Signs of peace and sanity: Baptist women and World War II.

On December 8, 1941, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared war on the Axis powers, Baptist women were caught up in the maelstrom that rocked the world for four long years.

Like their Christian sisters around the globe, these women found themselves part of the support system for the war effort, coping with diminished families as loved ones joined the armed forces, and, in the madness of world bloodlust, Baptist women attempted to maintain an ethos of normalcy for the folks at home and for the service personnel who risked their lives each day. This article examines how Baptist women in America dealt with the reality of World War II and created "signs of peace and sanity" in their homes, churches, and communities. (1)

Already heavily involved in the church, Baptist women heightened that involvement for the duration of the war. They took on more responsibilities at every level of Baptist life as the men went to war. They extended their missionary efforts to aid refugees and prisoners of war, and the women accepted a broader range of duties within their local communities World War II forced Baptist women to function outside their comfort zones, and the women did a magnificent job.

Status Quo in 1941

In 1941, women taught Sunday School, led Baptist Training Union, and directed Young People's programs. Among Northern Baptists, women served as state convention officers, (2) on convention committees, and as directors of various convention agencies-usually dealing with education, missions, or benevolence. (3) Women often led in work with the youth and children at the state level.

Among Southern Baptists in 1941, when lifetime dues for the Southern Baptist Historical Society were only $10.00, women had a weaker voice at every level, with the exception of the Woman's Missionary Union (WMU), Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). No woman held a state convention office, and normally only the state WMU leader served on important boards. Even then, state conventions commonly appointed no women to their executive boards or financial committees. (4) Arkansas Baptists created an exception to this norm when they appointed Mrs. B. W. Nininger as music director for the state in 1942. (5)

At the local level, the most extensive woman's organizations among Baptists were the American Baptist Woman's Missionary Society (ABWMS) and the Woman's Missionary Union. I will focus chiefly, but not exclusively, on the WMU because of that organization's penchant for annual reports. I must acknowledge that not every Southern Baptist church had a WMU; but in 1941, the WMU had 41,719 organizations in the SBC and gave more than $3,200,000 to missions and benevolence work. (6) With these numbers, it is no surprise that state agencies identified the church WMU leader as the representative for the women of the congregation. In Georgia, for example, the leader received information from the associational and, state offices and a subscription to the Christian Index so she could keep the women apprised of needs and opportunities. (7) As the Kansas Convention reported, "... the best organized and most effective group in our churches is the Woman's Union." (8) Through the work of women's missionary groups, state papers, and annual meeting reports, we learn how World War II affected Baptist women.

Wartime Activities

As one sate convention reported in 1942, "[F]aced with problems, questions, heartaches and challenges ... our Woman's program moved forward gloriously to the ask with faith and courage." (9) I must admit, I was surprised by the level of involvement of Baptist women in programs designed to aid refugees and prisoners of war, programs to provide soldiers with necessities, and efforts to help the hundreds of thousands of people flocking to the new, industrial centers looking for work in the war effort

Perhaps the most important work for Baptist women during the war was to keep the churches and other Baptist entities going. The restrictions imposed by wartime regulations forced them to focus on their local church work. The limited use of automobiles called for "intensive development locally." (10) As young men and young women joined the armed forces, traditional teachers and leaders grew scarce. Roberta Patterson wrote of Baptist women in Texas, "As usual, [they] were giving their best attention to what they could do, and refusing to be hampered by restrictions, forced upon them by circumstances." (11) Attending First Baptist Church in New Orleans in 1944, Millie Bishop was impressed with the number of women in visible leadership positions. (12) As the war continued, some churches hired women to lead educational and children's ministries, and women found themselves exercising ministerial authority. For example, in 1944, Beth Stone became the visitation minister for East Washington Heights Baptist Church, and Kathleen Hoots became the assistant pastor of Chevy Chase Baptist Church. (13) At the sate level, the number of women hired as state workers with Sunday School, Baptist Student work, and Baptist Training Union increased.

One area of service shared by Northern and Southern Baptist women dealt with White Cross projects. Northern Baptists began the White Cross ministry more than seventy-five years ago. It is a program through which Baptists provide "needed supplies to diversified ministries." Supporting Baptist work in the United Sates and overseas, gifts to the White Cross met specific needs, especially for medical ministries and schools. (14) The Florida WMU supported a hospital in Kweilin, China, through the White Cross; the Georgia WMU helped Warren Memorial Hospital in China and the Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta. Baptist women sent bandages, toys, medicine, school supplies, whatever was needed, to Baptist outposts around the world for the duration of the war. (15)

The plight of Russian refugees and prisoners of war weighed heavily on Baptists. North and South, Baptist women put together Russia War Relief Kits. By 1945, Russian War Relief, Inc., the SBC White Cross committee, collected and shipped 175,000 kits and then called for 100,000 more. The kits included items ranging from hard candy to surgical bandages. (16) Among Northern Baptists, individual conventions collected kits for Russia, the Philippines, and Western Europe. In 1944, for example, Illinois Baptist women sent 2,700 kits to Russia and more than 3,600 cartons of goods for Christmas boxes for Western Europe and the Philippines. (17) Baptist women eased the suffering of thousands of refugees and prisoners through their organized giving.

Northern Baptists began the World Emergency Relief Fund, and Southern Baptists worked through the Foreign Mission Board to funnel money to that fund. In the North, Baptists formed committees in the church to raise this money, which went to overseas mission efforts. The committee consisted of the pastor, the "president of the women," a representative layman and a representative young person. (18) Although the committees included the church leaders, the women most often carried the responsibility for raising money. Southern Baptist women embraced the relief fund and followed the lead of Kathleen Mallory, George W. Truett, W. W. Hamilton, and Louie D. Newton to raise $300,000 for the Fund in 1942. (19) As director of the national WMU, Kathleen Mallory made sure that Baptist women supported this drive. Although most of the WMU money was sent to China, other funds went wherever need existed. Baptist women took their citizenship seriously and recognized that a Christian woman "can make a difference" in a war-ravaged world. (20)

Baptist women often worked through agencies to extend aid wherever it was needed. In Virginia, Baptist women helped with the Civilian Defense groups, the American Woman's Voluntary Service units, "and other defense measures" as they sprang up in the state. (21) More than any other secular organization, Baptist women worked with the Red Cross. The women of the First Baptist Church of Rocksprings, Texas, exemplify such involvement. During the war, these women sewed pajama patterns, slop jar covers, and quilts for the soldiers. The Red Cross provided the materials, and the women provided the will and way to complete these projects. (22) Even in wartime, however, Baptist women kept track of their time and energy. At one point, the Red Cross director asked the Rocksprings' women to collect "kits" for the servicemen, and the churchwomen decided they did not have the time or money to make the kits. (23)

The Red Cross sponsored first-aid classes in Baptist churches under the auspices of the women. When the Georgia state convention met in 1943, Mrs. Rosser appealed for donations to a Red Cross blood drive. (24) And Baptist women contributed through the Red Cross when they went to the war zone as nurses. Victoria Parsons, a member of the Anacostia Baptist Church in Maryland, served in Australia as a Red Cross nurse. (25)

Foremost on the minds of the Baptist women were the service personnel and their well-being. From the pajamas and slop jar covers the Rocksprings' women made, to the establishment of "Mothers' Service Clubs" to aid the families of servicemen, Baptist women cared for the warriors and their loved ones. (26) Baptists ministered to soldiers on leave by offering good housing for little money. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Mrs. J. L. Fisk ran the Baptist Soldiers' Center, and through her work in 1942, and that of the resident chaplain, more than 100 soldiers became Christians, and hundreds more rededicated their lives to the Lord. (27)

Evangelism, prayer, and service went hand in hand for Baptist women. At the 1942 state convention, the Georgia WMU included in its report:

   There is no doubt that the members of the W.M.U. will have many calls upon
   time and resources for patriotic purposes and they will respond to these
   calls, but it is expected of them that these very calls will be but
   reminders of the stewardship they are to [give] God and their
   responsibility in Kingdom building. (28)

The need for evangelism and prayer caused women to pledge themselves to "more earnest prayer and devotion in this time of need." Prayer became "a bridge to bring [loved ones] home on." (29)

Baptist women took the spiritual needs of the people at home seriously. At every level of organization, women echoed the desire to minister to the spiritual hunger prevalent in America. Particularly vulnerable to the evil unleashed by war, the young people possessed a special need for guidance and care. In 1942, a group of Baptist women from Arkansas put it this way: "Through these days so fraught with anxiety for the world may we pledge ourselves to an `all-out' defense by building spiritual fortifications against the evils of the day in the hearts and lives of our young people." (30)

To an extent, helping others assuaged the pain each woman felt. Focusing on an immediate need took their minds off the danger their loved ones faced and the despair they confronted each day. By "rendering real Christian service," (31) these women found solace in war-torn America.

Although the number of Baptist women serving in the military was small, those who served deserve mention, because they contributed to ending the war. On the home front, churches periodically honored servicewomen with special commemorations, like "Waves' Sunday" observed by North Carolina Baptists in 1944. (32) On the battlefield, women functioned as nurses, administrative personnel, ground transportation personnel, and pilots. Women like Pauline Zumwalt, of Retama Park Baptist Church in Kingsville, Texas, who served with the 57th Women's Army Corps, as a medical technician, and Anna Mac Clarke, a National Baptist woman from Anderson, Kentucky, who served with the Woman's Army Corps, became models of bravery for the women back home. (33)

I want to highlight the story of one Baptist woman in the service. Ruth Dailey Helm served with the Women Air force Service Pilots, whose jobs included "ferrying and flight testing aircraft, transporting cargo and personnel, and serving as instrument and flight instructors." (34) Ruth "flew everything from fighters to the biggest bombers, about twenty-two different aircraft" and never lost one. All through the war she carried a card her pastor, Walter E. Floyd, gave her when she enlisted. The text on the card went something like this:

Commissioned for Christ and Country

   "Put on the whole armour of God ... and having done all ... stand." This is
   to recognize the bearer, Ruth Ellen Dailey of Grapeland, Texas, as an
   Ambassador of Christ and a Representative at Large of the First Baptist
   Church of Grapeland, Texas.

(Signed) Walter E. Floyd

Five Scripture verses were listed on the back of the card. (35) Ruth Dailey Helm exemplified the best of the Baptist women who served in the military. She was competent, determined, caring, and serious about her faith.

Challenges Faced

Baptist women dealt with rationing like everyone else. They didn't like it; yet, they recognized the need for such measures and did what they could within the restrictions. Gasoline and tire rationing made state annual meetings, associational meetings, and camps for children difficult to plan and execute. Rationing decreased the ability of Baptist women to engage in long-distance programing; attendance at meetings dropped and some were cancelled. The Arkansas WMU reported that in 1944: "Co-operating with the government in the interest of the war effort, the State W. M. U. annual meeting and the annual district meetings were not held." (36) The work with the Young Women's Association [YWA] suffered because many of the young women worked at night in war plants In 1943, the District Nine WMU report from Texas noted, "War, sorrow in many homes, difficulty in travel, and many of the women and girls engaged in war work, has had its effect on our meetings." (37)

However, with optimism, Baptist women held meetings when possible and made reports regularly. Sometimes criticizing fellow workers for using rationing as an excuse not to be involved in church work, (38) most Baptist women echoed the words of the Arkansas WMU that "in view of prevailing conditions," attendance at meetings was down but still good. (39)

A major concern of Baptists during the war was the spiritual condition of the thousands of people flocking to urban centers to work in defense jobs. Young women and men were "inexperienced and away from the positive environment of their home." (40) Church leaders feared the young people would seek diversions rather than God as they relocated to the cities. Baptist women voiced concern over their churches' lack of interest in helping the industry workers. In 1942, Nellie M. Yaden told the District of Columbia Convention, "Far too few of our church members are actively engaged in the great missionary enterprise." (41) Urging direct mission involvement, Baptist women launched a program to minister to the burgeoning population centers.

The Home Mission Board of the SBC began the "City Mission Project" to establish churches in cities exploding with growth because of the defense industry. (42) A case study can be made of the City Mission Project carried out in Portsmouth, Virginia. In 1943, the city grew by 22,000 new people, and sixteen residential areas were built to house these folks. The Virginia WMU targeted "Victory Village," a development with 4,250 homes, for their initial effort. Employing Allie Lee Arendell full-time to help start churches, the women methodically conducted a religious survey of Victory Village. They began a Sunday School in the home of an interested defense worker. A prayer meeting started next, and later a children's Story Hour commenced. Two missions began from these efforts. Encouraged by the work done by the women, South Street Baptist Church and Port Norfolk Baptist Church accepted sponsorship of the missions. Baptist women worked to bring the gospel and the church to unchurched war workers. North and South, Baptist women echoed the words Mrs. Norwood Richardson, one of the Portsmouth project leaders, wrote:

   We must realize that this is an emergency enterprise.... Our concern is to
   reach and win and enlist persons for Jesus Christ, no matter where they
   are, where they come from, or where they are going.... We will supply the
   loaves and fishes. God will work the miracle. (43)

The last challenge this article will address is the growing rhetoric among Baptist leaders calling on women to leave their jobs and return home. The issue confronted by Baptist women grew from a Federal Bureau of Investigation report published by the United Press and credited to J. Edgar Hoover. Titled "Juvenile Delinquency," the 1943 document quantified a massive increase in juvenile crime, disclosing an "alarming breakdown in the moral standards of juveniles, especially among minor girls." Relating to young women, the report stated that, in 1942, arrests for sex offenses went up 104 percent, arrests for drunkenness increased 40 percent, and disorderly conduct arrests grew by 70 percent. (44)

The report also claimed that minor girls were the "center of America's new crime wave." Citing "salacious and crime-reeking movies" and "cheap yellow books, magazines, and pictures" as factors in the surge of delinquency, the report called on women to take responsibility for addressing the problem. The Georgia Convention's Social Service Commission suggested six actions to stem the tide of delinquency. The last recommendation was a "return to the home of working mothers and the rearing of their children in Christian character." The commission's report quoted Judge Garland Watkins of Atlanta: "I cannot believe that any amount of' activity on the part of our women, out of the home, however wisely directed, can ever compensate for a mother's guiding influence, even though authority and instruction may be delegated to worthy, capable assistants." (45) In the middle of the war years, Baptist women found themselves faced with the age-old accusation that moral disintegration was their fault and that only they could effect a cure.

Baptist entities passed resolutions calling on women to return home. The Potomac Association in Virginia declared one reason for the increase in juvenile delinquency was the absence of mothers from home and that, "We therefore urge upon our people to use their influence to keep the mothers of children 15 years and younger out of positions that will separate them from their children during the strategic days in their life."

The WMU members, at the same meeting, adopted a similar resolution encouraging women with teenage or younger children not to work outside the home. (46) Some Baptist leaders, like H. C. Caldwell of Virginia, went further to declare, "We can appreciate the necessity for women to work in industry & business. But we cannot believe that it is either patriotic or necessary for mothers of growing children to do so." Granting that understandably men would be gone from home, only grandmothers, childless married women, and single women should work in defense jobs. (47) Although their church work was not directly criticized, Baptist women had to make decisions about how to spend their time. Long on rhetoric but short on helpful suggestions, none of the critics outlined how a single-income family could survive without the mother working, or what responsibility the churches bore in making it possible for women to quit their defense jobs.

Conclusion

Spinning in the maelstrom of World War II, Baptist women strove to create a lifeline to "peace and sanity" by maintaining as "normal" an existence as possible. For example, even with all the war work taking place, the WMU continued to emphasize the Standard of Excellence each church group should achieve, (48) not for the sake of conformity, but to keep up the semblance of rational existence in the middle of chaos. The women worked hard to keep meetings on the denominational schedule. Low attendance was not an issue, because, as an Illinois woman said in 1943, "[I]n spite of all the changes that war brings, our program was carried on as usual." (49) Continuing the normal routine gave Baptist women a sense of security and helped them stay focused on issues other than the war.

Routine religious duties imparted a sense of control in an out-of-control world. Daily prayers for missionaries remained high on the list of priorities for Baptist women. Concerned about missionaries taken prisoner or otherwise affected by the war, Baptist women kept up the practice of praying for these ministers. When war broke out, Southern Baptists had 105 missionaries in Japan, China, and Manila, captured by the Japanese. More than 100 missionaries remained in the U. S. because they could not travel to these fields. (50) These missionaries, like Ruth Ford of China, addressed Baptist women's groups, encouraging them to keep up the routine of prayer because "the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is still being carried on." (51)

Doing ordinary things in extraordinary circumstances gave stability to Baptist women. So, Texas Baptist women raised support for women's colleges like Mary Hardin-Baylor, collected money to build a men's dorm at Howard Payne College, and maintained contributions for the Margaret Fund students and to students on WMU scholarships. (52) Baptist women worked at creating "normalcy" during abnormal times.

The world could never be the same for these women. It enlarged because of the war. Foreign places became household names, and never again could Baptist women dream in isolation. In 1944, Katie Murray, a missionary in Calcutta, wrote North Carolina Baptists, "Let us pray for a mighty revival that shall prepare [God's] people to meet the missionary opportunity after the war." (53) In that same year, Mrs. Gene Townsend of Texas wrote, "[Let us] strive to take advantage of the opportunity to Christianize nations, beginning at home, that will present themselves, when the world is again at peace." (54)

Baptist women faced the same issues of death and disorder that confronted all women in America. They employed their organizational skills to work for the church, and agencies like the Red Cross. Women raised huge sums of money for war relief, and they maintained a "stiff-upper-lip" in the face of adversity. Perhaps, the two factors that made their response different from secular groups were their existing organizations and their reliance on God. Baptist women's efforts tended to center on missions work, and they were most fully involved in the war effort through their missions organizations.

They recognized a new era would dawn with the end of conflict. Healing needed to take place, and their tasks would multiply to speed that process. Baptist women had faced and had overcome the perils of women at war. In 1945, they confronted the perils of women at peace. At the 1945 Florida state convention, Mrs. Frank Bamberg wisely reflected on this issue: "Now that the war is over and the world is at peace once more, the need for healing the war-torn countries will even be greater in the future than in the past." (55) While rejoicing at the ending of World War II, Baptist women already looked to the challenge of the future.

Notes

(1.) Report, Illinois Baptist State Convention, 1945, 45.

(2.) For example, Mrs. J. B. Schwitzgebel served as second vice president for the Kansas Baptist Convention. See, Annual, Kansas Baptist Convention, 1942, 3.

(3.) Dorothy Leek was assistant director of the Christian Education Department of the Northern California Baptist Convention, while Muriel Ferguson headed the Christian Friendliness Department. See, Baptist Annual, Northern California Baptist Convention and Nevada-Sierra, 1942, 3, 17, 36.

(4.) Annual, Alabama Baptist State Convention, 1941, 143-45; Minutes, Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, 1942, 2-10.

(5.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 59-60. She had served in this capacity, without the title, for years and was held in high esteem by the people of Arkansas.

(6.) "Southern Baptists Meet in San Antonio," Christian Index 122 (June 4, 1942): 13. In Alabama, in 1941, some 25,625 women held membership in the WMU organizations, and these women had raised $364,000 for the Lottie Moon Offering. See Annual, Alabama Baptist State Convention, 1941, 83, 129.

(7.) Minutes, Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, 1942, 83.

(8.) Annual, Kansas Baptist Convention, 1942, 49. This statement came in the "Report on the Condition of the Churches."

(9.) Ibid., 42. This was part of the Kansas Baptist Woman's Union report.

(10.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 65.

(11.) Roberta Turner Patterson, Candle By Night ([Dallas]: Woman's Missionary Union of Texas, 1955), 112.

(12.) Statement by Amelia M. Bishop, personal interview, January 29, 2001.

(13.) Minutes, District of Columbia Baptist Convention, 1944, 22, 24.

(14.) <http://chasbt.org/ABW%20Ministries.html>; <http://1baptist.com/ abcusa/healing.htm>.

(15.) Annual, Florida Baptist State Convention, 1943, 118; Minutes, Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, 1943, 87.

(16.) Mary Currin, "Let's Help!" Biblical Recorder 110 (January 5, 1944): 17; Hunt, 47. The kits contained certain items and specific instructions for packing. The average box held hard candy, evaporated milk, dehydrated soup mix, bullion cubes, cookies, men's socks, towels, soap, surgical bandages, tape and a sewing kit with pins, needles, thread, and buttons.

(17.) Report, Illinois, 1945, 59.

(18.) Baptist Annual, Northern California Baptist Convention, 1943, 9.

(19.) Christian Index 122 (March 12, 1942): 4, 9.

(20.) Catherine B. Allen, A Century to Celebrate (Birmingham: Woman's Missionary Union, 1987), 262. By 1947, the national WMU gave over $1 million in relief monies to Japan, Europe, and Russia. See Report, Illinois Baptist State Convention, 1943, 77.

(21.) Marel Brown, "The Signal Notes," Religious Herald 122 (January 8, 1942): 18.

(22.) Woman's Missionary Union, Minutes, vol. IV: 1942-1945, First Baptist Church, Rocksprings, Tex., October 19, 1942; November 2, 1942; October 25, 1943. Microfiche, Texas Collection, Baylor University.

(23.) Ibid., January 10, 1944. The women never led their own Bible studies. The pastor, Brother Swindoll, would lead the study and leave when they began transacting business.

(24.) Baptist Annual, Northern California, 1943, 15; Minutes, Georgia, 1943, 18.

(25.) Minutes, District of Columbia Baptist Convention, 1942, 21.

(26.) Isabella Moore, "A War-Time Service Committee," Christian Index 122 (March 12, 1942): 17.

(27.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 32.

(28.) Minutes, Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, 1942, 91.

(29.) Report, Illinois, 1943, 78; Mrs. B. Y. Tyner, "'For Ye Serve the Lord Christ': Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Session of the Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina in Charlotte, March 7, 1944," Biblical Recorder 110 (March 29, 1944): 4.

(30.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 65.

(31.) Ibid., 62.

(32.) Biblical Recorder 110 (February 9, 1944): 23.

(33.) <http://www.caller.com/2000/October/17/obituariestext.html>; <http://www.coax.net/ people/lwf/amc_post.html>.

(34.) Lisa Asher, "Taking Flight," Baylor Line 61 (Spring 2000): 7.

(35.) Statement by Nelda Kent, e-mail, January 31, 2001. Arizona recently inducted Helm into the state Aviation Hall of Fame. See Statement by Nelda Kent, e-mail, January 30, 2001.

(36.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1945, 25.

(37.) Patterson, 113.

(38.) Minutes, Potomac Baptist Association of Virginia, 1942, 23.

(39.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 63.

(40.) [O. P. Gilbert], "Comments on the Convention," Christian Index 122 (December 23, 1942): 9.

(41.) Minutes, District of Columbia, 1944, 117.

(42.) Patterson, 113.

(43.) Mrs. Norwood B. Richardson, "Our Work in the Defense Area," Religious Herald 116 (April 5, 1943): 14-15.

(44.) "Social Service Commission Report," Minutes, Baptist State Convention of Georgia, 1943, 34.

(45.) Ibid., 35.

(46.) Minutes, Potomac Baptist Association of Virginia, 1943, 22-23, 47.

(47.) H. C. Bradshaw, "Juvenile Delinquency," Religious Herald 116 (August 26, 1943): 4.

(48.) Minutes, Potomac Association, 1942, 30.

(49.) "WBMS Report," Minutes, Illinois Baptist State Convention, 1943, 75.

(50.) Annual, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1942, 53.

(51.) Minutes, Shelby County Baptist Association (Tenn.), 1942, 11.

(52.) H. Leon McBeth, Texas Baptists: A Sesquicentennial History (Dallas: Baptist Press, 1998), 219; Hunt, 46.

(53.) Katie Murray, "Letter from Katie Murray," Biblical Recorder 110 (December 13, 1944): 11.

(54.) "Report of the Resolutions Committee," Minutes, Bell County Baptist Association of Texas, 1944, 10.

(55.) Annual, Florida Baptist State Convention, 1945, 152.

Rosalie Beck is associate professor, Department of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.