The youth of the 1940’s was a portion of the population that was greatly effected by World War II. However, this group is often forgotten. With young men and women being sent off to risk their lives on the war front, young women of all ages were left alone to face the challenges of a newly forming social structure. Many of these young ladies turned to social organizations for support in the new war time roles that they were forced to assume. One of the established organizations that these young women often turned to was the Young Women’s Christian Association. Through the years this establishment had provided young girls and women with a place to develop themselves to be able to face the challenges of life squarely and during the tumultuous times of the 1940’s that goal was no different. The Portland YWCA faced the needs of their young community of women during the War with open arms.

In 1891, the merging of two national organizations, the International Board of Women’s Christian Associations and the National Young Women’s Christian Association, [with the keeping of the name National Young Women’s Christian Association] led to a you th oriented program for girls. This program became known as the Girl Reserves. Both of these Associations had done work with and had provided services for young women since their founding. Girls moving to new cities looking for employment or housing and young women who lived in the cities who were self supporting looked to these Associations for social support. These two groups had also set up smaller Associations on college campuses to fulfill the religious needs of young ladies. As with the merging of the main Associations these efforts also merged into one. The growing educational opportunities for young women at the college level and also at the secondary level provided welcome space for the YWCA to reach out to young women of a variety of ages. This lead to the high school campuses becoming the center for student based clubs. These spaces provided the YWCA a wonderful opportunity to reach out to youth to promote their aims and goals. These being: to create opportunity in which women could come together to carve out a social and physical space where the racial, economic, and social divisions endemic in the wider society might be overcome by a combination of the social gospel, feminism, and progressive reform.¹ Tracing the roots of the YWCA’s youth movement from its foundation in 1918 to its state in Portland during the 1940’s should provide a clear understanding of the way that the choices made by the YWCA in the 1930’s had a great impact on the vents and course of the 1940’s.

These student clubs were originally planned and run in a similar fashion as the adult clubs. During the early years of work with girls, 1891-1919, the attitude of the adults that did the work with youths was that they were to provide formal class work for them rather then to help the girls to develop their own interests. This work included programs in homemaking, and recreational activities. The organization of the clubs was based on a committee style which provided some opportunity for the democratic participation by the girls but left little room for stimulation of interests. The girls did take on some responsibilities such as, securing members, raising funds, and furnishing their rooms. There was however, little attention paid to the future needs of the girls with the exception of in the religious field.

Two groups that were separate from the YWCA and received a great deal of support from them were the Camp Fire Girl movements and the Girl Scout programs. These two separate groups placed their emphasis on health, home arts, recreation, out door life, appreciation of beauty, and religious idealism.² While religious idealism and loyalty was considered to be part of the basic philosophy of the Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, interpretation of its meaning and implications were not included in every day activities as was desired by the YWCA. The Girl Scout/Camp Fire Girls and the YWCA dealt with two separate spheres of girls life. These two spheres were also separated by age differences, Girl Reserves dealing with a larger range of ages.

It was decided that while the YWCA did support most of the concepts utilized by the other organizations (the Girl Scouts/Camp Fire Girls ) that it would be unwise to adopt them as their own. This decision was seen as unwise because the Y would have no control over the programming and therefore could not emphasize religion in the capacity that they desired . As stated by Miss Gogin: "Because we could not control any of these programs, it did not seem wise to adopt them as our only national program." ³ Concepts initiated by another group and would continue to act as such even if taken on as the National program for the Y.

The out break of WW I in 1917 caused the National Girls Work Department to urgently begin new plans for girls clubs on the account of the conditions caused by the conflict. This rush by the Government to make new plans to help young girls impressed the YWCA and caused them to decide to unify the youth movements with in the Y. By 19 18, Nationals Miss Gertrude Gogin voiced to the city committee the need for a constructive program for teen-age girls. She stated that"…it involves adequate recreation, constructive club work, and vocational guidance." ⁴ This desire that glowed in Miss. Gogin and in others as well sparked the birth of the Girl Reserves movement. The Girl Reserves movement had been planned as the National Movement of the YWCA to represent young ladies between the ages of 10-18. Miss. Gogin explained the purpose of the decision to form the Girl Reserves in this statement: The object of this movement is to give girls through sound, natural activities, the habits, insight, and ideals which will make them responsible women, capable and ready to make America more true to its best hopes and traditions.⁵

As with earlier work done with youth by the YW the democratic participation by the girls was seen as a key factor in the designing of the Girl Reserves. The Movement was set up to offer a loose form of organization which would provide a constructive outlet for the superabundant energy of the group through the management by the girls themselves of manifold activities in which they must be interested and should be related to school life. ⁶ The inclusion of the fact that activities must be related to school life was connected to the fact that all high school clubs were being united under the title of Girl Reserves Clubs. This unification of clubs with in the schools caused a unification among the schools which had the clubs and to the formation of the Inter-Club Council, which would meet at the local YW building instead of on campuses. .

The Girl Reserves, in 1919, was the first club at the YW to develop a system of symbolism for unity and a system of awards and honors. The symbol used by the Movement was adapted from the blue triangle , which was the well known symbol for the National movement. The Girl Reserve Movement adopted this symbol and placed the letters G.R. in its center and viewed the sides of the triangle as representing Health, Knowledge, and Spirit; the three cardinal principles of the Girl Reserves. The insignia, the arm band and pin of the Girl Reserves was inexpensive; when purchased in quantity, the cost of the two equaled .37cents. The uniform, which was not required, was made up of a white middy blouse, a tie of Copenhagen blue bearing the embroidered symbol of the triangle, and a blue or white skirt. The uniform was worn especially for ceremonial occasions. The importance and meaning given to this insignia was reflected in the Girl Reserve manual of 1919. The intensity attached to the following statement can be found throughout other membership aspects of the YW. " No girl can wear Girl Reserve insignia until she has been formally initiated . Initiation meetings should come once every four weeks, and a girl must have attended three meetings and have learned and understood the Girl Reserve slogan ,purpose, and code before being eligible to initiation meeting.

To face life squarely.

To find and give the best.

As a Girl Reserve I will be

Gracious in manner

Impartial in judgment

Ready for service

Loyal to friends

Reaching toward the best

Earnest in purpose

Reverent to God

Victorious in self

Ever dependable

Sincere at all times. ⁷

The honor system that was devised for the Girl Reserves was a system of acquiring certain insignia through reward for accomplishment. This policy was mostly used in the high school clubs as a means for motivation to perform helpful and useful tasks. "The winning of each honor means a definite worthwhile accomplishment." States the manual from 1918-1919. " The attainment of many honors means that the girl who has won them has advanced in her development of all around womanhood." The main problem of this system of rewards was that it overlooked the fact that satisfaction may be attained from performing the activity itself not from the awards received. The true meaning behind the activity was lost and was replaced with competition amongst the girls for rewards. This was also problematic for the Girl Reserves because the accumulation of honors also lead to the attainment of the Girl Reserves ring, the highest achievement with in the Girl Reserves. This caused conflict between the original purpose of , …relying on satisfaction and interest in the activities themselves, rather then on external rewards, for motivation.⁸ This system caused the purpose of the project to be the external reward instead of internal satisfaction. This system of rewards was eventually dropped in 1922. A new system was not devised until later, but a change in the emphasis from the accumulation of points to the importance of personal betterment was made in regards to receiving the ring.

Despite the fact that the girls were supposed to manage the clubs activities for themselves, with loose adult supervision, they were still limited to the four founding principles as dictated by the original Girl Reserve manual, 1919. These four subjects were Health, Service, Knowledge, and Spirit. These four principles were considered to be the building blocks of a well rounded Christian young lady. The manual also offered suggestions as to the type of monthly projects to be instituted by the girls. Theses included one meeting on health, one meeting on business, a service meeting, and a social meeting. Therefore the choices of program activities according to the interests (of the girls) were restricted by the need of rotation of subjects. ⁹

The early emphasis of the movement was placed in two areas, religion and social awareness. A contributing factor to the origination of the girl Reserve movement by the YW instead of the adaptation of another movement was that the YW would not have complete control over activities. The YW felt that it was necessary to create a club that would have a Christian emphasis, an emphasis on the living of every day aspects of life in regard to Christian ideals. At this point in club development the religious activities revolved around worship services, ceremonials with religious significance, the study of the code, and practical contribution of service to others.

The social awareness aspect meant dedication to service and understanding the needs of immigrant girls, girls in foreign countries, and individuals in poorer neighborhoods. Some of this work was done by the Girl Reserves through the establishment of International Institutes, centers for foreign- born and second-generation girls and women.¹⁰ As early as 1920, the YW saw the Girl Reserves as being an interracial movement because of its self promotion within "Negro and Indian" communities.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s the Girl Reserves went through a process of change which caused a freer adaptation within the movement. In May of 1920 the Board of Directors adopted what is known as the open door policy in regard to membership fee and privileges. Girls were no longer required to pay membership fees in order to join the clubs.¹¹ There was an extension of the ideal of democratic participation through the invitation for involvement of the girls in conferences and on councils. This enhancement of responsibility helped instigate a change in the relationship between the girls and there advisors. The concept that the adult advisor should give stimulation and guidance without domination was solidified in statements made by national in 1925. " The unquestioned and wholesale acceptance of adult decisions should be discouraged…. Every time an adult decides for a girl, the growth in character…is deposited in the grown up and not in the girl."¹² This new freedom in decision making as handed down by the National was also cause for alteration of the format of the Girl Reserves programming. The new program was to be a suggestive program to be adapted to the needs and desires of the girls. The choices made by the members were to no longer be limited to the rotation of the four subjects of Health, Service, Knowledge, and Spirit. Instead a suggestion was made of four fundamental expressions of life through which programs may be planned.

First. Work- a creative production, both mental and manual.

Second. Recreation- a renewal of life, emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual.

Third. Fellowship-a consciousness of the value of other personalities, expressed through an outgoing of spirit and manifested by good acts.

Fourth. Religion- a consciousness of God in life, the dynamic for action.¹³

This change in fundamentals created a larger arena of acceptable activities for the girls. It provided them with room to explore their personal and group interests while still having a frame work to create projects around. Ideally, by putting girls thinking and planning at the center of club life it was a change that would allow them to move closer to becoming well rounded women.

In 1926 that the Girl Reserves were described as an," evolving process of work with girls."¹⁴ This ever evolving process gave way to another alteration in the foundation of the club that would cause even greater changes in the future. This was the introduction of the use of "interest groups". The exploration and evolution of the concern of focusing on the members interests lead to the development of a plan to allow the girls to divide into groups according to their interests. This was to provide the opportunity for members to focus on common goals and interests instead of all of them working on the same program as a group. It is my belief that this change was made to promote more independence and free thinking among the young women in the clubs. Also to enhance their opportunities to do work with girls that they might otherwise not connect with.

I feel, that the changes made in the 20’s and 30’s provided the framework for even bigger changes in the 40’s. The Portland area was faced with new industry, an increase in population and racial diversity ( due to the large number of Blacks that came to Portland for war time employment), a loosening of child labor laws, plus the fears and anxieties of war. The Girl Reserves provided a space for the young women of his period. However, I feel that because of the massive changes in the foundation of the Girl Reserves in the 20’s and 30’s that the Portland club was not fully prepared to deal with all of the new issues and tensions brought on by the War. The increase in responsibility, the change in fundamentals, and the allowed, even promoted, separation of the girls into specific interest groups created division, not only between the girls and the advisors but amongst the girls themselves. This can be seen through a description of the Portland community and the activities of the Girl Reserves during the 1940’s.

Portland was considered to be a smaller fishing and timber town before W.W.II began in 1941. It held no particular draw and furnished no specific allure. People lived here and died here, they did their jobs and raised their children . Portland was not a very culturally diverse community. There were groupings, as in every town, of Asians, African Americans, and Europeans. Then, W.W.II hit the mainland and all went into turmoil.

Shortly after the beginning of the War an aggressive industrialist by the name of Henry J. Kaiser began the production of ships on the banks of the Willamette River. The facility that Kaiser created and the number of people that he employed was at that time beyond compare. For a time nearly one hundred thousand people worked in the three Kaiser yards. Between mid 1941 and August of 1945 Kaiser constructed about 50 "baby flattop" aircraft carriers and several hundred Liberty Ships. ¹⁵ These impressive records are simple indicators of the massive population growth that took place in Portland within a four year period. Job seekers arrived from ranches in Idaho and Montana-even as far away as New York City.¹⁶ Many of the industrial workers came from outside of the Northwest but a portion of them came from smaller towns in the outlying region. This incredible boom in population was unexpected by Portland and resulted in many problems and challenges, especially for Portland youth.

The large quantities of youth that now found themselves in Portland were faced with the fact that there was no comfortable place for them to fit in to the community. This meant that they encountered poor housing conditions, inadequate recreational facilities, and over crowding at the local schools. During this time there was also a relaxing of the child labor laws which meant that youths as young as 14 were now working, and experiencing all of the freedoms and impulses that accompany freshly lined pockets.¹⁷ All of these factors contributed to a sharp increase in the juvenile delinquency rate in Portland. Between 1939 and 1942 the case load in juvenile court jumped 319 instances.¹⁸ The juvenile delinquency rate was also spurred on by the fact that a great number of youths at this time were forced to spend a great deal of their time alone. John Costello relates this concept clearly when he wrote, "Millions of families work out new adjustments, as the wife and mother plays the role of the absent husband and father. Millions of women go to work for the first time in their lives, often at hard and exacting manual labor in shipyard and aircraft factory. Millions of children some how learned to fend for themselves and come home from school to an empty and motherless house." ¹⁹

With the Portland community experiencing such incredible change the local organizations attempted to provide whatever help necessary. The local YWCA provided a great number of services to women and families. The current services at the time were of no match for the hundreds that came into the YW in search of housing, employment, and social services. As it had done in the years before, the YW quickly began to alter some of its programs to accommodate the changing needs of its members.

The fact that the Girl Reserves had been well established at the high school level before the War gave them a place in the schools during the War. This was important since the curriculum at local schools had gone through incredible alterations and left little the same as in pre-war times. The curriculum had been reformed to promote the full participation of youth and school personnel in war-related activities. There was a call for specialized courses of study - Morse Code, radio and television operation and repair, automobile maintenance and repair, and map reading -to prepare youths for military duty, All attentions were paid to advancing skills and providing training for the war effort. ²⁰

The place that the Girl Reserve Clubs held in high school ciriculum should have allowed them to be a large presence in the daily lives of a vast number of girls. However, in late 1941 and early1942 there was a noticeable drop in attendance, both on the high school level and at the YW itself. This drop in attendance was attributed to many factors: transportation limitations, high school students taking part time jobs, loss of volunteers to employment , poor scheduling of events, loss of satisfactory club supervision, and the loss of teachers that were interested in the clubs.

The girls that were still involved in the programs devoted themselves to doing various war related activities. I am limited in relating the scope of these activities since there was little information to be found during the years of 1941 to 1944. The information that I did find told of numerous hot cross bun sales and other fund raisers, visits to a local school for the blind, baby sitting jobs, and the filling of Christmas stockings for refugees and children in other countries. There was little mention of the internment of the Japanese members of the Girl Reserves. The only mention of those events was brief accounting of a ring ceremony, visits to the internment camps, and some correspondence.²¹ The over all sentiment towards the girls at this time can be seen in a letter that was sent down from National regarding the period from ‘41-’45.

"- the YWCA leaders generally recognizing that as girls became home makers, workers in business and industry, citizens, they needed activities that helped them to see and to accept themselves as responsible and capable persons who must work side by side with men in an equal status to build a good society."

It was not until after the war ended that their is any evidence in an increase in attendance in the Girl Reserves. I believe that this happened because of the fact that so much of the new population to Portland was busy dealing with the War and, once the War was ending, industry began to slow down and life started to resume a feeling of normality. The youth who had gained a new sense of freedom during the War were now looking for activities to fill some of their time. This is when they turned to the local organizations.

At this point the YW was faced with the fact that a large portion of the girls in the Advisory positions and in general membership of the Girl Reserve Clubs knew little or nothing about the principles of the programs. The loss of teachers as volunteers during the war greatly effected the running of the clubs. The Board felt that the leaders were too passive, and lacked the ability to stimulate the group. That in combination with the fact that the foundation of the club had been re-worked in the 30’s to allow the girls greater democratic participation , which may have been excellent planning then, perhaps gave the members too much control over activities or left them with a lack of clear direction. The War had caused a loosening of the ridged expectations of young ladies. There was a new found independence and sexual freedom, as can be seen in the statement made by one woman about her experience, " When ever young vital people meet in un usual and unsettling circumstances there will always be a permissive group. A free and easy-in some ways a slightly mad style of living took over. Wartime work was plentiful for us and men were there for the taking. No one would have thought of a date paying her own way before the war. But we didn’t feel obliged to allow favors, if we didn’t fancy the escort in "that" way."²² With little experience in having these freedoms and the permission to question the decisions of the Advisors in the clubs the focus of the Girl Reserves shifted. This shift can be seen in a number of areas. Let us keep in mind that the changes introduced in the 1930’s were changes made, perhaps, to encourage diversification, leadership, and free thinking. These alterations, while appropriate during the Depression may not have been well suited for the social changes caused by the War.

The juvenile delinquency rates , witch sky rocketed during the beginning of the War continued to do so once the War ended.²³ The YW considered the problems to revolve around: the availability of liquor to minors, questionable entertain ment for teens outside city limits, lack of enforcement of curfew laws, and an increase in truancy and sex delinquency among younger teens.²⁴ The Girl Reserves took action to attempt to help with this problems of juvenile delinquency in the city. In 1945 and 1946 the Girl Reserves opened up a number of Youth Canteens. The efforts and energies that the Girl Reserves put into the opening of the Canteens is an excellent example of the clubs shift from social service to social involvement in their community. These Canteens were to provide a safe social atmosphere in which kids could spend their time. The activities at these Canteens were mostly social; dances, parties, and time to simply hang out in a less supervised co-ed situation then was allowed in pre-war times. One of the most popular of the Canteens was the Starlight which opened up in 1946. At first there was little enthusiasm for it but after some publicity it gained a great deal of popularity. It made a noticeable impact on the delinquency rates and was one of the first social places that was open to all races.

This was not the first inter racial work that the YW had done. It had, from its foundation, always opened its doors to whom ever wished to participate in its programs. This is where I must bring up a change that was made in the 30’s that I believe greatly effected the happenings of the 1940’s. In the 1930’s a decision was made to allow the girls in the Girl Reserves to separate themselves into "interest groups".²⁵ During the 30’s when racial tensions were not as volatile as in the period right after the war this may have lead to a interracial division into interest groups but, now it simply seemed to lead to racial separation. When I looked at the way the groups seemed to form during the 40’s they did not form in divisions such as the Sewing G.R. Club, or the G.R. Club for Victory but the Chinese G.R. Club, the Williams Ave. G.R. Club( the Black Branch), and the delineation by High School, which meant another division by race this was caused by the fact that most high schools in the area were segregated. I do not see this type of separation as being fully supported by the YW , even though they did nothing to prevent it, but as a grouping that was instigated by the members of the individual Clubs.

This division caused some tensions between the separate groups of Girl Reserves. This is evident in the report from the Teen Age Department that was filed in 1945. The report stated that because of the decision made for the Williams Ave. Branch to cease functioning as a branch and to work toward racial integration the Trianon Club, a group of Negro Girl Reserves, was dissolved.

This question was not addressed until later when the committee decided that it might be better to try to integrate the Club instead of disbanding it because it had already been in existence for two years in this form. Still, integration was strongly opposed by the Chinese Club and I found no information on a resolution.

During these times of turmoil the YW faced another drop in their membership in the Girl Reserve Department. The national Branch made a decision to change the name of the Girl Reserves to the Y-Teens. This change was made reportedly in attempt to enc ourage a change in the perception of the club and its role in the community. The change was to discourage the club from being thought of as having military association and to help promote its social aspects. Also to help raise interest of potential new members. All of the changes in the community were seen as being reflected in the interests and the attitudes of the girls. It was very hard for the Y to find service projects which would hold the interests of high school girls. As one report phrased it, "We are faced with revamping our program if we are going to survive and do our job."²⁷ This revamping also took shape in the changing of the membership requirements of the YWCA. Before the War a member had to be affiliated with a church, signed to the YWCA purpose and if over 18 the fee to be an elector member was $1.50 and between the ages of 12-18 the fee to be a member was .50 cents. After the War, in 1948 the national Board shifted the age requirement from 18 to 17 to be an electoral member. Also one was no longer required to be affiliated with a church. It was unclear to me if these changes made a huge impact on participation levels or membership, but clearly the YW was seeking youth membership with new energy.

Through out history the Young Women’s Christian Association has always attempted to re-work their programs to better suit the needs and desires of their constituents. The Portland YWCA was faced with a difficult task in the 1940’s. There was not only the phenomenal growth in population but also massive shifts in social norms. The acceptance of women and blacks into the work force for the duration of the war caused a social shift that could never be returned to its previous state. The impact of the change was heightened by the fact that so many young people were expected to contribute to the war effort to their fullest potential. Once this demand had been mead of them there was no way one could expect them to fall back into their developmental pre-war state. I am of the opinion that the YWCA offered the young women of the Portland area a great deal of support and guidance during this time. It may be difficult to accept all of their practices and moves as ones that we would endorse now, such as their allowance of one type of race to form into a club as opposed to anther, but we must remember that the times were different then and that the YWCA attempted to provide for its constituents in the way that it saw best during that era. I am curious to see what the next students of this project un-veil veil about the YWCA in the 1950’s. It will be interesting to see if the changes made during the 1940’s had as big of an impact on the 1950’s as the changes made previous to the 1940’s did.

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