American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) was the largest American women's service organization in the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. AWVS provided women volunteers who provided support services to help the nation during the war such as message delivery, ambulance driving, selling

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...

, emergency kitchens, cycle corps drivers, dog-sled teamsters, aircraft spotters, navigation, aerial photography, fighting fires, truck driving, and

canteen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

workers. Some of its work overlapped with the

Office of Civilian Defense Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. Its two branches supervised protective function ...

and the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

Foundation

Alice Throckmorton McLean Alice Throckmorton McLean (1886–1968) was an American civic leader and founder of the American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) before the start of World War II. Life Alice Throckmorton McLean was born March 8, 1886, in New York City and w ...

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 The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

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 African, Chinese, and Hispanic American parts of the United States, which led to lampooning by the news media. 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 the war—their specific purpose was to support the war effort. Actresses who were AWVS members included

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

Hattie McDaniel Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, ...

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment indust ...

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

Notes

External links

Bill Guarnere site, who served with Lewis Nixon, discussion about AWVSSmithsonian National Air and Space Museum, American Women's Voluntary Services badgeUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro, American Women's Voluntary Services garrison cap, c. 1942University of North Carolina at Greensboro, American Women's Voluntary Services legionnaire kepi, c. 1942
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Women's Voluntary Services Organizations established in 1940 Clubs and societies in the United States United States home front during World War II World War II non-governmental organizations 1940 establishments in the United States

Foundation

See also

Notes

External links