American Women's Voluntary Services: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:48, 8 May 2011
 AWVS members in various AWVS uniforms, 1942 | |
| Formation | 1940 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Service |
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 (WWII).[1] AWVS provided women volunteers who provided support services to help the nation during the war such as message delivery, ambulance driving, selling war bonds, 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.[2]
Alice Throckmorton McLean founded AWVS in January 1940,[3] 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 founder were wealthy internationalist women and its headquarters was in New York City, so America's isolationists were suspicious of AWVS. Others saw it as being alarmist. Despite these concerns, AWVS had about 18,000 members by the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.[3] Doris Ryer Nixon founded the California chapter in August 1941 and became AWVS' national vice president.[4] Nixon is the mother of Lewis Nixon III, an Army paratrooper officer during WWII who is featured prominently in Band of Brothers.[5][6][7]
AWVS also encountered resistance because some men did not want women working and it sponsored units is African, Chinese, and Hispanic parts of America.[3] This also led to lampooning by the media. By 1944, despite hundreds of thousands of volunteers and large efforts to help win the war, AWVS was accused of being lazy and the leaders decided to disband the organization at the end of the war. Also, they were formed for the specific purpose of supporting the war, which had been won.[3]
Actresses who were AWVS include Joan Crawford,[8] Hattie McDaniel, andLillian Randolph.[9][10] AMVS inspired other volunteer service groups, such as "Laguna Cottages for Seniors".[4]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Partners in Winning the War: American Women in WWII". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ "CIVILIAN DEFENSE: The Ladies!". TIME. 26 Jan 1942. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d Weatherford, Doris (2010). American Women During WWII. New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 21–23. ISBN 0-203-87066-2.
- ^ a b Redmond, Michael (20 Jun 2009). "Laguna Cottages History of Senior Living Housing". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ "Blanche Nixon to Make Debut". Los Angeles Times. December 18, 1941. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
Blanche Nixon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope Nixon of ... Cold Spring Road, Montecito, a freshman at Stanford, will be formally to society at the San ...
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Social Notes," New York Times 1922-03-23 (announcing birth) and "Died," New York Times, 1922-05-23 (announcing death).
- ^ "Drama: Band of Brothers". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ Quirk, Lawrence J. (2002). [Joan Crawford: the essential biography Joan Crawford: the essential biography]. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press. p. 124. ISBN 0-8131-2254-6.
{{cite book}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ Rea, E.B. (8 May 1943). "Encores and Echoes". Baltimore Afro-American. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
- ^ "Network and Local Radio Listings". The Sunday Sun. 4 Jan 1942. Retrieved 8 Jan 2011.
External links
- Bill Guarnere site, who served with Lewis Nixon, discussion about AWVS
- History of British Women's Voluntary Service
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, American Women's Voluntary Servicesbadge
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, American Women's Voluntary Services garrison cap, circa 1942
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, American Women's Voluntary Services legionnaire kepi, circa 1942