By Carmen Morrina

In September 1939, Adolph Hitler invaded Poland and war broke out in Europe. Back home, the Junior League of Miami (JLM) was immersed in its community service with projects such as the Children's Services Bureau, the Thrift Shop, Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), public health and the Community Chest.

However by December 1940, the reality of war reached the shores of South Florida. With the words of Kipling - "everlasting teamwork of every blooming soul" - the JLM went to war!

With husbands in the service there was great transfer activity within the League- which only confirmed that it was, indeed a small world. Everyone seemed to have a cousin or friend who knew a Junior League member's old college chum back in her home town. League meetings were frequently held at night, as was the provisional course.

The following excerpt was taken from a 1960 Tropical Topics magazine by then-Active Member Barbie Wenzel:

"In looking back at the 1940s -- the war years -- first I think of rationing and shortages. Gas, of course, was rationed and we piled eight or 10 to a car or took 15 buses to get to our volunteer jobs. We looked so stylish in our football-padded shoulders, short, skimpy skirts crowned by a chic snood! And if you owned a pair of nylons, your morals were suspect!"

Work to be Done
League Member Anne Dunaway outlined the evolving role of the League in war time, ". . . the first duty of all volunteers and agencies is to continue and strengthen all essential community services, the second opportunity is our own armed forces and families and the third is in alleviating the suffering of war."

The annual balls and rummage teas were canceled as members turned their complete attention to the war effort.

Surgical dressings manufactured in Miami were used in the care of Nazi air raid victims in England. Mrs. Charles Findley (Frosty) lead the effort as one of the four vice chairs for surgical dressing in Dade County. The sixth floor of the former Richards Department Store served as the Miami workroom, where Junior Leaguers folded, measured and weighed gauze and cotton with precision detail. Six different types of bandages were created to meet British specifications, 34,000 dressings in total.

Burdines and Richards offered assistance to knitters in the knitting and sewing headquarters in the Civic Center under the charge of League Member Mrs. L.A. Oates.

By April 1941, U.S. Army soldiers transformed Miami Beach into a training camp. New League President, Leone Skinner and Marjory Stoneman Douglas asked for women to volunteer at the Filter Center, also known as the Air Raid Information Center located in the Ingraham Building. The Center was categorized as the one place in this area where war is being faced as an actuality, requiring the highest caliber of women volunteers.

Servicemen's Pier
By October 1942, the Junior League was a commanding presence at the Servicemen's Center, literally set up and run by Leaguer Kay Pancoast, Arva Moore Parks tells us. More than 100,000 Air Force officers were trained in Miami so this was a major project with "everyone in the League recruited to help," Arva said.

The Center's mission was to create a home atmosphere that could not fail in its relaxing effect. The duties seemed unimportant . . .sewing on a button, providing a safety-pin for a sailor's pants that want to slip off his reduced frame. . .listening to him when he wants to talk about his folks, his girl. As Member Blanche Barco further noted, "These boys appreciate it."

Miami was port of entry to men who experienced dangerous service on various fronts-from China, Africa, India, and the South Pacific. Along with U.S. sailors, came those from England, Norway, Holland, Canada and Australia.

The work of the League continued in the welfare arena with the Family Services Bureau. By February 1943, the League proclaimed "Our Members Work For Victory!" Tropical Topics stories abounded with announcements of war babies and debutantes marrying young men of the various armed forces.

Junior Leaguers were signing up for Nurse's Aide classes at St. Francis Hospital. League Member Peggy Dunham reported, "On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays or Sunday evenings Junior League volunteers, under the auspices of the American Red Cross, performed in five military hospitals in the Miami area for disabled soldiers: The Gulf Stream, the Nautilus, the King Cole, the Pancoast and the Miami Biltmore."

Olive Dungan Pullen recalled, "The piano is usually poorly tuned, but we have played on ones with half the keys missing ... so what! I remember when a dancer stopped in the middle of her performance because the Victrola wasn't playing fast enough -- the disappointment on the boys faces was obvious."

Many Leaguers served as volunteers in the "Motor Corps" which transported soldiers and sailors who had already seen active duty or were on their way to it. Others volunteered as Red Cross Gray Ladies, wearing gray uniforms and caps with white trim. Their role was to distribute grooming articles, cigarettes, books and magazines to soldiers at the various military hospitals. The Junior League contributed generously to the Dade County War Chest, consistently surpassing their quota. They also volunteered at the Blood Bank, Hostess Corps and the Dade County Defense Council Volunteer Bureau.

With about 75 active members in the League in 1945, Thrift Shop Chairman Margaret Whitney announced that the shop was doing so well that an investment broker offered to buy it! During the war, the Thrift Shop grew even busier due to the fact that new shoes were bought with ration tickets, however, used shoes were not. The shoe department became very popular-so did the large men's department. Since there were no changing rooms, people just tried on clothes over their own or went to the consignment area to disrobe.

Junior Leaguers participated, along with the rest of the community, with enthusiasm and patriotism in "blackouts," "dimouts," and the point rationing system. Some members held full-time war-related jobs, such as Elizabeth Virrick, who served as coordinator in Miami for the Societe-American de Development Agricole.

By war's end, League Member Helen Gulliver reported, "One of the minor surprises of World War II is the discovery by Miami Junior League members, (along with millions of other American women) that busy as they may have considered themselves to be in the past, they have somehow continued to carry on their lives more or less as usual, and to give of their time with great energy, to the war effort."

With this war chapter over, a new chapter known as the "Baby Boom" was about to make its mark in our country's history.

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