Grinnell During World War II

Series

Grinnell During World War II

• 1940-1943 (Creation)

Quantity:
2 – 10 ½ x 12 ½ blue-gray boxes
Box #1 barcode: 32661002107218
Box #2 barcode: 32661002107226

Arrangement: see below

Background Note: News clippings pertaining to Grinnell’s experiences during WWII

The Women in the Armed Forces binder (1941-1943) includes clippings about women enlisting as nurses (Army Nurses' Corps and Red Cross Reserves), as radio operators, as army camp hostesses, and in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC-- later called the Women's Army Corps, or WAC), Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and Women's Reserve Marine Corps; Dr. Elizabeth Conard Corkey (daughter of Grinnell College professor Henry S. Conard) in northern China; one woman escorting First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to visit a soldier in a hospital; and a letter from a WAAC stationed in Miami, Florida about her experiences.

The Red Cross binder (1940-1943) contains clippings about county quotas for fund drives; war production committees (producing knitwear, clothes, and surgical dressings); the 1943 War Fund Drive; home nursing; a thank-you letter from Clementine Churchill (wife of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill); nutrition classes; School for Red Cross Instructors; Red Cross volunteers; Nurse Aides; and the Junior Red Cross membership drive.

The Bonds binder (1941-1943) includes clippings about the sale of U.S. defense bonds; the appointment of Grinnell College president emeritus Dr. John S. Nollen as chairman of Iowa's Defense Savings committee; war bond sales in Poweshiek County in comparison to other counties; involvement of movie theatres and celebrities; the Teagarden Orchestra; farmers' involvement; and "Women at War" Week.

The Civilian Defense Fund/Conservation Drives binder includes clippings from 1941-1943, many from 1942. Civil Defense Fund clippings include propaganda articles; coverage of the formation of Civilian Defense Councils; defense work registration; preparing homes for war; and the trial blackout. Conservation Drives clippings cover production of agricultural products; the Farm Women's Food Program; implications of the war for farming families; home project training schools; the drive for kitchen fats; the drive for scrap metal (including articles about the memorial cannon); the October 1942 mayoral proclamation; the collection of scrap paper; the collection of music records ("Records for Fighting Men"); the drive for scrap rubber; the collection of stamps to benefit British children in Queen's Hospital; and the drive for aluminum ("Watch the Pile Grow").

The Rationing binder includes clippings from 1941-1943 about ration books; Consumer Declaration (USA Office of Price Administration); the rationing of automobiles, meat, rubber shoes, coffee, kerosene and fuel oil, gasoline, sugar, tires, farm machinery; collecting license plates; burlap shortage; point rationing, ration calendars; and an official table of consumer point values for meat, fats, fish, and cheese.

Name of Preparer: D. Lalonde ; Claire Davis (student)
Date of Preparation: 11/16/1999 ; 4/9/2019