Pennsylvania Piecemaker

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Women and World War 1: Part 3

Aside from the Red Cross, nurses were employed in the Army and Navy as part of the "nursing corps" for each branch. The Army Nurse Corps were supposed to be far from the battlefied; conditions changed and some women served along the front to care for wounded and soldiers who experienced gas related injuries.

One article I read said that only three nurses were wounded by shellfire. However, much like we battle COVID-19 without a cure (or vaccine), there was no cure for the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. 272 died of diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, and pneumonia. 19 more nurses passed from disease in the Navy corps; half of those were from Influenza.

Grace Banker received the Distinguished Service Award for her work with the U. S. Army Signal Corps.

Another group of women that you may begin to hear about are the U. S. Army Signal Corps Female Operators Unit. These women were recruited by General Pershing who had become frustrated with the problems of communications in France. There is a documentary about them now called "The Hello Girls" and even a Broadway show with the same title. You can read more about these women here.

I must tell you that these women were not acknowledged as veterans and did not receive their proper pension or acknowledgement until 1978.

The Women's Land Army of American mirrored the already established British model. They provided much needed food during the war. Many suffrage gardens (yes that was a thing) converted to what we now call "Victory Gardens" as well. Read about the Land Army here.

Have a good day and stay in, stay safe, and stay healthy!

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Women and World War 1: The Red Cross

Today's response to the news is not unlike the volunteer army that sprang up during World War I.

My business partner Beth, an amazing seamstress, pattern tester, and sewing teacher has been making about 100 masks per weekend (she works during the week remotely) for the healthcare providers and social service groups in her region. She started early because she heard from a family member that there was a need at her local hospital. I am figuring she has made about 500 or so already.

Many of you have been doing the same in attempt to provide some relief to our community.

People generally want to help in any crisis. I had been making masks with ties because I had no elastic. It's time consuming to do the ties; I mentioned this to one elderly lady in the neighborhood. Suddenly the elderly women in my neighborhood sprang into action: this was something they could do for the common good. Most are too old to sew anymore but many had elastic in their old sewing kits. I began to get calls to pick up elastic from front porches and sometimes I go out in the morning and find a package on my front porch. Thank you!

The same occurred during World War I. There isn't any newspaper that I've read from any part of the country that doesn't have multiple articles about the American Red Cross and local support each day. World War I was a game changer for the American Red Cross.

Although it had been founded by Clara Barton in 1881, the organization really didn't get much public support until the Johnstown Flood here in Pennsylvania in 1889. 67 year old Clara Barton (and a staunch supporter of women's suffrage) with a handful of volunteers moved to the cite town and immediately began assisting and organizing. Barton herself stayed there until October of that year. A brief article can be found here.

During World War I, Red Cross Chapters jumped from 107 in 1914 to 3,864 in 1918. Four hundred million dollars were raised for the organization during the war.

Folks were encouraged to knit socks for the soldiers. A similar drive had occurred during the Civil War when it was said that no woman was found who didn't have an interesting appendage off her hand (the socks she was knitting).

Quilts were made as fundraisers and if you were lucky enough to attend the Red and White Exhibit in New York a few years ago, they had a lot of these signature quilts exhibited.

Close ups from some of my quilts depicting different aspects of the war. My belief is that these images were hand drawn and then embroidered because I haven't seen these patterns anywhere else.

The American Red Cross also supplied personnel. 18,000 Red Cross Nurses served and another 4,800 women served as ambulance drivers.

There was a reason why folks celebrated the soldiers and Red Cross women by memorializing them in photographs of the children. Tomorrow we will learn more about the women heroes of the war.

Stay in, stay safe, stay well dear readers!

Monday, April 6, 2020

Women and World War 1

The United States entered World War 1 on April 16, 1917. Women jumped to service--as they had during the Civil War and as they would again during World War 2.

By 1917, there were two factions of suffragists--The National Woman's Party (NWP) under the leadership of Alice Paul and the National American Woman's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) led by Carrie Chapman Catt.

The NWP did NOT make a public gesture of support for the war for various reasons--mainly because Alice Paul had a singular focus--the passing of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment (the 19th Amendment). They continued to picket the White House and were subsequently arrested and tortured which we have already discussed.

This does not mean that all the women in the NWP didn't participate in war efforts. There simply was no public statement made by the organization.

Carrie Chapman Catt took a different stance. The NAWSA was the mainstream suffrage organization and had a very large membership in comparison with the NWP. Catt's position was that women could work both for suffrage and the war effort. Most regional suffrage groups did participate in war efforts and I've posted some stories here for you.

An article to read about suffrage during World War I is here.

Tomorrow we shall talk about the Red Cross.

Until then, stay safe dear readers!

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Deeds Not Words

"Deeds Not Words" was the rallying cry of British Suffragettes as they fought for the vote. It is my favorite slogan of suffrage and one that I think would be useful even today. Imagine how some young people's lives would be different if they had been taught by their parents to perceive the people they dated by their actions and not by their rhetoric.

Today our planet is under siege in a way that has never occurred in modern history. It is with pride that I can point out that our people--mostly sewists who read this--our expressing their compassion, support, and patriotism by making masks and surgical hats for the medical community. Already on March 25, the New York Times ran an article called "A Sewing Army. Making Masks for America". You can read it here.

We do this not for praise but out of compassion and willingness to be useful at this time. My father used to say if you can't change something, let it go; but if you can change something than do something about it. Maybe you aren't making masks but checking on elderly or donating to your food bank or doing something as simple as STAYING IN. However, many folks in our community are doing what they can to help each other. I'm sure that is happening where you live as well.

As an historian, I do wonder if future history books will have a blurb about the help that sewing folk gave during this time or if it will be relegated to be forgotten like so much of women's history. I suppose that will be the real determining factor of how far women have come in society.

Women have always stepped up to assist as I pointed out in my Women of Courage posts. We stepped up during the Civil War raising money and providing goods that would be in today's market, billions of dollars.

And that brings us to our next segment of women's history and suffrage. Here's a clue:

If you guessed World War I, you would be correct. If you also guessed that I am obsessed with all the photos of children dressed as soldiers and nurses from this time period you would also be correct.