American Schools during World War II (1939-45)


Figure 1.--One way of financing the War was selling war bonds. These New York City children are buying liberty stamps. Children could get a little booklet and each week had a chance to buy 10 cent stamps. When you filled up your book, you got your war bond. It was one of many ways that people on the home front were made to feel that theyb were doing theorvpart in the war effort. Notice the one boy wearing a tie and dress shirt while the other boy wears a "T"-shirt. Library of Congress

Many American children became aware of the war listening on the radio (there was of course no television yet) with their parents to Edward R. Murrow, "London calling ..." during the NAZI blitz of England in 1940. American school children studied current events much more closely than before the war. Certain subjects like geography were maningless to many children until December 7, 1941. Soon every child knew where Pearl Harbor, Midway Island, Guadacanal, Stanligrad, Sicily, Normandy, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and other places were located that they had never heard about before. All schools conducted air raid drills and alerts. Ameroca was not actually attacked, but everyone had seen newsreels of Japanese bombing raids on Chimese cities (especially Shangahi) and German bombing of Europeanncities (Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, and other English cities). If the War had lasted longer, the Germans would have also targeted American cities. At school children line-up and dutifully followed their teacher into the hallway and sat down against the wall. Schools also organized after school activities related to the war effort. High school students might learn Morse code. Recerve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was a popular activity at many schools. Civil Air Patrol classes taight children to identify types of American and foreign aircraft. Schools often sponsored rallies, parades and cultural events to raise money to buy war stamps and bonds to help finance the war. Dances were especially popular. These were conducted through both schools and other organizations. Liberty stamps cost $0.10 each which was the cost of a comic book.

Classwork

Many American children became aware of the war listening on the radio (there was of course no television yet) with their parents to Edward R. Murrow, "London calling ..." during the NAZI blitz of England in 1940. American school children studied current events much more closely than before the war. Certain subjects like geography were maningless to many children until December 7, 1941. Soon every child knew where Pearl Harbor, Midway Island, Guadacanal, Stanligrad, Sicily, Normandy, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and other places were located that they had never heard about before. School children read accounts from newspapers and created maps that reflected changing battlefield situations. Many children prepared scrapbooks. The collections were very meaningful as many had fathers and brithers overseas. They would read about an area of the war such as Guadacanal, and then cut out and paste articles and photos from newspapers and magazines. They might even have a letter from their brother or dad to add, although wartime sensorship usally meant that references to specific locations were cut out or avoided. Children would discuss their scrapbooks in their classes.

Children's Crusade for Children (1940)

The Children's Crusade for Children (CCFC) was a penny-sharing relief program for American school children. John Herling was the director (1939-40). Mrs. Roosevelt supported the effort, one of many refugee programs she supported and promoted. Pearl Buck wrote an article promoting the program in Parents Magazine (May 1940). The CCFC organized fund raising efforts by school children. The funds collected went to war refugeees. Special tin cans bamks were issued to collect the pennies. The front of the 1940 bank read "Children's Crusade for Children April 22-30, 1940"I think most of the money was actually donated by the children at school. I do not have details on how much money was collected and how it was used. The side panel of the collecting can read, "Directions:Money collected is to be taken by your principal or his representative and by a guard of honor selected from the students in your school. Money in thei crusade can collected in schools west of the Mississippi should be forwared to: Children's Crusdae for Childre, Citizen's National Ban, Emporia, Kansas. If you school is east of the Missippi, money in this can to be forwared to: Children's Crusade for Children, County National Bank,Bennington, Vermont. These two banks will turn over the money to the JURY of AWARD, consisting of: Eleanor Roosevelt, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Monsignor John A Ryan, William Allen White, Dr.Charles B. Glenn, Hon. Irving Lehman, Carloine S. Woofruff. This can donated by The Producers of Tin Plate and The Can Manufacturers Institute" The back panel read, "In Gratitude for the Land We Live IN ____ GIVE AS MANY PENNIES AS YOU ARE OLD or anything down to a cent for hungry and homeless war stricken children in other lands. Children's Crusade for Children General Headquarters Empire State Building, N.Y.C"

Air Raid Drills

All schools conducted air raid drills and alerts. America was not actually attacked, but everyone had seen newsreels of Japanese bombing raids on Chimese cities (especially Shangahi) and German bombing of European cities (Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, and other English cities). If the War had lasted longer, the Germans would have also targeted American cities. At school children line-up and dutifully followed their teacher into the hallway and sat down against the wall. Often mothers volunteered to help at school as School Defense Aids (SDAs). Some parents would also pratice air raid drills at home. Families would hide underneath kitchen or diningroom tables. The Government advised each family to have an emergency supplies for possible air raids. These supplies included blankets, candles, matches, canned foods and water. After the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there was great fear in California of a followup air raid along the west coast. The lights from east coast cities proved very iseful in silohuetting ships for German U-boats. Strict black out regulations were introduced. Children often helped their families to inspect the blackout curtains to make sure that they were properly in place each night.

After School Activities

Schools also organized after school activities related to the war effort. High school students might learn Morse code. Recerve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was a popular activity at many schools. Civil Air Patrol (CAP)classes taight children to identify types of American and foreign aircraft.

Liberty Stamp and Bond Drives

One way of financing the War was selling war bonds. Children could get a little booklet and each week had a chance to buy 10 cent stamps. When you filled up your book, you got your war bond. It was one of many ways that people on the home front were made to feel that theyb were doing their part in the war effort. Schools often sponsored rallies, parades and cultural events to raise money to buy war stamps and bonds to help finance the war. Dances were especially popular. These were conducted through both schools and other organizations. The 10 cents for Liberty stamps were the cost of a comic book. Many children would bring a dime in each week to buy a stamp to put into their book saving for a liberty bond. A liberty bond could be purchased for $18.87. It would mature to $25 in 10 years. Doesent sound like much, but American school kids purchased over a billion dollars worth os stamps to buy bonds. The stamps were sold by teachers or the mothers who volnteered as SDAs. Interestingly, the Government continued selling liberty stamps at schools several years after the War was over. I remember buying them in the late 1940s.







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Created: May 30, 2003
Last updated: 4:50 PM 12/29/2006