How Girl Scouts Shaped the World War II Homefront, in East Tennessee and Beyond
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work 5-2019 How Girl Scouts Shaped the World War II Homefront, in East Tennessee and Beyond Madison E. Price University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Part of the History of Gender Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Price, Madison E., "How Girl Scouts Shaped the World War II Homefront, in East Tennessee and Beyond" (2019). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/2265 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. How Girl Scouts Shaped the World War II Homefront, in East Tennessee and Beyond Table of Contents Introduction 1 Drives 3 Rallies and Bond Sales 15 First Aid/Red Cross Involvement 29 Victory Gardens 38 Senior Programs 41 Fun 53 After the War 66 Conclusion 73 Appendix 76 Carolyn Testerman Interview Transcript 76 Joyce Maienschein Interview Transcript 83 Jean Byrne Interview Transcript 95 Annette Stoker Interview Transcript 105 Dot Keller Interview Transcript 111 Bibliography 123 Price 1 Introduction In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low announced, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” This “something” was an organization that strove to teach girls important skills and show them that they mattered and could contribute to society as active citizens and leaders. While the first troop consisted of only eighteen members, the organization quickly spread across America and the world. By 1940, there were Girl Scouts and Girl Guides in 31 different countries around the world. Through the Girl Scout program, girls learned many different skills and ideologies that they carried with them for the rest of their lives. By creating a troop government, girls participated in democracy and learned how to be leaders. When the war began and America fought to defend democracy, these aspects of the program were emphasized. Leaders were told that their work was really defense work and were given training on how to most effectively lead girls so they could make a positive impact on the war effort. From the beginning, Girl Scouts wore uniforms and earned badges. As children on the homefront, the significance of the uniform was emphasized and the badges that were offered were either adapted to or thought about through the lens of the war. Girls were given a better appreciation of the global stage and America’s place on it, while feelings of patriotism skyrocketed throughout the country. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States officially entered World War II, so did the Girl Scouts. Just as they had in World War I, girls rallied around the war effort and became major players on the homefront. Girls from ages seven to seventeen joined Girl Scouts and participated in countless activities to support the war effort and provide aid to other Price 2 countries. Nationally, girls collected scrap and sold War Bonds in significant quantities to do their part to make a difference in the war. The Girl Scout program cultivated an environment through which girls of all ages could participate in activities that helped them feel like they were truly making an impact on the war. As fathers and older brothers went off to fight, girls were left with a desire to help end the war and bring back both those that were overseas and the peace that they knew before the war began. Through the different levels of Scouts, girls of all ages could participate in the war effort in some way. Special programs were also created for older Girl Scouts which allowed them to become more involved with the war and taught them special skills that they could use in their lives and future careers. Even aspects of the Girl Scout program that were not directly related to the war effort were influenced by the war. While Girl Scouts had gone camping since the beginning of the organization, during the war there was a greater emphasis on the survival skills they learned. Girls used the outdoor skills they knew and learned new ones that could be applied to different defense programs on the homefront. Another affected aspect of Girl Scouts was the famous cookie program which was temporarily put on hold due to rationing across the country. Girls were willing to make sacrifices like these because they felt like each sacrifice got them a little bit closer to ending the war. When the war ended, Girl Scout membership continued to rise and support for the war effort simply shifted to focus on post-war needs. Girls provided aid to children in other countries across the world. They also helped on the homefront with the aftermath of soldiers going home and leaving behind things like laundry. In their Girl Scout troops, girls had a comfortable setting Price 3 in which they could discuss the experiences they had gone through during the war and how they could help create a better post-war world. Since its beginning, Girl Scouts has been an organization that strove to make a positive impact on the lives of its members and the world. During World War II, the organization grew rapidly and gave girls a visible place in the homefront fight. The experiences that these girls had as active participants in the war effort continued to impact them long after the war ended. These experiences are not only memories in the lives of the women who grew up during the war, but they are also lessons in selflessness, determination, and love for fellow sister Girl Scouts and the world. Drives When World War II began, the U.S. Government recognized its desperate need for scrap metal and other materials required to enter the war. In fact, when Pearl Harbor was attacked there was only a five- or six-week supply of salvaged metal on hand due to the large amount of metal the U.S. had sold to Japan in the years preceding the war.1 In the summer of 1942, the War Production Board started the first nationwide scrap metal drive.2 Throughout the war, drives for scrap metal and many other products continued on the homefront. The Girl Scouts often participated in many of these national and community drives or hosted their own. Drives were held for a wide range of products including rubber for tires, nylon and rags for parachutes, and scrap metal.3 Girls also helped to collect paper to be recycled and books to be donated to soldiers. Joyce Maienschein reflected on the drives her Girl Scout troop helped with while 1 Ronald H. Bailey, “Iron Will: Americans at times went too far in their nearly unstoppable drive to collect scrap metal for the war effort.” (World War II, July-August 2010), 50+. 2 Ibid. 3 Betty Christiansen, Girl Scouts: A Celebration of 100 Trailblazing Years (New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang), 86. Price 4 growing up in Terre Haute, Indiana: “And we also participated in all the high school collections that they had. You know the grease, and the yarn, and the paper, and all they had.”4 Throughout the war, the government, different local and national organizations, and schools used the idea of patriotism and the American love of competition to appeal to the American people.5 People were often reminded of the war going on and encouraged to be thrifty and collect as much scrap as they could. Advertisements and propaganda focused on the individual with slogans such as, “Do your part.” By using direct appeals, people felt that it was their duty to their country to help. Children even “shared in the heightened engagement adults felt during the war years.”6 They worked hard and “often maintained the necessary determination to make community contributions successful, becoming the true heroes of the scrap drives.”7 This was recognized at the time in propaganda videos in which children were shown collecting scrap. Other videos were made for children to encourage them to collect as much as they could. In the Loony Toons cartoon “Scrap Happy Daffy” from 1943, Daffy Duck begins by singing “We’re in to win… so to victory lets go, and do the job with junk” before fighting a Nazi goat who was sent by Hitler to destroy his scrap pile.8 This video and other similar cartoons showed children that even their favorite characters were participating in the war effort. Additionally, contests were held between different organizations or groups of people that offered monetary prizes. Schools often hosted drives and had different contests related to them. For instance, in January 1942 the Knoxville News-Sentinel hosted the News Sentinel-Salvation 4 Joyce Maienschein. Personal Interview, 19 December 2018 5 Bailey, “Iron Will.” 50+. 6 George H. Roeder, Jr. The Censored War (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993), 62. 7 Lisa L. Ossian, The Forgotten Generation: American Children and World War II (Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 2011), 4. 8 The Best Film Archives, “Scrap Happy Daffy | World War 2 Era Propaganda Cartoon | 1943,” (Filmed [1943], Posted [October 2017]), YouTube video. Price 5 Army paper contest between area schools. The prizes for the top three winning schools were $25, $15, and $10, respectively.