USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume I > Part 32
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The method of canvassing just described was followed in the two succeeding loan campaigns with slight variation. The national quota for the fourth Liberty Loan as set by the Treasury Department was six billions of dollars and the bonds were floated in October of 1918. Alameda County's quota for this loan was $18,191,500. Again the county went over the top, more than 50 per cent of the population buy- ing bonds in the sum of $19,832,150.
To float successfully the fifth or Victory Loan was no small task for campaign manager Walter D. Cole and William Cavalier, chair- man of the Alameda County Victory Loan Committee. Although at times it seemed as if a "drive" weary public had about reached its
372
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
liniit, and while on many days the East Bay dailies published lugubrious accounts of the slowness with which subscriptions were coming in, the county finally exceeded its quota of $13,635,000, subscriptions totalling $15,655,350. Slightly less than 30 per cent of the population of the county invested money in these bonds. During this campaign Alameda and Pleansanton were the first towns to go over the top. Oakland had a proud record for this loan, despite the amount of hard work necessary to produce it, for at the conclusion of the campaign Oakland received the honor flag from the Treasury Department as the first large city in the state to go over the top. With a quota of $9,974,925, the city had subscribed more than $11,000,000. Berkeley, too, had gone over the top; Will F. Morrish, local chairman, was able to announce that although the quota of the college town was $1,719,000, subscriptions had exceeded this allotment by $100,000.
The record of Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley, for the third, fourth, and fifth loans was as follows:
Oakland :- Third Loan : quota, $6,810,892; subscriptions, $7,530,- 900. Fourth Loan: quota, $13,320,350; subscriptions, $13,629,550. Fifth Loan: quota, $9,974,925; subscriptions, $10,695,200. Berkeley : -Third Loan: quota, $1,172,759; subscriptions, $1,857,300. Fourth Loan : quota, $2,351,700; subscriptions, $3,070,850. Fifth Loan: quota, $1,719,000; subscriptions, $2,229,200. Alameda :- Third Loan : quota, $212,948; subscriptions, $787,650. Fourth Loan: quota, $960,150; subscriptions, $1,342,800. Fifth Loan : quota, $736,300; subscriptions, $1,099,100.
By the late winter of 1917-18 the county and its component com- munities were well organized for the various "drives" for money for carrying on the war abroad and aiding dependents of soldiers and sailors at home. The Oakland War Service League by the middle of February, 1918, claimed in its membership 135 organizations within the City of Oakland. Eleven district clubs had been formed and plans were under way for the organization of two dozen more. Work was carried on by an executive committee of twenty-five with subordinate committees. This organization acted as a centralizing agency for di- rection of various war activities such as drives, food conservation, in- vestigation of cases of espionage or pro-German sympathy, and hos- pitality for enlisted men. Its members were active in the "smileage book" campaign to raise money to supply soldiers in neighboring camps with coupon books entitling them to admission to "Liberty" theatres.
To promote harmony and efficiency in the administration of drives
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
for funds, on February 8, 1918, forty leading business men of Oak- land met in the H. C. Capwell roof-garden under the temporary chair- manship of H. C. Capwell. Plans were formed for the coordination of all future drives. Frank De Lisle served as temporary secretary of the committee.
A similar plan for the supervision of drives in order to prevent duplication of functions was adopted by the citizens of Berkeley on March 19, 1918, when the Berkeley War Work Council was organized at a meeting attended by representatives of thirty-five organizations in the High School auditorium. The Council, as elected on that date, was composed of the following officers and members : Dr. Edward L .. Par- sons, president of the Berkeley Charity Commission, president; Rev. H. E. B. Speight, president of the Berkeley Chapter of the American Red Cross, secretary; Mrs. E. T. Robson, president of the Mobilized Women's Organization; Mrs. W. H. Marston; president of the Ber- keley Federation of Mothers; Perry T. Tompkins, Charles C. Newkirk, Mrs. A. Carnegie Ross, and Prof. G. P. Adams.
Next to the campaigns for the sale of Liberty Bonds throughout the county, the continuous drive for the sale of Uncle Sam's "Baby Bonds," was probably the greatest money-raising effort of East Bay communities during the war, from the point of view of hard work and good organization. For the purpose of encouraging small savings, the Treasury Department arranged for the sale of twenty-five cent "Thrift stamps" and five dollar "War Savings Certificates" through the United States post offices throughout the country. Sixteen stamps of the 25 cent denomination were sufficient to fill a "thrift card," which, if presented at the post office with 13 cents additional, was exchangeable for a "War Savings Certificate" of five dollar value upon the date of its maturity several years after its issue. In this way a means was pro- vided for even the poorest person to aid the Government.
By January, 1918, the Alameda County and Oakland war savings committees had opened headquarters in the Syndicate building and were devising plans for the establishment of 1,000 agencies for the sale of war stamps and for the organization of war savings societies. Stamps were placed on sale in shops throughout the City of Oakland and in other communities. The first savings society founded in the East Bay was among the employes of the Prudential Insurance Com- pany of America. Similar clubs were formed by the office force of the Key System, by members of the Oakland Lodge of Moose, and by other business, professional, and fraternal groups of both men and women.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Publicity, indispensable to any successful drive, was generously given the campaign by East Bay newspapers. Members of the Com- mittee of Public Information of the Alameda County War Savings Committee were Joseph R. Knowland of the Oakland Tribune, W. W. Chapin, of The Enquirer, and E. A. Vandeventer, of The Daily Post. Frank A. Leach, Jr., city director for war savings; Joseph J. Ros- borough, Postmaster, and Assistant Postmaster W. Robson of Oak- land directed the campaign in cooperation with George Sheldon, rep- resenting the Up-town Business men.
On January 16, 1918, the Alameda County Women's Committee of the Council of National and State Defense enlisted in the drive and Mrs. Fred C. Turner, the chairman, was placed on the war sav- ings executive committee. She, in turn, arranged to have district chair- men in Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda, and in outside townships or- ganize the women of those localities into war savings societies. The county's preachers were drafted for service on January 25th by the committee of public information, and every Sunday morning thereafter during the campaign the pulpits were devoted to "the gospel of saving and service, of thrift, self-denial and sacrifice." Even the school chil- dren were enlisted in the army of savers and J. W. McClymonds, super- intendent of schools emeritus of Oakland directed the organization of war savings societies and the sale of thrift stamps in the schools. Su- perintendent of Schools Fred M. Hunter also gave his hearty support to the school campaign. In Alameda on February 19th, City Super- intendent of Schools C. J. Du Four announced that the entire munic- ipal school savings system had been placed at the disposal of the war savings committee, and that thereafter stamps would be sold to pupils who desired to deposit money in the school banks. Oakland letter-car- riers by February 18th were selling thrift stamps at the rate of more than 1,000 a day. Under direction of the Oakland Chamber of Com- merce the business men made every effort to increase the sale of stamps in shops, stores, and offices. The city was districted and given over to 100 volunteer canvassers. These "flying squadrons" combed the city under direction of Jack Martin, chairman of the members' council.
The drive reached its peak on February 20th and 21st, when the Oakland unit of the Women's Army, 2,000 strong, under command of Mrs. Magnus A. Andersen made a thorough canvass of the city, taking orders on blue postal cards addressed by pledgers to the post- master. The stamps were then delivered by the letter-carriers to the pledgers. The drive was conducted by workers under 242 captains and
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
forty majors, directed by the following five colonels : Mrs. Charles D. Haines, Mrs. Samuel Breck, Mrs. Newton A. Koser, Mrs. C. E. Wil- son, and Mrs. H. E. Hawes.
In the City of Oakland between December 1, 1917, and December 31, 1921, 25 cent "Thrift Stamps" sales approximated $1,500,000, while sales of five dollar war savings certificates were slightly in excess of that amount.
Of the many drives for funds made during the war, such as the campaigns of the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts, the War Camp Community Service, the United War Work Campaign, the Jewish Welfare Board, and others-all having as their object the provision of comforts to the men on the ships and in the trenches, or the care of their dependents at home, the exigencies of space in the present work admit of a detailed mention only of the drives for funds to carry on the local and national work of the Young Men's Christian Association. In the spring of 1917 the Oakland "Y" was called upon to raise its share of the $125,000 quota allotted California in the $3,000,000 nation wide drive of the Y. M. C. A. Arthur W. Moore, chairman of the Oakland War Work Council of the "Y," di- rected the campaign, assisted by Frederick Kahn, Senator A. H. Breed, R. A. Leet, O. D. Jacoby, and R. T. Fisher. Judge William H. Waste was an active worker and the local Rotary Club was of material assist- ance in insuring the success of the campaign.
Nearly $5,000 was subscribed at an enthusiastic meeting on June 11th attended by 100 Rotarians and other campaign workers. At the conclusion of the drive on June 29, 1917, a total of $24,000 had been raised, of which the local "Y" received $11,000 to carry on its wel- fare work.
During the second "Y" drive in December, 1917, more than $62,000 was raised locally as part of the national drive. During the United War Work Campaign, October 14-21, 1918, "Y" workers collected a substantial share of the county goal of $412,000 for all organizations. During the war period the Oakland and other "Y" buildings in the county were thrown open as clubrooms to men in uniform. Soldiers and sailors were welcome to use the dormitories and at night the Oak- land "Y" was always full, enlisted men sleeping in cots in the gym- nasium and in every available spot. A free service was maintained in the gymnasium for men who desired to develop the requisite chest expansion or to qualify in any other physical way for enlistment in the army or navy. The "Y" did considerable entertaining in its buildings
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
and also did war work at the pier among troops leaving Oakland. To aid food conservation, the Boys' Department conducted fruit-picking camps in the orchard districts of the county.
HOSPITALITY FOR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
The proximity of Camp Fremont, the Presidio of San Francisco, the Naval Training Station on Yerba Buena Island, and the Navy Yard at Mare Island made the uniform conspicuous on the streets of East Bay cities and by the winter of 1917-18 the Red Cross, the War Camp Community Service, the National League for Women's Service, various women's clubs, and other organizations were attempting to pro- vide hospitality for these men when they came to the East Bay for re- creation. Many wealthy citizens threw open their homes to officers and men in the service. On Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays, many families extended invitations to one, two, or more men in uni- form to have dinner with them. Entertainment was often provided in the Oakland Auditorium, on the shores of Lake Merrit, at Idora amuse- ment park, or at Neptune Beach, especially on holidays such as Wash- ington's Birthday, Admission Day, and the Fourth of July. The county in every way strove to make the man in the service feel at home.
In January of 1918 Oaklanders were asked by the War Camp Com- munity Service, headed by Joseph N. Burroughs, to contribute $20,000 for the entertainment of enlisted men not only in Oakland and the East Bay, but in adjacent camps and posts. Citizens were asked to buy "Smileage books" at three dollars apiece and thus become a "War Daddy" to some soldier who would thus be provided with tickets to the theatrical entertainments being offered in the camp theatres. On Feb- ruary 1, 1918, the "Denfenders' Recreation Club" was opened at Thir- teenth and Harrison streets, Oakland, in the old county exposition building, the rent of which was to be paid by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors beginning July 1, 1918.
The Clubhouse was dedicated the night of March 14, 1918, after it had been in operation for two weeks. During this time more than 1,500 enlisted men had passed through its doors, had used its canteen, writing tables, pool tables, and had in other ways demonstrated that such a center had long been needed in the heart of Oakland. The dedi- cation was conducted under the direction of Joseph N. Burroughs, chairman of the executive committee of the Community Service. Mayor Davie accepted the clubhouse on behalf of the City of Oakland.
ALAMEDA COUNTY RED CROSS WORKERS GREETING WOUNDED SOLDIERS EN ROUTE TO THE LETTERMAN GENERAL HOSPITAL, PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO
"SERVICE" FROM THE OAKLAND AND ALAMEDA RED CROSS CANTEEN
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
During the remainder of the war period the clubhouse was the most popular resort of the enlisted man in Oakland. There he could find in cap and apron Eastbay society matrons and maids who had left their homes to make him feel that his services were appreciated. There he often found somebody else's mother, proudly wearing her service badge with its red star, ready to hear his troubles or comfort him if he felt homesick. These ladies were quite human, he often found, and if a tired sailor wanted to stretch out on a cretonned davenport and sleep off the effects of a too hilarious night spent in less respectable surroundings than those of the Defenders' Recreation Club, the matrons in charge never asked embarrassing questions. Even the pecadilloes of the Coun- try's defenders had a certain romantic glamour about them.
The names of some of the women who made the Clubhouse a center of hospitality were: Mrs. Thomas Mitchell Potter, general chairman; Mrs. John H. Perine, vice president and secretary of the War Camp Community Service, in charge of decorating and entertainment ; Mrs. W. H. Ketcham, Mrs. Harrison Robinson, canteen; Mrs. Wm. Nat Friend, checking; Miss Violet Whitney, library; Mrs. Lillian Brown Everts and Miss Florinne Brown, shop; Mrs. Frederick Page Cutting, reception.
PATRIOTIC RALLIES
"Loyalty Week," February 11-18, 1918.
In order to stimulate patriotism, Loyalty Week was celebrated throughout the county from February 11th to 18th, 1918. In calling upon all citizens of Oakland to observe this period as one of patriotic devotion to the cause for which many of the county's youths were giving their lives overseas, Mayor John L. Davie issued the following procla- mation :
"This is Loyalty Week. The City of Oakland is now fully awakened to the graveness of our task of crushing the spirit of conquest.
"The sad event of the Tuscania has kindled the fires that were smoldering in the hearts of the lukewarm and we present a more united nation to go forward in the crisis together.
"Friday evening, February 15, is Loyalty Night and our Municipal Auditorium is the meeting place. Every citizen of Oakland should come out. If you are enthusiastic in your patriotism your spirit is needed. If you are backward in this crisis, then you above all need
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Loyalty Night that you may bestir yourself for a better realization of your American duty. Loyalty Night asks no subscription or en- trance charge. The poorest and the wealthiest citizens will sit side by side. American blood has been shed and the boys who are fighting our battles will crush the power that has so fully ignored the laws of right- eousness and humanity. Our boys only need a united nation in back of them and such demonstrations as Loyalty Night will put our flag over the top on the crest of the unconquerable spirit of democracy."
The "sad event of the Tuscania" mentioned by the mayor was the sinking of the former Anchor liner Tuscania laden with American troops by a German submarine on February 5, 1918, within sight of the Irish coast. The torpedo struck the liner amidship and although British destroyers came to her rescue almost immediately, the death toll was large, amounting to 204 American lives. This loss of American life made Loyalty Week and the observance of Washington's birthday unu- sually impressive.
The night of February 15th a vast assemblage of men, women, and children gathered in the Oakland Auditorium to do honor to the Na- tion's dead and to reconsecrate themselves to the stern task of winning the war by sacrificing civilian pleasure and comfort in order to keep up the morale of the boys who were giving their all on the western front and on the high seas. The chief sponsor of the meeting was the Ala- meda County Women's Committee of the Council of National and State Defense. The address of the evening was by Samuel M. Short- ridge, later elected to the United States Senate from California. Other speakers were Mrs. Frederick C. Turner, Harmon Bell, president of the War Service League organized but two months before, and Mayor John L. Davie.
During the community singing, the Auditorium rang with the strains of the Star Spangled Banner, "Joan of Arc," "The Sunshine of Your Smile," "There's A Long, Long Trail," and other popular war songs. A patriotic concert was furnished by the brilliantly uni- formed members of the Aahmes Shrine Band. A touching feature of the exercises was the presentation by Capt. W. R. Thomas of the Grand Army of the Republic of two large silk American flags, one to a group of sailors, the other to one of soldiers. The transferring of the stand- ards from the hands of the blue-clad Civil war veteran to the wearer of the blue and the olive drab was to symbolize the transmission of the heritage of freedom from those who had fought for it in 1861 to those who were giving their lives for its preservation in 1918.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
mothers of the county in pamphlets and bulletins, and health centers and clinics were established.
Closely related to child health was the work of the department which dealt with education and the problem of school attendance. The latter question was greatly aggravated by war time conditions, many women and children being employed in industry who would not otherwise have been working outside the home. In 1917 the Education Department joined with the Department of Child Welfare under chairmanship of Miss Evelyn Stoddart in an endeavor to protect the children of Cali- fornia from the forces of disintegration which the nations longer in the war had found seriously menacing education and juvenile well-being. To this end, a circular letter and questionnaire were prepared and sent to all Education and Child Welfare County chairmen for distribution by them to all school districts. This questionnaire and "follow-up" letters to individuals, from five to fourteen each, sought to get the facts about school enrollment, number of children out of school, number at work, the extent to which war conditions were forcing children to work, the "leakage" between elementary and high schools, and certain other matters.
The census taken in Oakland was probably the most successful of those carried on in any part of the state. In that city, with the assistance of the attendance officer of the Oakland Board of Education, and the Woman's Army, a real school attendance census of children up to the age of eighteen was carried out. The Board of Education furnished the blanks, and the expert advice for their completion; the Woman's Army furnished the house-to-house volunteer service. Generous pub- licity was given the drive by the newspapers and the moving picture theatres. One of the notices of the drive displayed on the silver screen read :
"KEEP OUR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL
Uncle Sam knows how many mules there are in Oakland. He does not know how many children there are in Oakland. Will you help him find out? A house-to-house canvass bv the Woman's Army will begin next week. Give all the help you can."
Some of the statistics gathered are given below :
In Oakland, May, 1918 "Boys and girls from 14-18 years of age not in school. 1,802
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
"Reasons for leaving school (percentages)-
Economic necessity 33%
Failure, disappointment in school 10
Sickness
10
Parents' wish, business opportunity, etc. 31
Unknown and miscellaneous
16
100%
"Character of work engaged in (percentages)-
Errands, delivery, etc. 4%
Public service corporations 6
Office, mercantile, retail
19
Electrical, mechanical, factory, etc. 32
Housework, dressmaking, laundry, etc. 10
Miscellaneous
9
Unknown, or temporarily out
13
Not working at all 7
100%"
The remarkable house-to-house canvass revealed the need for con- tinued and extended Americanization. For example the survey showed that about 60 percent of the children under eighteen in Oakland were of foreign birth or had foreign-born parents; that 1,051 fathers could not read or write English; that 560 fathers could not read or write any language; that 600 mothers could not read or write any language. Fif- teen native born Californians were found who could not read or write any language yet had children under eighteen. During and since the war the School Women's Club and the Oakland and Berkeley Federa- tions of Mothers' Clubs have carried out Americanization work.
Health and Recreation was another department of the Women's Committee which made an important contribution in Alameda County. The work of this department was in large part combined with that of the Girl's War Service Department and with aid given the War Camp Community Committee; though, also, for some months, the Department Chairman arranged for many talks on health and recreation at churches and other meeting places. The two chief efforts of this department were devoted to protective work for girls and educational work in social hygiene. An endeavor was made to care for wayward girls who had run away from home in order to be near the excitement of camp life and to caution other girls against the unusual temptations which were
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Mrs. Frederick C. Robson, and later Mrs. Lewis Hicks directed the Berkeley committee. In Alameda Mrs. Henry Rosenthal directed the work. The Women's Committee was organized in 1917 shortly after the first Liberty Loan drive as part of the State Council already de- scribed and also as part of the National Woman's Committee, Council of National Defense, headed by Dr. Anna Howard Shaw in Washing- ton. The purpose of the committee was to coordinate and centralize the organized forces of the women of the state; to enlist the cooperation of unorganized women for war service; and also to provide a channel through which the different Government agencies and departments could speedily and effectively reach the women with directions and sug- gestions to help the Government win the war. It was not intended to replace any other organization but to provide a clearing house through which Government information and directions could be quickly dissemi- nated throughout the state. The County Committee handled scores of bulletins and circular letters from Washington which it had published in local newspapers or communicated in other ways to the public. The County Committee's work in promoting food saving was especially valuable.
One effect of the Women's Committee was the drawing together of the various women's organizations of the county. Mention of the women and organizations which they represented on the central com- mittee of the County Women's Committee will convey some idea of how inclusive the organization was. Mrs. L. N. Wyckoff of Berkeley rep- resented the Alliance of Unitarian and other Liberal Christian Women; Mrs. Frederick C. Turner, Oakland, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae; Mrs. Hettie B. Tilghman, Oakland, the California State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs; Mrs. Esther Schneider, Ber- keley, the Campfire Girls; Mrs. Joseph Gabriel Kearney, Alameda, the Catholic Ladies' Aid Society; Mrs. C. C. Clay, Oakland, the Daughters of the Confederacy; Mrs. Helen Irvine, Berkeley, National Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America; Mrs. Addie L. Mo- sher, Oakland, Native Daughters of the Golden West; Mrs. Carrie L. Hoyt, Berkeley, Woman's Relief Corps; Mrs. A. E. Carter, Oakland, Woman's Legislative Council of California.
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