubtedly very

great. She admired Judge Florence Allen of Ohio, the first and

only woman federal judge at that time; she may have wished to erau- 124 late her. Miss Hennock1s friends and associates report that she 125 most desired the judgeship. However, within twenty-four hours of

her nomination by President Truman in June, 1951, the Association of

the Bar of New York City had publicly declared that she was "totally 126 unqualified" for the position.^ Other prestigious bar associations

reached the same conclusion in record time, leading civil liberties

attorney Morris Ernst to write, lfNot only Adam, but even Eve, got a 127 hearing before being thrown out of the Garden of Eden." Another

of her supporters, lawyer Leo P. Dorsey, wrote that the committees

of the bar associations had "acted hastily and without the judicial

restraint they would require of others.

Hearings on the nomination by the Senate Committee on the

Judiciary started in the summer and were then adjourned until Octo­

ber. They were notable for the contradictory opinions of Miss

Hennock which were expressed and by-*the unsubstantiated gossip of

Hennock to Allen, July 23, 1948, FHS papers, SL. 125 Smith, Madame Commissioner,” 77.

■^Siorris Ernst to Whitney North Seymour, June 21, 1951, Sen* Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock NA. 127ibid.

"^Dorsey to Senator Pat McCarren, July 11, 1951, ibid.

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two minor county judges in New York who testified to what they knew,

which, after sharp questioning by Senators, they had to admit they

relevant and irrelevant issues: her legal experience and capacity;

her letters of support; a small election wager she had made in 1940;

her suit against Silver; and the gossip of her "adulterous relation­

ship."'^^ She tried to defend herself and win confirmation, drawing

up a complete statement answering the charges and presenting corrobor­

ating evident October 15, 1951. She had many supporters indu- 132 ding many of the major women's professional organizations. But

the Senate Committee too no action, and President Truman refused to

withdraw her appointment, saying that the bar associations did not

make appointments. Miss Hennock declined a recess appointment and 133 asked that her nomination be withdrawn. Frieda Hennock was judged

and found wanting by the "double standard," and she did not possess

the placid temperament usually thought suitable for a judge.

129 Confidential hearings, October 2, 1951, ibid. 130 Sen. Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA.

^^Hennock statement, October 15, 1951, ibid,; copy also in FHS papers, SL. 132 Correspondence, letters approving nomination, Sen. Jud. Conxn. Hearings, Hennock, NA.

^ \ e w York Times. October 16 Cp. 36), 19 (p. 30), 26 (p. 17), and November 2 (p. 1), 1951.

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Yet neither the standards of personality or character by

which she was judged can detract from the contribution she made.

That contribution was summed up at the confirmation hearings by

the President of the Federal Bar Association who commended her for

achieving her eareer through her own efforts and maintaining: "Her

record of public service is noteworthy. By her championing of

television channels for educational non-commercial broadcasting,

she will have left her marie upon the great majority of men, women 134 and children in the country for all time to come.”

-i ■aa Frank J. Del any to Committee, July 13, 1951, Sen. Jud. Comm. Hearings, Hennock, NA.

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THE WOMEN APPOINTEES— THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

The woman’s rights movement of the 1840's was the forerunner

of the women's liberation movement of the 1970's, the former provid­

ing inspiration for the latter* Both movements might be labeled rad­

ical— in that both movements envisioned thoroughgoing and extreme

change in the accepted and traditional place and role of women in

American society. Radical movements such as these startle and compel

public attention by forcing a society to think about the unthinkable,

but they can effect change, short of the use of militant power, only

by attracting many adherents, who inevitably tend to modify the char­

acter and the extent of the challenge to tradition. In just such

fashion was the radical character of the early woman's rights move­

ment modified and absorbed by new adherents with diverse interests

and objectives. By the time of the great suffrage struggle, it w^s

no longer a radical movement, although many persons misconceived it

as such. Woman suffrage was achieved through a coalition dominated

by moderates who entertained expectations of some radical results to

be achieved— perpetual peace and a clean, moral, humane society, for

example— but few of them really anticipated that woman suffrage would-

seriously challenge and upset woman's role and place in American

292

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society. The act of casting a ballot in a society which is guided by

ballots is hardly a radical departure. Woman suffrage was simply one

mark on a continuum which traced the extension of the right to vote

to more people and advanced in steady progression since the arrival

of colonists on American shores. Having the right to vote did not

really change women*s lives, despite contrary and unrealistic expec­

tations. But the mistaken notion that woman suffrage was a radical

achievement perhaps accounts for the disillusionment and disappoint­

ment over its results. In the history of women's movements in the

United States, woman suffrage properly should be classified as part

of a long interim period— the great lull— between woman's rights and

women's liberation.

Women had entered politics after their enfranchisement with

a spirit of wanting to vindicate themselves and wanting to promote

causes in which they believed. Women participated throughout the

1920's in partisan political activities and were pressing for a lar­

ger role. The Democratic Party in 1932, with an assist from the

Roosevelts, was eager to accept their assistance and help in the cam­

paign. The appointments which followed were not a radical advance,

despite the fact that numerically they set a precedent, for there was

no thought that the composition of the incoming administration would

be justly proportionate to the number of women who had voted, or had

worked for, Roosevelt. Rather, the appointments represented a moder­

ate encouragement, acknowledgement, and response to a new group of

voters and partisan workers, who had contributed to the success of

the campaign and would undoubtedly contribute substantially in the

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future. At the same time, the appointments added liberal reformers

to an administration dedicated to a reform program. The Truman ad­

ministration did not follow a policy of placing women in appointive

office; while the administration was not anti-woman, it was not con­

spicuously pro-woman either. It would be misleading, then, to judge

either the women appointees themselves, or their appointments, by rad­

ical criteria: the exaggerated expectations expressed in the drive

for woman suffrage; the equal status desired by some feminists; or

the fair division of government between men and women participants.

The women appointees whose careers have been examined in this

study were part of, or legatees of, the progressive reform movement

which gathered strength at the beginning of the twentieth centnry.

They were interested in humanitarian concerns and in the drive to

make government more responsive to public interests. Suffrage was

one of those reforms which should have been accomplished much earlier,

and, had it been, the energies of many women of the twentieth century

would not have been channeled toward its achievement, but toward wider

reform objectives. It was not until after the 19th amendment was

adopted that women had the genuine opportunity to enter and use poli­

tics to accomplish their liberal, reformist goals. These women ap­

pointees were either peripherally involved in the suffrage movement

or had welcomed it, and all had exercised its result by voting.

The women appointees of the Roosevelt and Truman administra­

tions were of course indebted to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.

Anthony for having dared to suggest the equality of women, but they

were not the latter day embodiment of the radical ideas expounded by

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Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony. Likewise, the women appointees were

indebted to Alice Paul and the militant feminists for resurrecting

the national woman suffrage issue, but they were not the inheritors

of that militant, radical tradition. These women were not radical

feminists; they were not the leaders of any women's movement. They

did not differ over the large issues which had so divided women. The

equal rights issue provoked no serious division among then. As the

women moved closer to being "professionals" they were perhaps some­

what more receptive to the arguments for the amendment, but none of

them supported it publicly, and most believed in protective legisla­

tion for women. They did not argue over such divisive issues as the

reorganization of the traditional social institutions of marriage, the

family, or the responsibility of children.

These women appointees had careers ax were admired for their

careers, but they were cautious in advocating careers for other women,

or in boasting about their own. They themselves had sufficient reason

and insufficient children to adequately justify their careers before

a public which, despite the liberated women of the 1920's, was still

unwilling to favor and approve careers for women for reasons of choice

rather than necessity. Each of these women was sensitive to the spe­

cial needs and problems of women, particularly working mothers, and

they were solicitous of housewives and their concerns, but if they

questioned the rationale behind the status of women as housewives,

they did not do so publicly or criticize the premises on which such

status was based.

These women appointees were reformers in the progressive

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tradition, and they were not working solely for reforms affecting

women. They did not devote much of their energy to the rhetoric of

woman's rights. Their energies were devoted to demonstrating their

equality, for to them actions spoke louder than words, and they were

the examples whose actions would prove women's equality. Each had

experienced prejudice against women; they acknowledged its existence,

but not its justice. As individuals these women were trying to

prove the injustice of prejudice against women. They did not operate

as members of a great women1 s movement. It probably did not occur to

then to attack the whole rationale behind that prejudice. Even if it

had, it is difficult to believe that they would have done so, for

their belief in women's equality did not extend as far as changing

home and family traditions.

These women were, with one exception, white, Anglo-Saxon,

Protestant members of the moderate and select group known as WASPS.

Even the one exception among then, Frieda Hennock, probably adhered

to many of the motivations and objectives of the HASPS. These women

looked upon the ballot as a step in democracy's progress, and the

most radical expectation which they entertained of it was that it

would enable women to exert meaningful pressure when they placed

their particular concerns before society— peace, abolition of child

labor, protection for women and children, and the overall uplift and

improvement of the quality of society. There is no evidence that any

of than expected the ballot to substantially change their own posi­

tion vis a vis men in the society and they did not envision radical

changes in the economic order or even in the body politic.

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The women appointees were approved by the large majority of

women's groups and organisations, which were generally as tradition­

alist as were the appointees themselves. Because the women and

their organizations did not clearly perceive the limitations on women

imposed by the philosophy accompanying traditional social mores, they

did not understand what would be required for women to achieve equal

access to political life. The support of women's organizations was

not influential for they assumed that the women appointees were fore­

runners— the first of a vast array of women who would enter politics

and reach the inner circles of control and decision in government.

It becomes necessary, then, to consider the criteria by which

these women are to be judged. If the standards used to measure their

contributions and their significance are based on the radical nature

and expectations of the woman's rights movement and the contemporary

women's liberation movement, then the women of the New Deal and Fair

Deal pale into relative insignificance, for they did not herald a new

era and a new tradition in which increasing numbers of women occupied

ever higher governmental positions, nor did they advance the status

of women either significantly or lastingly. It is more equitable to

judge the significance and contributions of these women by the stand­

ards of the rather stable and moderately progressive reformers, a

group to which they actually belonged.

While these women did not initiate or determine policy they

did have a hand in shaping policy. That the women appointees exam­

ined in this study did have a hand in influencing policy has been

evident. All of them, except possibly Marion Banister, were able to

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influence the development of policy, for the humanistic reform drives

of Molly Dewson and Ellen Woodward and the concern for education of

the underprivileged of Hilda Smith, to the effort by Frieda Hemiock

to make radio and television more concerned with the public interest—

all had a hand in shaping the dimensions and character of public poli­

cies.

These women played a very real role in achieving wide public

acceptance for some of the more liberal policies of the New Deal and

the Fair Deal. All of them without exception, worked extensively to

educate the public about the policies and win support for then among

the electorate. Some of the women worked with Congress and with

other political leaders in this effort to explain and justify various

programs. Their experience in government and their understanding of

the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of

government were important assets in the effort: to maximize acceptance

of reform programs and minimize discontent and opposition.

These women helped to vindicate the results of suffrage. By

their performances, they left a visible record of accomplishment. In

the long interval between the woman1s rights and women1s liberation

movements, these women stand out as the examples they thought them-',

selves to be. They accomplished what the suffragists had said they

could do. They all left a record of positive achievement, of compe­

tence, of energy and hard work, and of loyalty to Presidential leader­

ship, without which no administration can succeed. Regardless of age,

all the women were willing to devote considerable energies to master­

ing new fields, new positions, and new responsibilities.

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These appointees all expressed the concerns of women and rep­

resented those concerns in their endeavors. Whether in relief pro­

grams, social security, the Treasury Department, or in radio and tele­

vision regulation, all were working to improve women's status, to in­

sure that the government was aware of, and reflected a concern for,

women in the planning and implementation of governmental programs.

However, their objectives were not parochial and limited only to women.

These appointees all brought a vigilance for democratic prac­

tice to their work. Without exception they expressed a belief in the

grass roots out of which democracy springs. They wanted local people

involved and represented in their various programs. They contributed

vision and foresight, whether because they were all liberals, looking

to the future and committed to gradual change, or because they cared

about ordinary everyday people. Although they expressed interest in

those of humble background, none had risen from that status herself.

They did not represent the wide diversity present in the United States,

but they were aware of this diversity and genuinely interested in ac­

cording it a voice through local involvement.

These women proved their equal competence in filling high

government positions and therein may lie their greatest significance.

Unquestionably, they had unusual personal qualities, characteristics,

abilities, and motivations. They were all ambitious, all of superior

ability and intellect, all of outstanding energy and dedication, all

well educated by the standards of the day for women, and all had pur­

sued careers prior to their government service. All except one had

political experience. All these women served in times of great change

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and challenge and did not stagnate in bureaucratic backwaters. They

were involved in some of the most momentous issues of the day. These

women were representative of the educated, socially conscious, active

women of their day, and their expectations and objectives were those

of women in the forefront of their era. Their expectations and ob-

jectivesemay seem limited in comparison to those of the woman's rights

or women's liberations movements, but viewed in the context of the

times in which they lived, these women were advanced women and had

advanced goals. They were successful in setting examples, in taking

their places alongside men, and proving their equality and their com­

petency in action. They were misguided in assuming that this would

be sufficient, that henceforth men would accept women as equals in

government.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources Consulted

Manuscript Collections

American Association of University Women. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Six boxes. Interesting background material on this organization, its attitudes towards the Equal Rights Amendment; some information on women in politics.

Mary Anderson papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Four boxes, covering period 1921-1950. Excellent background material on the development of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor and organized labor during the 1920's and 1930's; includes correspondence with women in government positions.

Marion Glass Banister papers. Library of Congress. Five boxes, covering period 1933-1950. These key papers consist of her personal correspondence while she was Assistant Treasurer of the United States.

Clara Mortensen Beyer papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Twenty-two boxes, covering period 1911-1964. These papers of the associate director of the Bureau of Labor Standards contain a wealth of material on labor from 1920 to 1950, and much correspondence with labor leaders, outstanding women, and political leaders.

Mary Williams Dewson papers. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library has fifteen boxes and twenty-five volumes; the Schlesinger Library has three boxes and two volumes. Both libraries have copies of her two-volume, unpublished memoirs, "An Aid To The End." The Dewson collection at the Roosevelt Library is in con­ siderable disorder, but contains a wealth of material on the period 1932-1940. The collection at the Schlesinger Library contains information on the period from World War I to 1932, and Miss Dewson's activities in Maine politics after her re­ tirement. There is seme duplication in the collections.

301

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Harry L. Hopkins papers. Roosevelt Library. The files of this extensive collection which contained the speeches of, and correspondence with, Mrs. Ellen Woodward and the reports of Lorena Hickok depicting depression conditions in 1933 and 1934 were helpful.

Franklin D. Roosevelt papers, Roosevelt Library. Small files of correspondence with Dewson, Hennock, Woodward, and a few other women were not particularly significant.

Frieda Hennock Simons papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Twenty boxes, covering period 1922-1960. These key papers include all her personal and some official correspondence while she was a Consnissioner, copies of all of her dissents, speeches, FCC hearings, publicity, and background material. There is a smaller collection of her papers at the Harry L. Truman Library, consisting largely of general corres­ pondence on educational television and the Schlesinger Library has copies of much of this material.

Hilda Worthington Smith papers. Roosevelt Library. Thirty-five boxes, spindle files, and her unpublished manuscript, "People Come First— A Report of Workers* Education in the Federal Baergency Relief Administration, the Civil Works Administration, and the Works Projects Administration 1933-1943." Prepared for the Adult Education Fund of the Ford Foundation. One manuscript volume, five volumes of illustrative material. September, 1952. The Schlesinger Library has twenty-nine boxes and thirteen volumes of material. These extensive collections include personal and official correspondence, publications, and considerable information on the workers' education program. The Wisconsin State Historical Society has seventy boxes of material dealing with the growth of labor education in universities and unions.

Ellen Sullivan Woodward papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Two boxes, 1927-1954. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has a collection of 117 items; it has re­ cently received ten additional boxes and is expecting additional material• The Woodward papers at the Schlesinger Library contain bio­ graphical materials, correspondence, speeches, and articles.

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Unpublished Government Records

Federal Communications Commission. National Archives (Suitland, Maryland Record Center). Official minutes give only decisions, not discussions, of FCC. FCC limits access to records of official correspondence.

Social Security Board. National Archives. Record Group 47. Records are well organized in the following groups: Committee on Economic Security; Central files; Office of the Commissioner, or Chairman's files; and Official Board Minutes. A series of notebooks detailing contents of every folder and a finding aid, Social Security Sources in Federal Records 1934-1950. Washington: Government Printing Office, .1969. Prepared by Dr. Abe Bortz, Historian of the Social Security Administration, are most helpful. A few files and the unofficial Board minutes, which include dis­ cussions, are kept in the Commissioner's office at the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore.

Treasury Department. National Archives. Record Group 56. Only a few folders of these voluminous records were useful to this study: Treasurer's Office, Women in Government, and The White House.

Treasurer's Office. National Archives. Record Group 50. Correspondence tin til 1930 has been preserved; since that time, routine correspondence has not. These records were of little help.

U.S.- Congress. Senate. 80th Cong., 2d sess. Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Executive Nominations* Hennock. National Archives, Sen 80B-A3. One box. Use requires permission of committee. Letter of New York Senator Irving Ives opposing nomination is of interest.

______, 82nd Cong., 2d sess. Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings, Nomination Frieda B. Hennock. National Archives, Sen 82B-A3. Six boxes. Restricted material, limited access requires permission of committee. Author saw all but one box which contained transcript of one closed hearing and probably the FBI report on the nominee.

Works Progress Administration. National Archives. Record Group 69. WPA records are voluminous. The finding aid, Records of the WPA Checklist. ' Washington: Government Printing Office, 1946. is inadequate. Records used in this study were the following: Professional and Service Projects, 1935-1941, 210AAAA; General Subject Correspondence (also filed by names and dates), 105; Workers' Education, 211.43; Women's Work, 375; FERA files, corres­

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pondence by name and date, and with the White House; Interoffice Memoranda; and Workers' Service Projects. Many records from 1933 to 1935 are filed under FERA, old subject classifications, while some are found in various classifications set up for WPA central files.

Interviews

Mrs. Clara M. Beyer. Personal interview. Washington, D. C. October 29, 1970. Mrs. Beyer knew most of the women and was very helpful.

Miss Lavinia Engle. Personal interview. Silver Spring, Maryland. November 13, 1971. Miss Engle knew Democratic politics in the 1920:s and 1930's and many of the Democratic women.

Miss Ernestine Friedmann. Personal interview* Bethesda, Maryland. August 9, 1970. Miss Friedamnn was Hilda Smith's assistant in the Workers' Education program.

Bosel Hyde. Telephone interview. Washington, D. C. August 3, 1970. He served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; he was sympathetic to Frieda Hennock, although admitting that she was temperamental and caused problems on the FCC.

Hilaa W. Smith. Personal interviews. Washington,i-D. C., August 4, 9, 1970. She is very kind and very helpful and still working.

Rixey Smith. Personal interview. Hillsboro, Virginia, December 29, 1970. Smith was secretary (a position now called administrative assistant) to Senator Carter Glass for twenty-four years; he secured this position through his friendship with Marion Banister and knew her well. He is a good source.

Arthur Stambler. Telephone interview. Washington. P. C. August 3, 1970. He was Miss Hennock' s legal assistant at the FCC and is her staunch defender.

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Letters

Arthur J. Altmeyer. January 25, 1972.

Margaret Banister. November 12, 1970. The information she provided about her mother was very valuable and helpful.

Carter Glass III. August 27, 1970. He provided many details about the Glass family.

Mrs. Frances Kelley. . September 6, 1970. She hired Harry Hopkins for one of his early jobs, and knew most of the major social workers in the early New Deal relief programs.

Published Public Documents

Democratic Party. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democra­ tic National Convention Held in San Francisco. California, June 28. 29 . 30. July 1. 2. 3. 5. & 6. 1920: Resulting in the Nomina­ tion of the Honorable James M. Cox of Ohio for President and the Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for Vice-President. Indianapolis: Democratic National Committee, 1920.

______• Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held in Madison Square Garden. New York City June 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 30. July 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7. 8. 9, 1924: Resulting in the Nomination of John W. Davis (of West Virginia) for President and Charles W. Bryan (of Nebraska) for Vice Presi­ dent. Indianapolis: Democratic National Committee, 1924. This large volume contains the verbatim account of the marathon and deadlocked convention, together with the minutes of the meetings of the Democratic National Committee during the convention year, as do the other volumes of convention proceedings.

______. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Houston, Texas June 26, 27, 28, 29, 1928: Resulting in the Nomination of Alfred E. Smith of New York for President and Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas for Vice President. Indianapolis: Democratic National Committee, 1929.

______. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic . National Convention Held at Chicago, Illinois June 27 to July 2, inclusive, 1932: Resulting in the Nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and John N. G a m e r of Texas for Vice President. Washington: Democratic National Committee, 1932.

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. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Philadelphia. Pennsylvania June 23 to June 27. inclusive. 1936: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Frank! in D. Roosevelt of New York for President and John Hi Garner of Texas for Vice President Washington: Democratic National Committee, 1936.

______. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Chicago. Illinois. July 15-18. inclu­ sive. 1940: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin D. Roose­ velt for President and the Nomination of Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for Vice President. Chicago: Democratic National Committee, 1940.

______. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention: Chicago. Illinois July 14-21, inclusive, 1944: Resulting in the Re-nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for President and the Nomination of Harry S. Truman of Missouri for Vice President. Chicago: Democratic National Committee, 1944.

______. Democracy At Work: Being the Official Report of the Democratic National Convention July 12-July 14 inclusive. 1948: Resulting in the Nomination of Harry S. Truman of Missouri for President and Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky for Vice President. Philadelphia: Democratic National Committee, 1948.

League of Women Voters. Proceedings of the Victory Convention. National American Woman Suffrage Association (1869-1920). and First National Congress. League of Women Voters: Chicago. February 12-18, 1920. Chicago: National League of Women Voters, 1920.

______. Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Convention. First Biennial. of the National League of Women Voters: Held at Chicago. Illinois. April 23-28. 1928. 'Washington: National League of Women Voters, 1932.

Republican Party. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Republican National Convention. Held in Cleyeland. Ohio, June 10, 11. 12. 1924: Resulting in the Nomination of Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts for President and Charles G. Dawes of Illinois for Vice President. New York: The Tenny Press, 1924.

. Official Report of the Proceedings of the Twentieth National Convention, Held in Chicago, Illinois, June 14. 15. 16. 1932: Resulting in the Renomination of Herbtert Hoover of Califor­ nia for President and the Renomination of Charles Curtis of Kansas for Vice President. New York: The Tenny Press, 1932.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 307

______, National Committee, Women's Division 1956-1960. Women in The Public Service: A Series of Surveys on Women in Public Office Including Women in O.S. Congress. Women in Foreign Service; Women in Federal Government. Women in Judicial Service. Women in State Elective Positions. Women in State Legislatures. Women in State Appointive Positions. Women in County Government. Women in Municipal Government, and Women in the Republican Party. Washington: Republican National Committee, 1957.

______, National Committee, 1960-1964, Women's Division. The History of Women in Republican National Conventions and Women in the Republican National Committee. Washington: Republican National Committee, 1963.

U.S. Civil Service Commission. Official Register of the United States 1931. containing a list of persons occupying administrative and supervisory positions in each executive and judicial department of the Government, including the District of Columbia. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1931.

______. Official Register of the United States 1933. containing a list of persons occupying administrative and supervisory positions in each executive and judicial department of the Government, in­ cluding the District of Columbia. Washington: Government Print­ ing Office, 1933.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Address of Senator Guffey printed at re­ quest of Senator Caraway. 74th Cong., 2d sess., May 30, 1936. Congressional Record, 8373-8375.

______. Equal Rights. Hearing before a Sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. 7lst Cong., 3d sess., 1931.

______. Equal Rights Amendment. Hearing before a Sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. 70th Cong., 2d sess., 1929.

______. Equal Rights Amendment. Hearing before a Sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. 79:th Cong., 1st sess., 1945.

U.S. Department of Labor. Women's Bureau Conference 1948: The American Woman, Her Changing Role. Worker. Homemaker, Citizen. Bulletin No. 224. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948.

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U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Decisions and Reports of the Federal Communications Commission of the Dnited States: Reported by the Commission. Vols. XIII-XIX. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1956-1967.. These volumes cover the period of Miss Hennock's tenure on the FCC, 1948-1955. The volumes in this continuing series con­ tain many of the concurring and dissenting opinions, some of the orders issued by the Commission, and brief summaries of the findings of hearing examiners and the hearings. They are not complete.

______. Fifteenth Annual Report Federal Communications Commission: Fiscal Year Ended June 30. 1949 (With notation of subsequent im­ portant developments). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950. The annual reports provide a brief summary of the work of the FCC during the year.

______. Sixteenth Annual Report Federal Communications Commission: Fiscal Year Ended June 30. 1950 (With notation of subsequent im­ portant developments). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951.

______. Seventeenth Annual Report Federal Communications Commis­ sion: Fiscal Year Ended June 30. 1951 (With introductory summary and notation of subsequent important developments). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1952.

______. Eighteenth Annual Report Federal Communications Commis­ sion: Fiscal Year Ended June 30. 1952 (With introductory summary and notation of subsequent important developments). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1953.

______. 19 th Annual Report: Fiscal Year Ended June 30. 1953 with introductory summary and notation of subsequent important developments. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954.

______. 20th Anniversary Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1954: with introductory summary and notations throughout of subsequent important developments. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1955.

______. 21st Annual Report For Fiscal Year 1955: With intro­ ductory summary and notations of later developments. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1956.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 309

U.S. Federal Emergency Relief Administration. White House Conference on Emergency Needs of Women: November 20. 1933. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933.

. Workers* Education Under the FERA 1934-1935. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1935.

Newspapers and Periodicals

Broadcasting. Articles on Frieda Hennock, May 31, 1948 and February 19, 1951.

The Democratic Digest. 1924-1953. VoIs. I-XXX. This magazine was begun by Democratic women as The Fort­ nightly Bulletin. It was taken over by the Women's National Democratic Club after the 1924 election defeat. It became The Democratic Bulletin in 1929, and The Democratic Digest in 1933 when it was taken over by the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. It is an indispensable source for information on women in government and politics during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations.

Equal Rights. 1932-1954. Vols. XVIII-XL.

The Evening Star (Washington). Obituary of Mrs. Woodward, September 24, 1971.

Louisville Courier Journal. Bill Ladd Column, June 17, 1951.

The Mayflower's Log and The Washingtonian. 1927-1931. Vols. III-VII. Marion Banister started and edited this publication, which was known as The Mayflower* s Log, a magazine for The Mayflower Hotel, until October, 1928, when it became The Washingtonian. solicited subscriptions, and expanded its coverage. It ceased publication December, 1931 and reappeared as The Mayflower's Log in December, 1932.

Newsweek. Article on Frieda Hennock, June 17, 1951.

Our Weekly News. Teachers' Edition. Article on Workers' Education, March 10-15, 1941.

Variety. Article on Frieda Hennock, May 26, 1948.

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Books

Altmeyer, Arthur J. The Formative Years of Social Security. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966. An account of the problems in setting up the social security system by nMr. Social Security," an invaluable source.

Anderson, Mary. Woman At Work: The Aubiography of Mary Anderson as told to Mary N. Winslow. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1951.

Bernstein, Barton J., and Matusow, Allen J., eds. The Truman Administration: A Documentary History. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

Breckinridge, Sophonisba P. Women in The Twentieth Century: A Study of Their Political, Social, and Economic Activities. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1933. Excellent sourcebook written by a suffragist and outstanding woman leader. Chapters on women as voters, as lobbyists, as office holders, and in party organizations were comprehensive in coverage. One of a series of monographs published under the direction of the President's Research Committee on Social Trends.

Catt, Carrie Chapman, and Shuler, Nettie Rogers. Woman Suffrage and Politics. New York: Charles Scribner's & Sons, 1926. Written by leaders of the moderate suffragists, this book describes the struggle from that point of view.

Farley, James A. Jim Farley's Story: The Roosevelt Years. New York: Whittlesay House, 1948.

Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relation­ ship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers. Foreword by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Introduction by Franklin D. Roose­ velt, Jr. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971.

Perkins, Frances. The Roosevelt I Knew. New York: The Viking Press, 1946. Although helpful, an autobiography or memoir of her own work would have been more so.

Roosevelt, Eleanor, and Hickok, Lorena A. Ladies of Courage. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1954. This book is dedicated to Molly Dewson. The introductory chapter on the suffrage movement and the Dewson chapter provided insight on women in politics.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 311

Rosenman, Samuel I., comp. & ed. The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin P. Roosevelt with a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt. 13 vols. New York: Random House and Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1938-1945.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; and Harper. Ida Husted, eds. History of. Woman Suffrage. 6 vols. New York. and. Rochester: Fowler and Wells, 1881-1922. This is indispensable source material for study of the woman’s rights movement.

Truman, Harry S. Memoirs by Harry S. Truman. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1955.

Witte, Edwin E. The Development of the Social Security Act. Foreword by Frances Perkins. Introduction by Wilbur J. Cohen and Robert J. Lampman. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1962. This account of the origins of the social security system was written by a member of the "Wisconsin : school" which pushed social legislation and who was most important to development of the Act.

Articles

Banister, Marion. ’’Pay-As-You-Go in Plain Terms." The Democratic Digest. XX (June, 1943), 7, 14.

- - . "Your Taxes Pay Dividends." The Democratic Digest, XII (November, 1935), 8-9, 30.

Blair, Emily Newell. "A Who's Who of Women in Washington." Good Housekeeping Magazine, January, 1936, pp. 38-39, 166-168.

. "Women in the Political Parties." The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science, CXLIII (May, 1929), 217-229.

Brink, Wellington. "Southern Personalities: Ellen Sullivan Wood­ ward." Holland's, The Magazine of The South, June,-1944, pp. 7, 12.

. "Southern Personalities: Mrs. Blair Banister, Assistant U.S. Treasurer." Holland’s. The Magazine of The South, March, 1934, pp. 11, 15.

Carmody, John. "Jane Smith, 'Advanced Woman, ’ at 80. Her Mother Warned Her." The Washington Post Potomac, May 11, 1969, pp. 20-30.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 312

Clement, E. M. 'Women in The NRA." The Democratic Digest, XI (October, 1934), 9.

Dewson, Mary. "Advance of Democratic Women." The Democratic Digest, XVII (June-July, 1940),.61, 90-91.

Elliott, Harriet. "Jericho's Walls Have Fallen." The Democratic Digest, XIII (August, I?.?*)., 5- 33. -

Farley, James A. "A New Deal for Women." The Democratic Digest, XIII (July, 1936), 3.

Furman, Bess. "What The Deal Deal Has Done for Women." The Demo­ cratic Digest. XVII (June-July, 1940), 55,87.

Hennock, Frieda. "Basic TV Facts for Education." The Journal of the AER. XII (November, 1952), 15-17, 20.

______. "My Most Rewarding Experience in TV." The Journal of the AEKT, XIII (April, 1954), 6-7.

Perkins, Frances. "Women's Progress in the Treasury Department." The Democratic Digest, XIV (August, 1937), 19.

Rishel, Virginia. "Twentieth Century Minervas." The Democratic Digest, XV (January, 1938), 22-23.

Roosevelt, Eleanor. "Mrs. Roosevelt's Page," Woman's Home Companion, April,. 1935, p. 4.

Smith, Hilda. "The Day Before Yesterday . . ." Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin. XLVII (Spring, 1966), 2-11.

Taylor, Telford. "Finding a Place for Education on TV." The New York Times Magazine, January 28, 1951, pp. 9, 14-15.

Tugwell, Rexford Guy. "The Progressive Orthodoxy of Franklin D. Roosevelt." Ethics, An International Journal of Social. Political, and Legal Philosophy. LXIV (October, 1953), 1-23.

Woodward, Ellen. "More Women Needed in Public Office." The Demo­ cratic Digest, XXIII (April, 1946), 5.

______. "Why Go Into Politics?" The Democratic Digest, XV (January, 1938), 13.

______. "Work for Idle Hands, The WPA Restores Self Respect to Unemployed America." The Democratic Digest, XIV (June, 1937), 5-6.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 313

Secondary Works

Books

Alford, W. Wayne. Na e b History. Vol. II. Washington: National Association of Educational Broadcasters,..1966, This work provides a comprehensive account of the develop­ ment of educational broadcasting for the years 1954-1965.

Anthony, Katherine Susan. Susan B. Anthony: Her Personal History and Her Era. Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1954.

Beard, Mary. Women's Work in the Muncipalities. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1916. This is a good account of the reform activities of pro­ gressive women.

Bond, Elsie Murdoch. Public Relief in New York State: A Summary of the Public Relief Law and Related Statutes. Albany: J.B. Lyon company, printers, 1936. This is a brief, legal account of measures adopted in the first state to institute state wide public relief.

Flexner, Eleanor. Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Move­ ment in the United States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959. The best account and comprehensive history of the movement is also balanced and fair.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

Goldmark, Josephine. Impatient Crusader, The Biography of Florence Kelley. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1953. An interesting biography of a pioneer in the reform move­ ment and leader of the Consumers League.

Grimes, Alan Pendleton. The Puritan Ethic and Woman Suffrage. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. This book argues that woman suffrage began in the Rocky Mountain region to further Puritan standards, prohibition, and immigration restrictions.

Gruberg, Martin. Women in American Politics: An Assessment and Sourcebook. Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Academia Press, 1968. This is a very useful book as a beginning reference for women in politics, but it does not provide analysis or inter­ pretation.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 314

Hareven, Tamara K. Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Conscience. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1968. Author briefly develops the key role which Mrs. Roosevelt played in bringing women into government during the New Deal, but does not analyze the abilities and contributions of Mary Dewson or the appointees themselves.

Irwin, Inez Hayes. Up Hill With Banner Flying. 2d ed. Peaob- scott, Maine: Traversity Press, 1964. The first edition of the book was published ir. New York by Harcourt, Brace and Co. under the title, The Story of The woman1 s Party. Contains an account of the jailing of the suffragists.

Lamson, Peggy. Few Are Chosen: American Women in Political Today. Foreword by Maurine B. Neuberger. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. This presents a popular treatment of the difficulties facing women in politics.

Lifton, Robert Jay, ed. The Woman in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. This collection of articles first appeared in the Spring, 1964 issue of Daedalus and deal with problems fating women at that time.

Lutz, Alma. Susan B. Anthony: Rebel. Crusader. Humanitarian. Boston: Eeacon Press, 1959. Sympathetic biography by a leader of the Women*s Party.

McDonald, William F. Federal Relief Administration and The Arts. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1969. This book was written twenty-five years before it was pub­ lished and presents some sources no longer available. Author argues that Roosevelt abandoned the arts program for political reasons.

Moley, Raymond. The First New Deal. New York: Harcourt- Srsce & World, 1966.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of The American People. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.

O ’Neill, William L. Everyone Was Brave: The Rise and Fall of Feminism in America. Chicago:. Quadrangle Books, 1969. A comprehensive and pessimistic history of the woman's rights movement which argues that movement has failed.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 315

Porter* Kirk H., and Johnson, Donald Bruce, comps. National Party Platforms: 1840-1964. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1966. Valuable reference, includes minor party platforms.

Riegel, Robert E. American Feminists. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1963.

______. American Women. A Story of Social Change. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970.

Rogen, Lawrence, and Rachlin, Marjorie. Labor Education in the United States. Published under the auspices of the National Institute of Labor Education at The American University, Depart­ ment of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. Washington: National Institute of Labor Education, 1968.

Sanders, Marion K. The Lady And The Vote. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956. Personal account of an ex-government bureaucrat who entered politics, ran against another woman politician, and lost.

Schlabach, Theron F. Edwin E. Witte: Cautious Reformer. Foreword by Wilbur J. Cohen. Madison: S^ate Historical Society of Wi sconsin, 1969 . Well-researched biography of the man who had much to do with the origination and acceptance of the social security system.

Sinclair, Andrew. The Better Half. New York: Harper & Row, 1965. A sympathetic treatment of the woman1 s rights movement, it was republished in 1966 under the title, The Emancipation of the American Women.

Smith, Page. Daughters of the Promised Land; Women in American History. Being an examination of the strange history of the female sex from the beginning to the present, with special attention to the women of America, illustrated by curious anec­ dotes and quotations by divers authors, ancient and modern. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1970. Author takes patronizing attitude toward women1s history.

Smuts, Robert W. Women and Work in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959.

Wecter, Dixon. The Age of the Great Depression: 1929-1941. New York: Macmillan Co., 1948* A clear, concise, and balanced treatment of the depression.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 316

Who*s Who in The Nation’s Capital; 1938-39. Washington: Ranedell, Incorporated, 1940.

Articles

Barnard, E. F. :'Madame Arrives in Politics." North American,Review, CCXXVI (November, 1928), 551-556.

Bruton, Margaret Perry. “Present Day Thinking on the Woman Question." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. CCLI (May, 1947), 10-16.

Carlson, Robert A. "1951— A Pivotal Year." Education Broadcast Review. I (December, 1967), 47-54. The article is based on one chapter of the author's doctoral dissertation on the history of educational television, and pro­ vides an excellent source for Frieda Hennock's role.

Curry, William N. "Judge Mary Barlow hasn't worked in a year— and yet she refused to resign her position." The Washington Post Potomac. August 16, 1970, pp. 12-13.

Degler, Carl N. "Revolution Without Ideology: The Changing Place of Women in America." The Woman in America. Edited by Robert Jay Lifton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.

Fisher, Marguerite J., and Whithead, Betty. "American Government and Politics: Women and National Party Organizations." The American Political Science Review. XXXVIII (October, 1944), 895-912. This study brings the Breckinridge book up to date by examining the status of women in national party organizations in 1936, 1940, and 1944.

Hull, Richard B. "The History Behind ETV." NAEB Journal. XVII (February, 1958), 5.

McLaughlin, Kathleen. "Women's Impact on Public Opinion." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, CCLI (May, 1947), 104-112.

Patterson, James T. "Mary Dewson and the American Minimum Wage Movement." Labor■ History, V, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), 134-152. Author argues that Dewson* s major contribution was as a reformer, but he did not deal with her political activities.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 317

Plumb, Milton M. "Records of The National Women’s Trade Union League of America." Library of Congress Quarterly Journal. VIII (August, 1951), 9-16. . Brief history and description of the headquarters records of the WTUL, a most important organization of women.

Scott, Anne Firor. "After Suffrage: Southern Women in the Twenties." Journal of Southern History. XXX, No. 3 (August, 1964), 298-318.

Smith, R. Franklin. "Madame Commissioner." Journal of Broad­ casting, XII (Winter, 1947), 69-81. One of the best articles on Frieda Hennock which presents both favorable and unfavorable assessments.

Miscellaneous

Atkinson, Helen R. "Frieda B. Hennock, FCC’s Misunderstood Crusader." Unpublished article in Frieda B. Hennock Simons papers, Schles- singer Library, June 26, 1958.

Hoffecker, Carol. "Hilda Worthington Smith: Democracy Through Education in the New Deal." Unpublished paper written for Professor Frank Freidel Seminar, Harvard University, 1961.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.