(H)our History Lesson: Civilian Volunteerism and Contributions on the Home Front in Evansville, Indiana, World War II Heritage City

Men pile newspapers into a train car for the war effort. Paper and newspapers were some of the many materials that were collected for recycling during WWII. (1945)

Credit: University of Southern Indiana, Rice Library Digital Collections.

About this Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the World War II home front, with Evansville, Indiana designated as an American World War II Heritage City. The lesson contains readings and photos to contribute to learners’ understandings about the ways civilians contributed to home front efforts. These efforts included the Evansville Red Cross Canteen, participating in material drives, war bonds, the USO, and more.

Objectives:

1. Identify examples of ways civilians volunteered on the home front in Evansville, Indiana.

2. Describe how volunteer efforts in Evansville contributed to the war efforts.

3. Compare local, historical perspectives on service to synthesize and connect to larger wartime perspectives and themes.

Materials for Students:

1. Photos (can be displayed digitally)

2. Readings 1, 2, 3 (and optional extensions)

3. Recommended: Map of Evansville, Indiana, or state map.

Getting Started: Essential Question

How did civilians in Evansville, Indiana contribute to home front war efforts, and why were their contributions significant?

The Evansville Red Cross Canteen workers greeting and serving service members.

Picture from “Canteen to Celebrate Birthday; 400,000 Soldiers Served,” The Evansville Courier, June 6, 1943, p. 16.

By the numbers:

The Evansville Red Cross Canteen, across from the Union Depot, was opened in June 1942. Within one year:

• Over 400,000 armed forces members were served free meals.
• Over 120,000 pounds of meat, 1,200 gallons of ice cream, 2,300 cakes were donated and served.
• The Canteen served on average 1,000 service members a day, and some days as many as 3,500.
• 44,760 volunteer hours were contributed.

-From “Canteen to Celebrate Birthday; 400,000 Soldiers Served,” The Evansville Courier, June 6, 1943, p. 16

Quotation to consider:

“We men in the army realize that wars are won at home as well as on the battle line. . . . The greatness of America lies in the fact that Indiana people welcome American soldiers of any faith or appearance from any of our states. I shared the feeling of many of the boys that Evansville is a swell American town an I hope I may revisit you in peacetime. Believe me, we appreciate your spirit and will long remember your great city.”

-James C. Kellogg, soldier quoted in “Canteen Sends 55 Draft Men Cheerfully on Way,” The Evansville Courier, August 28, 1942

Read to Connect

Reading 1: Newspaper on Canteen Donors

Background: The Evansville Red Cross Canteen was opened in June 1942 across from the Union Depot, where thousands of service members arrived and departed by train daily.  Service members could visit the canteen for free meals and service.  

“Canteen’s Regular Donors Praised by Day Captain” 

Mrs. Ed J. Fehn Credits ‘The Ones Who Give Every Thursday’ 

The Evansville Courier, December 5, 1942, p. 11.  

“The regular contributors are really the ones who deserve credit for keeping the canteen going,” Mrs. Ed J. Fehn, day captain yesterday at the Red Cross canteen, declared. 

Mrs. Fehn listed a number-- ‘the ones who give every Thursday’-- including the following: Evansville newspaper employees, hams baked without charge each week by the Eades bakery; St. Lucas Ladies’ Aid society; Servel, Inc., employees, cash gifts; Ebmeier’s restaurant, pies; women of St. John’s Evangelical church, baked goods; Mrs. Minerva Hale, sugar, coffee and canned goods; De-Jong's Cigaret club, cigarettes; Women’s forum, Boonville, cookies and other baked goods. 

Weil Packing company, meats; Women of the Moose, cookies; Clarence W. Irvin, Cannelton, all kinds of foods given by himself and other residents of Cannelton and Tell City; St. Paul’s Ladies’ Aid society (Mrs. G.H. Waltz), baked and canned goods; Reitz high school, prepared foods; Dixie Bee lodge No. 303, Ladies’ Society of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers. 

‘But as important as the food contributions are they are not the only valuable contribution of the canteen to the service men,’ Mrs. Fehn said. ‘Our workers contribute a great deal in service and friendliness—the kind so many have missed so much ever since leaving their homes and families to enter the service.’ 

Comment on Canteen 

Here are a few comments on the service and hospitality heard at the canteen yesterday: 

A soldier, one of 91 in an early breakfast group said: ‘We are so appreciative of the hospitality, Heard about it way down in Alabama, but it is more overwhelming than the boys described it.” 

Another soldier, in a second group of 72 who had breakfast, said: ‘This breakfast with coffee will certainly help us out until the train’s diner opens.’ . . . 

A group on arrival at the station: ‘Canteen? Oh, we’ll just have a sandwich and something to drink.’ 

The same group a minute later when they learned soups and prepared foods were waiting for them without charge, remarked: ‘No kiddin’, It’s free. Give me the works. Some joint!’ 

‘A Ft. Leonard Wood soldier,’ by postal card continued: ‘A short time ago we came through Evansville en route home on furlough and you gave us hot coffee, sandwiches, cake and cigarettes. We certainly appreciated these things and all the friendliness that went with them. Thanks a million.’ 

Officer Expresses Thanks 

From ‘somewhere in Canada,’ Capt. William A. Garrott wrote: ‘Ladies of the Canteen: About three weeks ago I, in company with several other officers and enlisted men, had occasion to stop in Evansville for breakfast. Some of us were directed to your canteen and those of us who were so fortunate were charmed by your graciousness and generosity. Every one of us commented then and frequently since that none of us had been so wonderfully treated at any time or place since our induction into military service. 

‘I feel that you have earned an expression from us of our sincere gratitude for your graciousness and kindness to us.’ 

. . . ‘Nationwide publicity is due the canteen at Evansville,’ said Miss Elizabeth Harkey, USO regional director from Smyrna, Tenn., a visitor at the canteen. ‘It is a wonderful serve you are rendering here. Things like this you don’t forget.’ . . . 

Gives Bread 

John Libbs, manager of the A and P grocery store, Fourth and Chestnut streets, phoned and asked if Mrs. Fehn could use some bread. After receiving a favorable reply, he contributed 72 loaves of bread, 44 dozen doughnuts and 42 coffee cakes.

A Negro soldier reported at the canteen a friend of his on the train had such a bad cough he wondered if some medicine was available. Workers found some cough medicine in their first aid supplies and asked the soldier if he did not want some of it. The cough at least temporarily relieved, the soldier was served some light food.  . . .  

Generous out-of-town donations also were numerous. Mrs. H. Brill, rural route 5, sent a quart of potato salad, a quart of grape juice and a ginger spice cake. . . Clarence W. Irvin of Cannelton, donor of a bushel of potatoes, also delivered the following contributors on his route: Mrs. Hilda Hawhee, two cans beans; Miss Mary I. Conway, two cans peas and carrots; Mrs. M.C. Conway, six candy bars; Friday group of the Red Cross, 14 candy bars. . . .  

Reading 2: Newspaper on Collecting Scrap

Nearly Five Cars Filled with Scrap 

Heavy Response in First Campaign Held Cause of Small Return 

The Evansville Courier, May 28,1943, p. 1 

Evansvillians raked and scraped from attic to cellar but all they could get together for yesterday’s scrap drive was four and two-thirds railway carloads of metal, rags, and rubber. 

The scrap harvest estimate ranges from 150,000 to 200,000 pounds, or about one-fifth the amount gathered in September. 

Jim Newcom, Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) conservator, and George Van Horn, transportation chairman for the drive, both had the same answer. Citizens cleaned up so well in September that they have been unable to accumulate much since. 

Industrial scrap, a large part of the September harvest, is now being sold regularly. 

Boys Put in Hard Day 

One thousand Victory Corps boys who manned the trucks in yesterday's canvass were a tired bunch of workers last night.  

Officials of the drive had lots of praise for the youngsters who loaded and unloaded throughout the day. 

Sixty trucks worked yesterday, following an orderly plan of collection, with the result that everything was well cleaned up by 4 o’clock in the afternoon. 

Two carloads stood ready to move in the Southern railway yards and at the C. & E.I. yards there were two and two-thirds more cars. Officials hope to obtain sufficient industrial scrap to fill out the carload.  

It was estimated last night that the scrap harvest yield included some 25,000 pounds of rags. Metal was the next largest part of the harvest, with rubber running third. 

Auto Tag Return Small 

The percentages of auto tags was disappointing. Plans were announced by Mr. Newcom and Mr. Van Horn, through cooperation with Fire Chief Ed Senmeier, for collection at fire stations.  

Motorists are being urged to remove their front plates and leave them at the nearest hose house. Clarence Jackson, state OCD director, yesterday issued the statement that any Indiana motorists driving with a front plate after Saturday would be considered unpatriotic.  The plates are needed to manufacture next year’s license tags. . . . 

On duty throughout the day at the Park Board office taking calls, there were few complaints of scrap being missed, which was due, officials said, to a well organized canvas.  

One Victory Corps boy found himself in a predicament as the result of his zeal. He is Lawrence Hall, 12, a student of Emma Roche School, who borrowed A wheelbarrow from a neighbor, Mary Francis. He wheeled the scrap to his school for collection. Some misguided collector dumped in wheelbarrow and all. Now Lawrence is trying to find that wheelbarrow. . . . 

Reading 3: Volunteerism Oral Histories

The following are two excerpts from oral history interviews from civilians that worked in or were from Evansville, Indiana. They reflect on volunteerism and life on the home front in Evansville.  

Part 1: D. Bailey Merrill 

Excerpt from “D. Bailey Merrill Interview in Evansville, Indiana” (June 15, 23 and July 28, 1974)-- Oral History Collection – Rice Library Digital Collections by University of Southern Indiana. 

“You didn’t have to be in Evansville to know about Evansville. We had here in Evansville, we’ve always had, tremendous spirit. I don’t know; I won’t try to describe it. But before the war started a division came through here when they mobilized the National Guard. They stopped over a night at the Court House, the whole division of the National Guard. The town just took them in. The kids were out on the town, and everybody went out and invited them into their homes or brought them drinks. And just took care of those kids in a wonderful way. That was one thing. That was an experience for those kids on their way down, you know scared and lonesome and all that. The town just took hold of them.  
The other thing, we had a canteen. I say ‘we,’ I didn’t have anything to do with it. We had a lot of troop trains going through Evansville. The town made…they kept a canteen down there at the station. They always had cookies and donuts and coffee and pie and cake. Everybody made it and took it down. Whenever a train would go through, see, they’d go through the train and see that everybody got something. So, every kid who ever went through Evansville contacted that canteen. So, I would say this: I know I can’t remember a time, now my career I wasn’t in about mixing generally with a lot of different people. I was always in an artillery outfit in the…my world was usually a battery, and that would be the end of it. I hardly ever even got to bother with a battalion. . . . Wherever I was, generally, I was in a very close knit group of people. But I could remember, I’d never been in a barber shop, you know a big post barber shop or anyplace where there were a lot of different people there, and they’d say, ‘Where you from? And I’d say, ‘Evansville.’ Never had it failed that somebody would speak up and say, “Evansville?” And they would remember.’ 

Part 2: Mrs. Aline Cook  

Excerpt from “Allen and Aline Cook Interview in New Harmony, Indiana” (July 19, 1995)– Oral History Collection – Rice Library Digital Collections by University of Southern Indiana. 

Interviewer, Jon Carl (JC): What kind of immediate impact did the war have on your life?  

Mrs. Aline Cook: I had just graduated from high school in 1941. War started December 7. I was going to Lockyears Business College in Evansville. Several of us were. I planned to go to nurse’s training, but you had to be at least eighteen before you could even start nurse's training then. I wasn't until December 9--two days after. I was going to go the next time in the Fall, but I never did because I went to school at Lockyears Business College. I rode with someone from here and finally we got an apartment. When we got out of school, we got jobs. We thought we were paid a lot of money. . . . It was in Evansville. I worked as a secretary to the President of Cavalier Garment Corporation which was a plant making khaki trousers [for the military]. I don't know whether they made shirts or not.  

JC: Did you stay in Evansville during the war?  

Mrs. Cook: Yes. My father was a farmer. I don't recall him having a shortage of gasoline. The war was still going on when I worked in Evansville. I had more shoe stamps than I could ever use. My boss rode with two from this county. Each one of them had a daughter about my age, so I was well taken care of with shoe stamps or whatever else I wanted. 

JC: What other kinds of leisure activities do you remember from that time period?  

Mrs. Cook: There were the movies. We had the first movie theater here in town. They always had dances here in town. The USO was very popular in Evansville.  . . . It was down there in that old train station [C, E & I Train Station]. We had to be screened to even go to those things. You couldn’t just go. You had to have an application to make sure you were all right. They would take you home. I don’t remember if they picked us up, but they must have. They took us home and would see us inside the door.  

 . . .Well, another thing that I did was I was a Red Cross nurse's aid in a hospital. We took the training. We did a lot. We worked nights and weekends. We had our uniforms that we had to buy ourselves. We had to take this training. That's the only thing I did to help the war effort.  

JC: Do you remember any big bond drives in Evansville or any celebrities coming?  

Mrs. Cook: I don't remember any celebrities coming, but there surely was. There were constant bond drives. It seems like you bought those stamps, too. I think they called them bond stamps. You saved a few months and when you had enough stamps you got a bond. 

JC: Did they have blackouts or drills in New Harmony (IN) or Evansville?  

Mrs. Cook: Yes. They certainly did in Evansville. I think they did in New Harmony. You were supposed to cover your windows. They had the air raid sirens in Evansville. They would sound that. You weren't supposed to go out or turn on the lights outside or even inside any more than you needed to. 

JC: Towards the end of the war, how would you say that New Harmony changed overall?  

Mrs. Cook: I don't know that it had. There was more money. All of the people who had worked in the defense plants in Evansville made a good deal of money. We had already had that happened to us to when the oil industry came to town in the late Thirties. It was just the compensation that people were being paid for their work. Many people from here did go to work in the oil industry. It was tremendous compared to what people had made. There was Republic Aviation and the shipyards. They made so much money. 

JC: You talked about the rationing maybe being part of the propaganda. What kinds of propaganda do either one of you remember from the war? Were there different ads that you remember or were there posters or other kinds of propaganda that tried to get people into supporting the war effort?  

Mrs. Cook: I remember the big posters showing not talking about where the troops were going if you knew. Where I worked was involved with the defense because we made the uniforms. They had posters up in there all of the time. I don't think they knew anything. I can't imagine that they would have known anything, but they still had these posters up. The blackouts in Evansville, too. It wasn't very likely that you were going to be bombed, but they did have those blackouts. 

World War II food rationing books, tokens, and stamps in Evansville, Indiana, belonging to Florita Eichel (1892-1983) and her brother, Samuel (1874-1944)

Credit: University of Southern Indiana, Rice Library Digital Collections

Student Activities:

Questions for Reading 1 and Photos

1. Reading 1 shows many examples of group and individual donations to the canteen. Why do you think so many people and organizations decided to give what they could?
2. Based on the comments from soldiers, how does the canteen's service impact their travel?
3. What does the letter from Captain Garrott and the quotation from Miss Elizabeth Harkey reveal about the recognition of the canteen's efforts beyond Evansville?

Questions for Reading 2

1. According to Jim Newcom and George Van Horn, why was there a lower amount of scrap collected compared to the previous drive in September?
2. What were some of the types of scrap collected in this drive? Why were there scrap drives on the home front during the war?
3. How did children contribute to the scrap drive?

Questions for Reading 3

1. What examples does Merrill provide to describe the hospitality of Evansville during the war?
2. How does Merrill reflect on the lasting impression of Evansville on those who visited?
3. What work did Mrs. Cook do during the war? What posters were at her workplace?
4. How did the war affect Mrs. Cook’s life and social activities?
5. How did civilians in Evansville, Indiana contribute to home front war efforts, and why were their contributions significant?

Lesson Closing:

Using details from across the readings, describe some of the different ways civilians contributed to the home front efforts in Evansville.

Extension Activities

Poem

The following is an excerpt from “Canteen Receives Gifts From Children with Poem,” The Evansville Courier, July 30, 1932, p.4: 

“Fifteen packages of cigarettes were donated to the canteen yesterday by a group of youngsters, ‘the kiddies of the canteen.’ Accompanying the gift was a poem which read:  

‘We don’t know how to cook or knit,  

But we want to do our bit; 

So we have given up our playtime 

And put aside our toys; 

Now we are running the kiddie canteen  

To help the soldier boys.’ 

Activity: Write a short poem, similar or different to this one, taking the perspective of another volunteer or volunteer group, based on other information on volunteerism in the lesson. 

U.S.O. Clubs fo Evansville

The Evansville Red Cross Canteen was not the only place where service members enjoyed free services and hospitality. The Evansville USO club also served this purpose. However, it was segregated. Evansville, African American residents organized a Volunteer Service Club (VSC) at Lincoln Garden. This led to the establishment of an official USO club for African Americans in Evansville. 

Read the section “Lincoln USO Club” in Places of WWII History in Evansville, IN  to learn more. 

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This lesson was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, an educator and consultant with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.