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American Women's Voluntary Services

Field	Value
name	American Women's Voluntary Services
image	American Women's Voluntary Services.jpg
size	225px
caption	Members of the American Women Voluntary Service in 1942 during World War II
formation	1940
status	Service
headquarters	39 W. 57th Street, Manhattan, New York City
region_served	United States

American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) was the largest American women's service organization in the United States during World War II. AWVS volunteers provided support services to help the nation during the war, assisting with message delivery, ambulance driving, selling war bonds, operating emergency kitchens, cycle corps drivers, dog-sled teamsters, aircraft spotters, navigation, aerial photography, fighting fires, truck driving, and canteen workers. Some of its work overlapped with the Office of Civilian Defense and the American Red Cross.

History

A prayer card issued by AMVS during their efforts supporting U.S. engagement in [[World War II

Alice Throckmorton McLean founded AWVS in January 1940, 23 months before the United States entered the war, basing it upon the British Women's Voluntary Services, in order to help prepare the nation for the war. Most of the founders were wealthy internationalist women, and its headquarters was in New York City, making America's isolationists suspicious of AWVS. Others saw the organization as being alarmist.

AWVS also encountered resistance because some men did not want women working.Despite these concerns, AWVS had about 18,000 members by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Eventually, over 325,000 women were trained by AWVS. Doris Ryer Nixon founded the California chapter in August 1941 and became AWVS's national vice president.

The group sponsored units in parts of the U.S. with heavy African, Chinese, and Hispanic American populations, which was met with media criticism. By 1944, despite hundreds of thousands of volunteers and large efforts to help win the war, AWVS was accused of being lazy; its leaders decided to disband the organization at the end of World War II.

AWVS inspired other volunteer service groups, such as "Laguna Cottages for Seniors".

Notable members

Elizabeth English Benson, Gallaudet University dean and educator of the deaf
Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil rights activist
Clair Blank, author, Beverly Gray mystery series
Gloria Callen, competitive swimmer
Betty Cordon, socialite
Joan Crawford, actress
Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady and wife of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower
Isabella Greenway, U.S. Congresswoman from Arizona
Josephine Herrick, photographer and educator
Grace Nail Johnson, civil rights activist
Adelaide Leavy, photo journalist
Jeanette MacDonald, actress and singer
Hattie McDaniel, actress
Josephine B. Sneed, Cook County, Illinois politician
Alice Throckmorton McLean, civic leader
Doris Ryer Nixon, civic leader
Lillian Randolph, actress and singer
Betty White, actress

Notes

References

(26 Jan 1942). "Civilian Defense: The Ladies!".
Redmond, Michael. (20 Jun 2009). "Laguna Cottages History of Senior Living Housing". Santa Barbara Independent.
(December 18, 1941). "Blanche Nixon to Make Debut". [[Los Angeles Times]].
"Social Notes," ''The New York Times'' 1922-03-23 (announcing birth) and "Died," ''The New York Times'', 1922-05-23 (announcing death).
"Partners in Winning the War: American Women in WWII". National Women's History Museum.
Weatherford, Doris. (2010). "American Women During WWII". Taylor & Francis.
Quirk, Lawrence J.. (2002). "Joan Crawford: the essential biography". University of Kentucky Press.
(4 Jan 1942). "Network and Local Radio Listings". The Sunday Sun.
Rea, E.B.. (8 May 1943). "Encores and Echoes". Baltimore Afro-American.
Yellin, Emily. (2004). "Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II". Free Press.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1940-establishments-in-the-united-states clubs-and-societies-in-the-united-states organizations-established-in-1940 united-states-home-front-during-world-war-ii organizations-of-world-war-ii

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