red-cross-lecture

Suzanne Prabucki Collections Conversation at Dumbarton House 4/12/12 The Red Cross Years at Dumbarton House On March 25, 1942, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America officially reopened its Dumbarton House as a Red Cross Unit.

Continuing in their tradition of patriotic service,

the NSCDA had offered the house, its national headquarters to the emergency response organization for use as classrooms and production rooms. The services aided American servicemen and citizens overseas experiencing the effects of war. From 1942 to 1946, the first floor and basement were transformed into a wartime facility, hosting thousands of eager volunteers and students wishing to do their part to aid their fellow countrymen during an international crisis. The Red Cross era at Dumbarton House is just one of many examples of the Colonial Dames’ tireless and dedicated services to their country during times of war.

The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America holds a long tradition of commitment to America and armed forces with a mission that focuses on patriotic service.

During every major military conflict that the United States has faced, the Dames have provided service and dedication to the armed forces. NSCDA’s military services began with the 1898 with the financing of operating rooms on American hospital ships and the dedication of a memorial to those fallen in the Spanish American War (1898-1900). They took their efforts further during World War I, sponsoring ambulance ships and producing surgical bandages for American troops fighting in Europe. Additionally, the Dames provided a silk American flag “presented to the first American Troops sent abroad to serve in the war of 1917.” 1 In December 1941, the United States entered World War II, a conflict already observed

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Letter to Mrs. Dexter from Mrs. Charles R. Miller, September 1 , 1917. Archives of the NSCDA

for two years by increasingly concerned Americans. American citizens on the home front had already begun volunteering their time to provide relief to war ravaged Europeans when the Dames began mobilizing in early 1942. By the start of War, the NSCDA had owned and cared for Dumbarton House for over a decade. With a record of dedication to support military and Patriotic activities, it was only fitting that the Dames renew their relief efforts to the military during a time of conflict. As then-President Mrs. Ethelbert Ide Low stated in 1942, “Our Dames have always tried to teach history and patriotism in days of peace, so it is not so hard to carry on now that our Country is at War.”2 In January 1942, the National Board of the NSCDA voted to offer the ground floor of Dumbarton House, its National Headquarters and beloved museum, to the Red Cross as a service unit for the organization. Mrs. Low spoke on behalf of the board noting that “although old houses are valuable, they are not as valuable as the boys in the Service whom we wish to help, many of them being our own sons.”3 The Red Cross gratefully accepted the offer, and Dumbarton House closed down as a museum to transform the building into a Red Cross facility. Members of the NSCDA oversaw the safe removal of artifacts and furniture to storage and the installation of a protective linoleum floor over its historic wooden floors. The basement was made over into a break room for volunteer workers. Besides organizing their own volunteer efforts locally, various state societies contributed financially to aid in purchasing items needed for the unit including chairs and blackboards for classrooms and sewing machines for garment production. In a ceremony that took place on March 25, 1942, the NSCDA officially dedicated Dumbarton House to the Red Cross for the duration of World War II. The activities at Dumbarton House were organized and successful. From the 2 3

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The Messenger. March 1942.

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The Messenger. March 1942.

beginning, the Red Cross offered classes in Nutrition, First Aid, Nurses Aid training and Home Nursing in two rooms that had been transformed into classrooms. By October 1943, the dining room was put into use as a production room when the Red Cross entrusted the Dames and their volunteers to sew surgical wrappings and bandages: two items in high demand from medical units overseas efforts.

By the War’s end, 750 students received training and passed their examinations to provide medical assistance at home and abroad. Volunteers, totaling 2,400 during the War, produced over 200,000 bandages and surgical wrappings, doubling their quota each month.

Volunteers sewed and sent almost 2,500 garments and bags to citizens affected by the war overseas.

Dumbarton House was “returned” to the NSCDA by the Red Cross in a ceremony on October 30, 1945. In their gratefulness, the Red Cross gifted the Dames with the Red Cross flag that hung over their museum’s doors in its years of wartime service.

In addition to their Red Cross efforts, the Dames provided several other support services during World War II. The most well known endeavor was the U.S.O center at Ketchikan, Alaska. A remote defense outpost on America’s frozen shores, servicemen were isolated from familiar comforts and civilization. From 1941 to 1946, the NSCDA supported center served almost 940,000 troops, providing them with dormitories, laundry facilities, a canteen, a library, a game room and parties “in which the nicer girls of the town [would] participate.”4 Following in their long tradition of patriotic service, the Dames continued to contribute to subsequent war efforts. They financed two hospital ships during the Vietnam War. They also produced and sent “ditty bags,” the equivalent of care packages, to troops serving there. Today,

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Letter from Mrs. Marshall Prentiss, July 24, 1943. Archives of NSCDA.

NSCDA supports men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan by sending care packages, letters and phone cards among many other items.

Since its founding in 1891, the National Society of the Colonial Dames has shown outstanding support and dedication to patriotic activities, perhaps none so much as its selfless offer of its national headquarters to the Red Cross during World War II. The Red Cross Years at Dumbarton House shows us the tireless and dedicated work of the Dames in a world at war.