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F.EDE?.AL t·,'C:i:'J<'.:S .AG3ECY
WOJ.K PROJECTS .AJ.)MINISTRA.'.i.'IOU
For relea.se to morning news1~a:rers
Friday , April 11 , 194,1
WH.A.T :i:;ATIONAL DEF'ElTSE r-iEAHS
The following address is for delivery b~r lfrs . Florence Kerr ,
.Assistant Cor.1.:11 issi oner , ~fork Projects Admin istrati on , at a
dinner meeting of the Ar:canse s Conference of Social Work at
7 P.M . Thursday , April 1 0 , 1941 , at the lfari.on Hotel , Little
Rock , Arkansas .
We u sed to lea rn our history lessoris out of books at school .
If we didn 1 t lear!1 our lessons properly we got a low mark on our repor t
cards .
Jfow we are l earn.in;:;; our history lessons in the newsr,arer hec:>d-
lines , and over t h e r2,clio .
And. if we don I t learn these lessons :pro:perly ,
the c onsequences will be ir:rrnense and trag ic .
But I think we here in America a re l earning our history lessons .
Our teachers are those who have re CJ.d these lessons by the light of their
own blazing homes , set afire by incendiary bonbs drop~'.)Gd from the ai r .
We have come to understand that our nation m·:rnt be fully prepared. to
defencL it s elf by power of a rms , if it is to survj_v e .
l earned that first grea.t history lesson of tod.a;v .
Yes , we hav e
Ve are rap idly
mustering and t r aining a de fense army , and rapidly JJroducing rr.od.e r n
defensive armame;.1ts of every kind. .
And tr...at is not all .
Wo ha ve b een l e.J.r ning a t the saue tim0
the second groat history lesson of todaJ' •
Wo ha,ve co,ne to r ealize that
the fate of our Amer i can democrac:r is lin:rnd up with that of tho other
democracies , here in 01.ir Western hemisphere and throughout tho world .
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We cannot afford to allow all the other der.i.ocracies to be destro:re,l , one
by one , until it is our turn at last .
Anrl. that is why our nation, in
self defense , is becoming a vast arsenal for the T>roduction of wea:-1ons
of d.efense for the embattled democracies all over tl:.e ,-: orJ.d .
We realize
that these sist,er democra.cies are fit;htinp, O1J.r battles for us , a.r.d that
we owe it to ourselves as well as to tl:em to provid.e the we,1:pons needed
for their a.efense and ours .
Thin aid to de:nocracy abroad is a necessary
part of our own national defense .
But tbn.t i s not the last of the history les,;ons of tode.y .
Ther e is anothe1· les son that wo ar0 learnir.g .
It is that our national
defense d.oes not consist of armies P.nd armaments alon-"3 .
strong nation within our battJ.em-ants .
We mus t be a
We mus t .:.rm this whole aation
with health , with ed.ucn.tion, with security , and with confidence in
our democratic way of life .
For this int ernal defense of Am0rica. wo :;.-ely upon
munities .
01u
com-
Every city 11,nd town and county has a share in this great
task of strengthening our home dofo1:.se program .
What is home defense?
raid precautions and drills .
It docs not ~.t tb.is moment mean
mr-
It does not , toc.ay , mean tho evacuation
of children from ci tics under bombardment .
may not come to that horo in Amcricn. .
We t.0310 and. :;:ir n:r t }ia t it
If it doos , tho people of our
towns and cities will do their part one. tbe women of AH:eric::i, will ta.kc
as gal lant a part in that fim-,1 dcfonso of thei r houos as tho heroic
women of Britain arc now tn.king .-But whJ.t do o s home defense mc2,n to us today?
\fa.c-.t part can
our communitie s take in strencthcning the nation ' s internal defenses?
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There are man~r thini;s that can "be done .
new taslcs .
Some of them are
But :nany of ther.-. are old. and. fo.miliar comnm.ni ty ser\rices ,
in behalf of :public heal th , educn.tion , and. soci2.l welfare .
These familiar commun ity services have nlw,~ys been imnortant .
But the~r hcwe a new inpo rta;, ce today , because th ey 11re ur 6 ently r equired. as a part of our na ti qna l c'Lefense :)rograrn .
We must , in the
first :rlace , continue the t0ssontial conurruni ty services al read;;r es tablished; 2-nd. in second :place , we rmist extend tr. om -- we nrust 1)rovid.e
more such services to m0re of the people tha t need t lce;n .
You may have hear d it s2,id th£,,t nahcnal a.efcnse rea_uires us
to drop our comrmni ty welfare wort::.
a mo re mistc.ken notion ,
false notion.
n1uxuriosn ,
Do not b eli eve it. There never wns
And it woalcl. "bo a f ntal mistc,_,:rn to csetopt. tl:2,t
It is sor.w tir:os sc ,icl that these socb,l services n.re
0
Is hec:tlth a l uxur:0 ?
Is eclucation a lu.:x:u.r;r?
That is not
the view of those who 11re muste ring an nrrny for nr'.tionnl defense ,
It
is not tho view of thoso who o..re using evor;,r :_·,osc;ible moans to speed
U j_,
p roduct ion in our defense i ndus tries .
Wo need more ,.,rorl: on behalf of public ho.:J.lth , oduca tion and
soci2.l wolfe!.re -- not less .
th0so lines .
Wo need more com'Y!uni ty activi ti,")s nlong
We shall nood more nnd more volunto.r~r work 2..long t he
home defense front .
There will be need for more trnining , so thl',t all
willing hl',nds can be usefully 2.nd efficiently errrnloyod. on tlrnse home
front tn..s.kil •
And there will be need for greater coordi11c:'1.tion of all
community services , so that none of our energies shal l bo wc:tstod .
I d.on I need to tell you tho. t the WPA h.'.1.s COO}iern.. tod with
every c ommunity , mid with ever:r sepnra te public agenay in every corrmruni ty ,
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in such work in t.he pr. st .
I think I can assure you th._
q,t A!nerican com-
m'J.nities will continue to h;:,ve an op:9ortunity for this kind. of coo;;ieration
d.uring ou r nB.tion"l-1 defense emergency .
It is true that the la,"bor and. skill of 'WPA workers are
being turn ed increa sL1gly to n2.tional defense work ,
1bd. on this 11oin t
let me quote GeEeral George Marshall , Chief of StEdf of the United States
Army .
Sa id General M[rshalJ. (I quote)
11 I
n th,~ gr oo t task of national
defense , the WPA hes proved its elf to be an hwaluable a id .
11
General
Marsho,11 was r efe rri ng s1Jocific1:..ll;.r to tJ~e coi:s truction r.nd im!.Jroverrient
work done by WPA wor:rnrs 2.t air}:)Orts unc'i. cJ.rmy cc.m~Js .
struction work is not ::,, new task for U:0 i\1PA.
such uork :for five yea rs and. mo r e .
Such defense con-
Wo bwe ·teen
a. oing
just
ifow wo ;1,ro doin{:; mo re of it .
And tho samo thinG i s true of tho community sorvice end of
our WPA program .
We havo , nr1onf, other t hi ng~, :provided. personnel to
assist and. extend tho v;ork o:I: public hos:, i tuls end cJ.inics o.11 over tho
country .
Now it i s r ecognized thn.t n2.,tional n.cfonse roq_nir o s much rnoro
work of tj:is kind.
And. t ho WPJ,. hati undertaken to trri. ~.n as rnnny as
50 , 000 people this yoar for jobs as h ospital or~crli os and nttendnnts .
Tho 1-v'PA hns i n tho ne.s t worl: 0d. to ox tend educntional bo:1o fits
to poo:910 not r o~.ched by our r ee,ular public school s:rstem .
Now certain
specific educc..tionnl needs h:we nrisor1 L1 com1,., ction with defense work .
r
s:
And thc..-WPA has begun to tre!.in young men far jobs .r..s ground service mon
at airports; arout five . thousQild-- will be trc,i;1ec, this yer.r .
And t h e
1
.vPA is putt i ng thousands of seloctod wo r kers from its rolls through
special trnii1ing cour ses
11-:.
orde r to fit them for jo1J s in the defense
industri es .
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There a re many ways in which WPA cor.unu:r: i ty service :project s
are now helr,ing t he de f ense progr am ,
For exampl e , there are '\'IPA p roj e cts
car-r;- i ng on tabulation wo rk for the u.se of the art ill er y ; m.:±ing hit.c;hly
techn ical maps of stra t e 6 ically inpo rtan t 2,relcs ; and. conducting ex:;:eriments
in camouflage wo r k .
Our d.efense eI..ie r ,;ency i s creatinr; for iv?A r ec r e9. ti on ;:,r eje cts
two new fi e l ds of usefulness .
Recre;_1.tion wo r ]-:: i s g r eat l y needed in towns
nea r military trainirl:'s cam~:is .
It is a lso needed in ci tios swelled. by the
f amilies of the new workers in our new defense infu1s tri es ,
Everybody
knows the ci vie value of o:9:)ortuni tir-s :·or he:-·,.l thy recrE:,a tion .
And. t hese
values a re now of im,::-ortance in our n.<,.tional defense ::>rogram .
To assist mili t£cry autho riti es and. city officials in meeting
thes e neod.s , t he WPA has assigned 4 , 000 of its ;55 , 000 tr;:,,ined recrca tion
lead.ors to conduct :pr ogr a r,1s wl:. ich incl11cle athletics, h.'.1nd. icrafts , d.r[-1me tics ,
and dancinG•
a.cti vi ti cs .
Ci vie clubs and churches are c o- s:ponso rin 6 man~r of t hese
Cn.m::_) Robinson ho r s in Arkansas is one of ma.n;y- a rrny c&•F)S
wher e vtPA rccr oa tion. 1nogr mns are i.,lre::.d? und.or way .
And. now l et me ro::d. to you wb.D.t Surf;con Gc11<:Jral Dr . ParrP.n hr,s
sn.id on th ,; subject of hco.lth anc1. nti.ti onn l de f ense .
11 Amoricc., 11
:peoples t he['..l th.
gree.tly.
S{:.:-s Tir . Pnr r n.n ,
11 has
:-i1ovce1 fo rwc'.rcl in i m1;rov i ng the
Tho c oo,:io r :1t ion of the WFA during r'-~cent ye<'.rs has he l ped
But extra effort is needed. to p rotect the hec,lth of t r,e pE:o:ple
I
s.·
during our urgent d efen s e Jirop.'."r[t ti ons .
factor in na tionnl dofens e .
Ro,,lthy , vi g orous manpowe r is a vital
11
And Dr . Par ran goos on to s£>,y this :
11 If
our wo:cko r s arc mal-
nourished , they cannot be effi c ient in ;:irod.uci ng whc".t we need for defense .
A third of our people c.re not ge tting a diet a dequate to maintain health
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nnd vigor ....
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Through pro-per nutrition we hrwe it in our po\\'er to build
a new rD-ce of peo~)le in America .
11
(end of quotntion) .
This Ct"..lls our attention to the WPA school lunch pr ogrnm fo r
~~
undernourished childre;1 .
by ti,j s :_:iro[,r am.
Two rr.ilJ.ion children a da;r are now being fed
The work a.one in the pnst five ye£'.rs is now recognized
as a valuo.ble contribution to our nntiono.l defense .
on.
This ,-:ork rn1st go
Anet there must be r,iore of it don e -- not less .
What this me;:i,ns is that our Americ[',n co:nmunities can take an
important pe.rt in tht, nD.tion,·J. ,L:,fense rroc;rc1.:n b~r continuing , and increasi ng, the essentir:.l cervic e s on behn.lf of hcD-lth 1:',nd welfare that they have
b een providin~ to the underprivileged during recent years .
There will be v~rious orportunities to m3ke this wo r k of direc t
use to our army .:-,nd. our navy , 1:',nd every such op1Jortunity will , of course ,
be welcomed .
For exomplo , th,-:- ilEA has heen cooporn ting 1.-ri th mo,ny com-
muni ties by extend.ing li crary services to p0ople who [tre remote from
libro.rios .
Such extension services are now greatly ncodod in cities that
arc defense industry cont ors ; ::,,nd. b ,)oks n6Gd to be providod. for soldier s
i n c-"rnps .
The 1-fPA is ~')rovid.inc; such s<'::rvicos [tt rao.ny cr.:i,:P)S ~nd. defense
centers .
to the Army fcir cmcrgenc~r o.uties D,t induction contc"·s , W!Wre the rq:,ub.r
:personnel cannot moot sud.don omor;_soncy needs for cJ.orico.1 \,Ork .
Mos t of t hose homo defons10 tasks -- food.inc undernourid10d children ,
m.'.l.ki ng go.rments fo r the needy in sewing rooms , h~•l::iing nt clinics , sending
housckeoping e1.ideG i nto fr..milies when ::c pr'rent is ill , /:\nd. s i nilt•. r community
ser v i ces -- these ctro homely t :'. sks .
The;y .<'.re none- the- loss i nrnortc:,nt to
our national defense .
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That is the chief thing I have to tell you tod.c.y - - tho,t
national defense includes the home front, and that the home front
needs a lot of good , honest, sinple comi,n.:.ni ty housekee:ping .
Na tion:1.l
a.efense here in our communities means feeding the hungry , caring for
the sick, :providing young :people with educational benefits, willing
workers with useful jobs , and the aged. ancl hel:;;,less ui th :protection , and
security.
:But there is one thin 6 more that I wish to suy .
I want to
emphasize the need of training 2.nd th e need fo~· Volu:1teor work on
the home front .
I have spoken chiefly of those commm:i ty services in
which the W'PA ho,s hel:ped -- and there D,re fe•.·i , I think , in which we
haven ' t helped .
But I h.1, vo tried to indicate that tho need for com-
munity services now exceoa.s , and. will exceed ,
2-ri.y
<',mount of help that
the WPA and all oth0r Fodoro,l , State nncl loco.l ogcncios of gove r nment
can :provide .
This is not
2 .11
excuse for n.ny of us slo.cking on our jo·o .
It is a stn.teme!lt of needs so lrtrge tho,t 2.11 efforts , official n.na.
privnto , will be we l come .
I h£,,ve referred. froquently to
11 our
communities ," meaning , of
course , our corrLmuni tics as organized into loco,l governments .
one knows that our communi tics n.ro wicler tlmn that .
3ut ovory-
Our locr..l govern-
ments c.:::·o actuclly only a11 official arm of our communities .
And there
is ::mother nrm that should_ not be loft out of our consid.orations .
is tho private o.rm .
It
It is important to have both nrms at work on this
job, and working together .
Our American communities have alwoxs done mrmy imrlnrtant
thin5s throu6 h :privrt te organizations , and ofton on o, voluntee r basis .
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It is our traditional way of ctoing Tllc'l.ny good works , an(l it is a good
way in itself .
But we frequently find it necess~ry to organize these
same activities as public services .
A frn1iliar exaffiTlle is our local
fire-CO!ll!)[>.nies , which were first orgc,n ized on a volunte er basis, and
then established as a :public service .
system.
Another excwn:?le is our school
.And. a more recent example is the establishment of many
kinds of social welfare work as public service s .
We change from a
volunteer basis to a public oasis of conmnmi ty work when tho need is
so great that public funds ~nd wore systematic methoo.s arc required.
In recent years, as~ result of tho gre~t depr ess ion , our communities
have as!rnd for , a nd received., systematic Federal assistance and
Federal funds to help in cnrryi ng on their wor~ on behalf of their
citizens.
lJow tho point that I wish to make is that privc~te and volunteer
work has not vanished from the community picture .
will ever vanish.
two ways .
I do not think it
The comnrunity picture is changing , certainly, in
Some kinds of comnru.:1i ty work c.re changing from a :pr i vato
and volunteer to a public basis .
And community efforts of all kinds ,
private and public , arc "becoming more closely coordinnted with each
other .
~he phrase "community sorvice 11 nocessf.'..rily includes every kind
of community service .
The word
II
commu.ni t y 11 d.oe s not mean sim;;,ly the
official agencies that perform various kind.s of work.
It moans the
a c tual community, its people , its citizens , ncting t hrough both private
organizations and :public agencies , on behalf of their common welfare.
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It is i::1 the sphere of pri v!:'..te e ffo rt , :,,nd esyecially L.1 the
fi eld of unselfish voluntee r effort , t b:-. t most good wo r }rn hnve begu:1.
It is tb.e fountain when c e t :1ey have flo·.-red for rao.ny centuries .
At times
it may seem t ha t thc. . . t fountain has dried up , and that ever ything worth
doing has been or ganized on an official basis .
is not so .
rock s.
It may seem so , but it
I 11. time of new need , t he fountain bur sts again fror.1 t he
And t bese are such times .
Let us welcome pr ivate effort , anci
volunteer effort , and make the mos t of it .
Tho wa~r to mo.ke the rn0s t of such pri vn te anc.:.. volun t eer eff orts
can be oxprossed succinctly in three worc:s : (1) Train ing. ( 2 ) Tr::iining .
(3) Troining .
Na tio nal defense neod.s us al l .
It needs tho enthusinsm of
youth ancL tho ex::i;:;c rien ce of maturer year s .
no less thnn of me:i .
skill and wisclor:1.
part .
It no ods tho help of women
It neod.s wo'non I s po.t ionc o 1:md. dev ot i on , their
But nat i )n.al defense ca ll s upon us al l to t a.1.co our
And mos t of us can l cnrn best how to uso our a biliti es by
le.'.'. r n i ng how to fit them i nto the pa ttern r:if community needs and
org2.nized comm1.L.1i ty efforts .
Natio:?1.a l defonso , let me repeat, needs us a ll .
labor nnd the skill of tho unemployed in ovory comL1uni ty.
devotion and their f a ith in democrn.cy .
•
,ii
s.
this no.tio:1 n stake in our demo cracy .
to improv e 2:,;.1d to defend .
It noods the
It nee<is the ir
We hnve gi v en t ho unemployed of
We have r;1ade t h i s their nat i on
I am p r 0ud of their contribution thr ou gh con-
struction projects 0f nll k i nds to our s afe ty and well bein6 , nnd through
com~u ni ty service projects of all k inds to our social welfare .
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- 10 proud. r,f '.)Ur co:nmuni ties fo:c providi!l.g thom ,..-i th useful public work
o.nd 1:ng0s .
'.L'l .is has been , and this is n0w m::,re than ever, [. vitnl cor::0
muni ty con tri but ion to no, tio:·1al defense .
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