CHAPTER V
THE LURE OF THE UNIFORM
Historians tell us that when, in the fifteenth century, Jeanne d’Arc led the soldiers of France to victory, no women followed the army. This was not true of the victorious armies in the World War. Wherever the soldiers camped, in the North, East, South, or West, in a camp near a great metropolis or in one far from cities and railroads, in America or in France, there women were to be found. For the first time also the War Department made formal provision for the American soldiers to have the gentle and civilizing influence of women; and barracks and tented camps were soon followed by hostess houses or other structures, tastefully furnished and decorated, and presided over by kind-hearted hostesses.
When this great plan was conceived, little thought was given at first to the Negro soldier and to the entertainment of his women folk. For some time, if they visited camp, they found that no provision was made to receive them. Sometimes it was a mother who had traveled miles just to see if Uncle Sam was kind to her only son, or a wife from a distant state, who arrived discouraged and with depleted funds, only to find that her husband had just embarked for a distant land; or perhaps a sweetheart hoped to get a last glance and bid a last farewell.
There was still another woman who had no such innocent mission and whose heart went out to every soldier. It was this one who made a real problem. Little interest was shown in her by camp authorities. Sometimes she remained in camp streets until as late as eleven o’clock at night; or she might be seen under the trees, in the groves, or waiting along the camp roads. At Camp Dodge women were allowed in camp from early morning until late in the evening, with no restrictions whatever. Some were the wives of soldiers, but some others came to the camp for the purpose of forming acquaintances. Occasionally a girl was seen giving her address to a crowd of soldiers surrounding her. At Camp Hancock, Augusta, Ga., a quarantine stopped the daily visiting of women, who were required to register in the “Y” tent, which they soon practically deserted. In general the commander of a camp made such regulations as he thought best. On rare occasions women were compelled to secure passes before entering; but in most cases they could enter during the day without passes, being governed only by visiting hours, which were usually from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m.
As the war progressed, the tendency throughout the country was to improve conditions in this connection. Even before the spring and summer of 1918, when some hostess houses were erected for colored soldiers, there were bright spots where an effort was made to meet the problem. One of the best systems regulating the visiting of women found anywhere was at Camp Funston, where a visitors’ day was held the first Saturday of each month. This rule was strictly enforced and not even officers could take women into the camp except on this day. On this occasion, however, the officers and soldiers became the hosts, entertaining their friends at dinner, after which there were usually socials and dances. Large numbers of colored women visited Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky., and their conduct is said to have been excellent. The Y. W. C. A. had the use of a small building, conveniently located on the car track, and here the women were helped to get in touch with relatives. Where the number of women who visited a camp was small, the problem of providing facilities was naturally less difficult. At Camp Devens, Mass., near which the colored population was small, women visited the “Y” buildings and also the houses in charge of white hostesses, if they so desired. The soldiers were permitted to invite them to dinner in their mess halls. All were expected to leave the camp by 7.30, and the military police saw that this rule was enforced. In general where there was a sincere effort on the part of the authorities and the different agencies to provide for the welfare of colored women visitors, the problem was reduced to a minimum, and the visits contributed to the happiness of the soldiers and the morale of the army, as was the intention from the beginning.
The problem which grew to be vexing in the camps became far more difficult to control in the cities; and Government officials familiar with the popularity of the uniform proceeded immediately to clean up every city adjacent to the cantonments by abolishing all forms of legalized vice. Cities thus located were able, with Federal aid, to introduce in one week reforms that had been desired and worked for, with no results, for decades. The closing of the districts, however, did not mean the complete elimination of the evils which existed. It often meant simply a distributing of the problem to various sections of the city. New restaurants, hotels, and boarding houses were opened, and there were usually to be found in them attractive girls who served as waitresses. Although the café sign was sometimes seen on the windows, “no meals were ever served nor fire ever seen in the kitchen.” It was through such places as these that well-intentioned women and girls sometimes found themselves in the clutches of the law.
It was in one of the large cantonment cities that a party of four such women arrived from the far South to see their husbands before they entrained for parts unknown. The women were not met at the station by their husbands, as was planned, because they were several hours late in arriving. They were directed to a hotel just two blocks from the station, and here they found the parlor and dining room filled with soldiers and their friends. Among the men in uniform they felt more at ease, and they asked several soldiers if they knew their husbands. Finally a young man said that he was in the same company as one of the men named, and that he would tell him about his wife as soon as he reached camp, as it was not possible to reach him that night. Tired from travel and anxiety, the women retired with pleasant thoughts of meeting their loved ones in the morning. In the very early morning, however, while the city still slumbered, a knock on the door awoke them. One sprang to the door, but instead of finding her husband she was greeted by an officer, who told all four to dress and follow him. All their tears and explanations did not suffice to move him. With a score of other women they were carried away to prison. As the turnkey closed the great iron door some of the number seemed indifferent, but the hearts of others were seized with fear lest some awful thing should happen. The next morning the husbands of the four women were reached and they were released, made wiser by their bitter experience.
Hotels and boarding houses, however, were only one phase of the matter. On the city streets, in the dance halls, in the soft drink parlors, wherever soldiers craved companionship, there the problem of the girl was to be found. It was most serious in the case of young girls fourteen to sixteen years of age, who were sometimes seen on the streets long after midnight, and it is to be remembered that in the Negro sections of the cities the streets were often dark and conducive to all forms of evil. Sometimes conditions were winked at by officials who opposed destroying the old order of things. In one case, after Government criticism, the local police made indiscriminate arrests in a pretended effort to clean up. This resulted in lawsuits which halted the work. Ignorant girls were brought into court, but those in higher places were seldom arrested. Even when arrests were made, the evidence revealed often brought a quick release. In one court a woman was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $1000 for leading girls astray, but within a few days, through the influence of unseen forces, she was again enjoying her liberty. A strange leniency also was often found in Southern courts in the case of colored girls whose conduct had brought them there; it did not seem to be required or expected that colored girls should live up to the same standards as white girls. Sometimes unsympathetic lawyers made sport of them for the amusement of crowded court rooms. They were not taken behind closed doors for protection, as were other girls charged with similar offences. Seldom, until near the end of the war, were there detention homes to which they could go and find a genuinely helpful guiding hand. Money appropriated by the Government for the establishment of detention homes in cantonment cities was seldom used for Negro girls. Instead they were usually placed in jail, or sent to the prison farm or the “stockade,” the home of the chain gang. The jails in which they were confined were, with few exceptions, demoralizing and a disgrace to the cities. The inmates lived in dirt and disease, sleeping on ragged, greasy mattresses on concrete floors and eating food prepared in the most unsanitary manner. In one instance colored girls were placed in a room 20 feet by 10, with their cots close together. An open toilet was in the back of the room, which was without windows or any means of ventilation except an electric fan. In such environment were placed many girls arrested for the first time. They associated with confirmed criminals and the living conditions and the treatment which they received made it well nigh impossible for them to lead a different life after being released. Sometimes they worked on the city farms, in the jails, or on rock piles in the jail yards. In one case they were marched through the streets to and from the work of cleaning the city cemetery.
Who were these girls who, in their early teens, found themselves in the clutches of the law? For the most part they were ignorant and were growing up without the influence of interested parents. Some could not read or write; frequently they were exploited. It is to be noted also that this concrete problem was often complicated by other social or economic forces. In practically every cantonment city orders were issued to prevent white soldiers from entering undesirable Negro sections. The enforcement of such orders, however, was difficult because of the frequent leniency of the guardians of the law. In one city a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce said, “The colored people will probably never get over the effect of the moral lapse due to the presence of the camp and the soldiers.” He grew eloquent in describing the depths to which the city had fallen and the difficulty of getting servants. Those who had formerly helped in some of the old families were now leading an easier life and wearing on the streets clothes of the most expensive style. Such a speaker apparently forgot that the exodus had made great drafts on labor, that many women were doing work formerly done by men, and that the increased wages had enabled many men to keep their wives at home.
Even when the moral situation was dark, however, all was not hopeless. Sometimes a wise and big-hearted judge gave justice tempered with mercy. Sometimes women, both colored and white, toiled untiringly in their effort to save girls from the folly of their ways. The attitude of the Negro people themselves was most important. Among them there was often found a strange lack of sympathy and interest. This was sometimes attributed to the attitude of officials who would not deal with them in a respectful manner. While this was often the case, there was also a feeling on the part of many good people that they could not afford to help such girls. One churchman who was asked for his co-operation said, “I don’t know whether I can afford to come to the jail,” and another, “My mind is on heavenly things; I haven’t any time for such work.” Gradually the situation improved, however, and we shall now consider some of the forces for moral betterment. One of these, the War Camp Community Service, will receive extended treatment in our next chapter in connection with the subject of Welfare Organizations. Just now we are interested especially in the influences that bore directly upon the Negro woman or girl who in one way or another was affected by the war.
The Girls’ Protective Agency was active in several cantonment cities where Negro soldiers were stationed. Comparatively few colored women represented this organization, but those who did labored most effectively. The worker at Anniston, Ala., gave her entire time to colored girls. The Negro women of the city formed a co-operating committee composed of representatives from every church. The names of girls who were thought to be careless in their conduct were given to the one in charge and she visited the girls and their parents. In this way many were helped. The white workers also sometimes took an active interest in colored girls, especially those who found their way into the courts. Where grave problems arose from the intermingling of the races, every effort was made to relieve the situation for the good of both.
Representatives of the Travelers’ Aid Society often rendered genuine service to colored women visiting cantonment cities in search of their friends in the camps. They usually put them in touch with the local Y. W. C. A. or with representative women who could tell them of reliable places where they could stay. While some assistants were indifferent, most of them were impartial and took the same interest in providing for the Negro women who came to their cities as for the white women. This was especially true of a worker in Manhattan, Kansas, who labored earnestly for the colored girls who visited the railroad stations in order to meet soldiers. According to reports of reliable colored citizens, she talked to the girls as she would to her own daughters.
The Young Women’s Christian Association established constructive work in cantonment cities by organizing the best girls into clubs and patriotic leagues for various kinds of war effort. Such endeavor was in the field of preventive rather than of constructive work. That at Louisville is fairly representative of what was done in the cantonment cities. Here an attractive building was secured and placed in charge of an executive secretary, who was assisted by a girls’ worker. Clubs were organized among the employed girls and school girls, and Bible, cooking, and French classes conducted. Five hundred women and girls were organized into twenty-six circles, with a captain over each circle; and an information bureau was conducted for the soldiers.
Of the various kinds of service rendered by the Y. W. C. A. the erection of fifteen hostess houses in the various camps was the greatest achievement and filled one of the greatest needs of the Negro soldier and his women folk. It is doubtful if any other welfare work gave more pleasure. Rightly was the hostess house called “a bit of home in the camps, a place of rest and refreshment for the women folks belonging to the soldiers, a sheltering chaperonage for too-enthusiastic girls, a dainty supplement to the stern fare of the camp life of the soldiers, a clearing house for the social activities which included the men in the camps and their women visitors.”
While the need was always great, the development of hostess houses for Negro soldiers and women was very slow. Camp commanders often failed to see the need of such an addition, and the uncertainty of Negro soldiers’ definitely remaining a part of camp organizations was usually given as the reason for delay. At length, however, through the untiring efforts of Miss Eva D. Bowles, leader of Y. W. C. A. work for Negro girls, her co-workers, and the War Work Council of the Y. W. C. A., these buildings came into being. The work was started at Camp Upton, N. Y., where barracks were used as temporary quarters. Later the first hostess house for Negro workers was erected in this camp. It was well located, attractively finished, and splendidly equipped. Five efficient secretaries were employed. Every evening the house was crowded. The soldiers were served at the cafeteria, or they read, wrote letters, sang, played, or mingled with their comrades. For some of the men it was the most wholesome environment they had ever enjoyed. The second hostess house was erected at Camp Dix, N. J. It was a spacious building, beautifully furnished and arranged, and the New Jersey Federated Clubs of Colored Women spent $1200 in helping to furnish the building. The third was at Camp Funston. Late in the spring of 1918 barracks were used here, but in the course of the summer a hostess house was completed just outside the camp and three secretaries were employed. Perhaps the largest and most attractive house was at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio. When it was opened the sergeants in the various companies of Negro soldiers entertained their men in it in order to make them interested. At the suggestion of the hostesses a Christmas tree was secured by the Y. M. C. A. secretary and a Negro officer, and put up for the men by the co-operation of the fire and electrical departments in the camp. The need was greatest in the Southern camps because these were visited by hundreds of Negro women daily. By the fall of 1918 houses were at both Camp Gordon and Camp Jackson. The building at Gordon was situated just beyond the street car station outside the camp. The one at Jackson was well located in relation to the headquarters group of buildings. Both had unusually large porches. At Camp Jackson the settees used in the yard were built by soldiers. Two of the last houses opened for Negro men were at Camp Meade, Md., and Camp Alexander, Newport News, Va. Returning soldiers held their farewell socials in these buildings.
In every camp the soldiers showed a fine spirit in visiting the hostess houses, especially in regard to conduct. They looked upon the secretaries as their friends and ofttimes went to them with their troubles. In turn those in charge not only served the women visitors, but brought comfort and cheer to many a heartsick soldier, and they gave many a commanding officer and welfare worker a new conception of the ability and worth of Negro womanhood. In one case the executive secretary was known throughout the camp as “Mother,” because of her understanding heart and her large appreciation of the problems of the men.
Negroes were highly commended for their loyalty in aiding the Government and for their willingness to co-operate with all welfare agencies during the war. There were, however, some workers who, though they rendered great service, did not always receive the plaudits of the crowd because they worked more humbly and did not always have the backing of a great organization. Among these were those women who went out into the highways and byways in order to help girls and lead them into the noblest life. Sometimes their work was difficult, for public officials did not always welcome them; but initiative and tact told, and we must speak of three such women who were representative.
The first was Mrs. R. T. Brooks, who when the war began was working for the associated charities of Columbia, S. C. Her experience in dealing with poverty and with lives that had been wasted or whose opportunities had been lost, prepared her to meet the problems following the establishment of Camp Jackson. Day and night she was seen in all parts of the city on the watch for those whom she might help, and the little pay she received was often divided with those who needed aid. She was respected by judges and policemen in the court room, where she often went to intercede for some erring girl, and one of the leading lawyers of Columbia said of her work, “Mrs. Brooks is the most efficient worker, white or colored, in the city.”
In Little Rock, Ark., a few years before the war, a fourteen-year old Negro girl was arraigned in court, charged with murder and seven other offences, any one of which, if proved, would have given her a prison sentence. The case aroused the colored women of the city, who followed the trial with interest. The city attorney who was conducting the case had little belief in Negro womanhood, but before the case was summed up a number of the women called on him and presented the girl’s side. The conference bore fruit, for the attorney, who had been violent in his attack, at the end of his argument asked for mercy, showing how environment had played a large part in the unfortunate girl’s life.
After this trial the Negro women of Little Rock, with the permission of the court, appointed and for two years paid the salary of Mrs. Maggie A. Jeffries, who looked after the interest of Negro girls. When soldiers came to Little Rock, her experience had prepared her for the emergency. Her work received the most enthusiastic approval of numbers of prominent citizens, and through her aid the work was formally taken over by the city, and all probation workers used the same office. Many a time this earnest helper pleaded with the judge to turn some erring girl over to her, and she found honest work for the girl or bought a ticket and sent her home to her parents.
It was realized and often admitted by policemen and judges that a well trained Negro woman with police authority could render invaluable service with the problems of the Negro girl who appeared at court, but generally such power was denied. Mrs. Mary Colson, of Des Moines, however, was given such authority, being commissioned by the Governor as a member of the secret service of the state. She also received a certificate from the Policemen’s Institute, a course of lectures given to the Des Moines police. When Mrs. Colson was first appointed many a policeman treated the appointment as a joke, but before long she was able to prove her worth, and she became a force that helped hundreds of women and girls to make a new start. It was not her prime mission to arrest, and she did so only in extreme cases. Her work was as blessed as it was far-reaching.