During the greater part of the war period, the welfare organizations of Knoxville and Knox County worked separately.  Their work was not coordinated, while campaigns to maintain them and to meet their financial needs were a constant recurrence.  With the Liberty Loan drives, there was a perfect cycle of these campaigns for war funds.  To avoid this constant drain upon business men and to coordinate the efforts of all these organizations both in the training camps in the United States and in the divisions abroad, the United War Work Committee was formed under the supervision of the War Department.  The seven welfare organizations that were members of it were the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the American Library Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Salvation Army, and the War Camp Community Service.

The week of November 11-18, 1918, was set apart by President Wilson to solicit funds for this vital work in connection with our army and navy.  Knox County was given a quota of $125,000.  The sum of $127,666 was raised in the allotted time.  The organization, which directed this great campaign in Knox County, was as follows:  E. D. Langley, director for East Tennessee; E. L. McClurkan, director for Knox County; Robert S. Young, county chairman; Mrs. C. S. Sims, chairman for rural communities.  The executive committee was composed of the following:  Larkin S. Brown, John M. Gore, J. K. Middleton, Mrs. Percy Lockett, George Helm, Allen Frierson, Malcolm McDermott, and Powell Smith, who was treasurer of the funds raised.

The Y. M. C. A.

When the world was plunged into the greatest war it had ever known, it was only natural that the Knoxville Young Men's Christian Association, with its more than sixty years' experience in working with men, should be seized with a burning desire to be of service to our men in uniform in this extreme crisis.  It felt that its experience in previous wars would be of value in serving the men in this war, and so the task was accepted unhesitatingly.

The most valuable contribution, which Knox County made to the Army Y. M. C. A., was in the sending of four women and forty-three men who gave their services to the boys in camp in this country and overseas.  The photographs of twenty-five of them are shown on a separate page.

During the summer of 1917, when the Third Tennessee Infantry was mobilized at Knoxville, the local organization tendered the use of its building and equipment for the benefit of the men.  The offer was extended also to Colonel Gleason, who was then organizing the Second Tennessee Infantry.  This offer was accepted by both Colonel Spence and Colonel Gleason for their men, and the local program was placed immediately upon a war basis.

The office was used for the distribution of soldier mail and the lobby for the writing of letters on stationery which was gladly furnished the men free of charge.  The use of the building soon became so general among the men that it was apparent the small office force could not furnish the proper supervision.  In order to meet this need, those in authority made several points in the building regular posts for guard duty and rendered very valuable cooperation in the matter of supervising the bath rooms and the swimming pool.  No effort was made to keep a record of the number who availed themselves of this privilege, but it was noted by those on duty that a steady stream of men poured in and out of the building and swarmed the lobby and writing room all hours of the day and night.

It was not long after this that train loads of men bound for Eastern ports of embarkation passed through the city almost daily.  The Camp General Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. in each of the Southern cantonments was notified the local organization would be glad to render whatever service possible to troops passing through Knoxville.  This gave a remarkable opportunity, as the secretary on each train arranged for a stop-over so that the men might come to the Y. M. C. A. building for a shower bath or plunge in the pool.  The local chapter of the Red Cross cooperated by furnishing some towels for the use of the men, and also in directing men to the building from the depot so that they might spend the night in case it was necessary to lay over between trains.

In the summer of 1918 the actual program of the Army Y. M. C. A. came directly to Knoxville, and the local "Y" was called upon to put it into effect with the "seven hundred fighting mechanics," who were in training at Chilhowee Park.  The program was four-fold -- physical, educational, social and religious.  The educational being taken care of by the University of Tennessee, the Y. M. C. A. confined itself to the promotion of the other three features.  This program included quite a variety of social entertainments, musicals, lectures, stunt nights, athletic nights, etc.  Very commodious quarters were established in one of the buildings at the park where there were ample facilities for reading and writing.  An athletic field, where outdoor group games were promoted, added to the pleasure of the men.  In the promotion of the religious program it was desired to have the men as far as possible in touch with one of the local churches, but for the benefit of some who did not care to come to the city, religious services were conducted at the park on Sunday and one evening each week.

During the progress of the war, three campaigns for Y. M. C. A. finances were waged.  The first of these was in August, 1917, and the amount secured was $12,500.  The second in November, 1917, resulted in the raising of $25,000.  In the third campaign, which was conducted under the auspices of the United War Work Committee, the Y. M. C. A. received fifty-nine per cent of the amount raised, $125,000.  The total sum contributed in Knox County during the war for Y. M. C. A. work among the soldiers, sailors and marines was $110,000.

It was not possible for the Y. M. C. A. activities to cease with the signing of the armistice, because the obligation was felt that this service must be continued to these men until the last one should be returned safely home after receiving his discharge.  Quite a number of men reached Knoxville on trains late in the evening and necessarily had to remain here during the night in order to make connection the following morning.  A special room was fitted up in the "Y" building and equipped with a number of cots where a comfortable sleeping place was furnished free for many hundred men passing thus through the city.  Furthermore, a complimentary membership, entitling every discharged soldier or sailor to the full use of the privileges of the building, was extended to all former service men.  Several hundred men availed themselves of this opportunity.

The Y. W. C. A.

The Knoxville Y. W. C. A. sent four workers from its membership into camp and social welfare activities during the period of hostilities.  They were Miss Emma Carson, who went to France in September, 1918; Miss Kate Carson, who had charge of the Hostess Houses at Toul and Brest, France, during the war and after the armistice; Mrs. Lytton Thomas, who was manager of the Hostess House at Camp Grant, Illinois; and Miss Frances West, who did special work among the working girls of the South Atlantic States.

To care for the large number of girls who came to Knoxville to fill vacancies made by the calling of men into the service, the Y. W. C. A. enlarged its housing facilities, leasing a large 44-room house to furnish proper homes for them.  It also provided training classes in bookkeeping, stenography and other subjects for 258 different girls during 1918.  A great deal of social work was done for these girls and many of them were placed in positions that they were qualified to fill.

The Hostess House at Chilhowee Park was established and maintained for the 700 mechanics in training there from July to November, 1918.  As no appropriation could be obtained from the National War Council, contributions were solicited from the business men of Knoxville.  The Y. W. C. A. committee, Mrs. R. W. McCargo, Mrs. F. L. Fisher and Mrs. Will D. Wright, made a personal canvass to obtain funds for improving and equipping the building, while gifts and loans of furnishings were offered voluntarily.  The house was made a real home for the soldiers, their wives and their relatives.  Mrs. Minnie Waring was hostess in charge.

Entertainments were given weekly by church committees, small parties were organized to promote the social life of the men, while the house was always open to them and their families.  When influenza became epidemic, the Hostess House was made headquarters for the Red Cross nurses.  On Sundays the Y. W. C. A. joined with the Y. M. C. A. in the religious service at the park for those who did not attend the churches in Knoxville.  While the number of soldiers at Knoxville was very few in comparison with some cities, everything possible was done for their comfort while they were encamped here.

To maintain its work, the Y. W. C. A. engaged in two campaigns.  The first was held in December, 1917, and under the direction of Mrs. Lewis Tillman, president of the local organization, and Mrs. C. A. Perkins, chairman of the campaign, the sum of $4,294.67 was raised in one day for its local war work.  In November, 1918, the Y. W. C. A. organization joined in the United War Work Campaign to raise $125,000 for welfare work.

The Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus, through its local council, played an active part in all war activities in Knox County.  Many members of the council volunteered their services in the army and navy at the outset of hostilities, and at the close of the war there were more than 150 members in the service.  Those who were disqualified or exempted from service did whatever was assigned them.  Some were Four Minute Men, while others served on the selective service boards.

When the drive for $100,000,000 was made by the seven allied organizations doing social service welfare work in the army and navy, the Knights of Columbus, through its representative, Edward F. Walsh, on the executive committee for East Tennessee, and James K. Middleton, on the executive board for Knox County, aided materially in making the campaign in Knox County successful.  In this, as well as in all other public movements launched during the war for the purpose of sustaining the army and navy and for bringing victory to our country, the committees of the Knights of Columbus cooperated cheerfully and willingly with other welfare, social and religious organizations of Knoxville.

After the war was over, the local council established an employment bureau for the purpose of helping discharged service men.  John T. O'Connor was in charge of it.  This bureau continued in existence and did active work for more than a year after the declaration of the armistice.  It was of great benefit in assisting men to find jobs and to become established in Knoxville.

The Jewish Welfare Board

Cooperating with the War Department and the local military authorities in helping to administer the many small comforts to the man in service, especially the Jewish lad in khaki, the Knoxville branch of the National Jewish Welfare Board did valuable service in making the soldiers forget once in a while the rigors and discomforts of army life.  It administered to men of all races and creeds, to the Catholic and the Protestant as well as to the Jew, to the negro as well as to the white soldier.  But it watched especially over the Jewish boys away from home, who needed little attentions that only one versed in the Jewish religion and Jewish ways could give them.

The Knoxville branch of the Jewish Welfare Board was organized soon after the outbreak of hostilities.  The following officers were chosen:  Rabbi Winick, chairman; Morris Bart, vice-chairman; Ben R. Winick, secretary.  After Mr. Winick entered the service, Jacob J. Winick was chosen to fill his place.  The local organization had its hands full in administering to the boys in the service and to their families.  At the University of Tennessee Training Camp and at Chilhowee Park, offices were established to minister to the needs of the boys.

Dances and entertainments were given by the organization for the Jewish and non-Jewish boys.  The Jewish homes of the city were thrown open to all soldiers, and on Jewish holidays the officers of the board saw to it that every Jewish home in Knoxville had at least one soldier in it.  Workers from the local branch visited the camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, as well as other nearby camps, and helped the work there.  Religious services were held many times for the Jewish boys who were quartered there on duty.  Stationery and supplies were furnished them, and everything possible was done to make them feel that home was not far away.  The local branch saw that arrangements for the entertainment of the boys in Jewish homes were made, suitable and abundant reading matter was furnished the local camps, and speakers were brought to address the men.  Visits were made daily to hospitals, and workers saw to it that the dependents of Jewish boys in the service did not suffer at home.

The War Library Service

Knox County's part in the nation-wide movement to provide library service and reading matter for soldiers and sailors centered in Lawson McGhee Library, the free public library of Knoxville.  From the early autumn of 1918, to the summer of 1919, the library served as a collecting and distributing center for books and magazines, which were sent to Camps Sevier, Greenleaf and Gordon in the United States, and to camps overseas; to the Y. W. C. A. Hostess House and the Y. M. C. A. headquarters in Chilhowee Park, Knoxville, and to the local canteen of the American Red Cross; and through the Y. M. C. A. to the local soldiers' barracks, the Students' Army Training Corps at the University of Tennessee and at Knoxville College.  In eighteen months, local committees, assisted by the staff of Lawson McGhee Library, collected, sorted, prepared for circulation, packed and shipped approximately 12,000 books and 40,000 magazines.

The first effort on the part of any local organization to provide reading matter for the soldiers was made in October, 1918, by the Knoxville branch of the Southern Association of College Women, when it appointed Mrs. Joel Tyler chairman of a committee to collect current magazines and forward them to the soldier.

The public responded so heartily to the appeal for reading matter that the committee of the Southern Association of College Women found itself almost overwhelmed with both magazines and books; consequently, in January, 1918, the Knoxville Women's Committee of the Council of Defense assumed responsibilily for collecting all books and all magazines more than a month old.  The Council of Defense immediately began to plan an extensive book campaign, which, in cooperation with the national Library War Service headquarters, it conducted during the week of March 11 to 18, inclusive.  Miss Mary Boyce Temple was appointed chairman of the book campaign; Miss Laura Thornburgh, vice-chairmain; Mrs. T. P. Miller, chairman of collection; Mrs. W. A. Knabe, chairman of publicity; and the ward chairmen of the Council of Defense were captains of solicitation.  Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, schools, Parent-Teacher Associations, churches and clubs cooperated heartily and effectively in soliciting books, most of which were collected and taken to the library by the Girls' Motor Corps and by laundry and delivery wagons, the use of which was generously loaned by laundries and merchants.  As a result of this campaign, not fewer than 10,000 books and 35,000 magazines were gathered at Lawson McGhee Library to be sent to camp libraries.

Meanwhile it became apparent that some more systematic arrangement was desirable in providing reading matter for troop trains.  In September, 1918, therefore, Mrs. E. H. Saunders accepted the chairmanship of the Knoxville Library War Service Committee, the purpose of which was to supply clean, recent copies of popular magazines to soldiers and sailors quartered in or passing through Knoxville.  The particular problem of this committee was to so systematize its solicitation and collection of magazines as to have constantly on hand a sufficient quantity to meet any demand, and to be able to deliver them to the places where they were needed on very brief notice.  Though the closing of the schools on account of the influenza epidemic made it difficult to secure enough magazines, the committee, when the armistice was signed, had collected and distributed to soldiers in Knoxville about 3,000 current magazines; and they continued this work without cessation until there was no further need of it.

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