1942: United Service Organizations

United Service Organizations, Inc., more familiarly known as the USO, was formed Feb. 3, 1941, when six leading social service organizations pooled their activities for the benefit of United States military groups, as well as for men and women in defense industries and for migratory workers. Member organizations of the USO are: Young Men's Christian Associations, National Catholic Community Service, The Salvation Army, Young Women's Christian Associations, Jewish Welfare Board, and National Travelers Aid Association.

Objective of the USO is, in general, to supply friendly and wholesome contacts between military and civilian personnel, clubhouse accommodations, recreational facilities, information service, educational and cultural activities through organization of musical, dramatic, hobby, and discussion groups, and to supply religious services for different faiths.

USO national headquarters is located in the Empire State Building, New York City. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., is honorary chairman of the board of directors; Walter Hoving is chairman: Chester I. Barnard, president. The national board of directors is composed of representatives of each of the six member organizations and twenty directors at large. A conference of executives of the six member organizations is held weekly to facilitate and clarify policies and methods of procedure in all branches of USO activity.

Regional USO headquarters are maintained in Boston, New York City, Richmond, Atlanta, San Antonio, Kansas City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore.

The local USO Council in a community is the planning group for coordinating the work of USO activities. It is composed of executives of all the USO member agencies which operate in the community, as well as executives of other social agencies and leaders of important civic groups. This council is usually represented on the local war council and in any other community planning USO organizations.

USO services are established in a community only after specific request has been made by that community. When a new project is under consideration, the regional representative consults with responsible representatives of the local community. A survey is made of available local resources and of the extent of the need caused by current war conditions. This survey and recommendations are forwarded to the National Office which authorizes plans and a tentative budget and designates which agency or agencies of the six belonging to the USO will be assigned operating responsibility.

The member agencies of the USO have so successfully amalgamated to serve the purposes of the organization as a whole that in a recent poll, 70 per cent of the men consulted did not know which operated the particular USO clubs they frequented.

The total number of USO operated facilities is constantly increasing but as of November 1942, there were 1,030 service units under USO management for military men and women, their families and friends, and for war workers. Of these, 964 were in continental United States and included 586 USO Clubs, 93 lounges for troops in transit, 35 mobile clubs, and 3 units for maneuvers service. The units are located in 490 cities and towns in 47 states, and in 9 'hemisphere' bases in such places as England, Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, and Alaska. Professional staff workers numbered 1,832, with more than 600,000 volunteers assisting.

USO units for war workers have eased conditions in communities where the population has suddenly risen by thousand or tens of thousands due to installation of war industries. They supply a recreational headquarters, information service on housing problems, and have also helped in countless other ways.

The USO makes use of buildings or rooms supplied by the community or by the Federal Government. Only in very exceptional cases has the USO constructed buildings. Facilities in a Club or Center vary according to the space available and the need, but standard facilities include a room with comfortable lounging chairs where the men can drop in either by themselves or with a girl, or can talk to the USO hostesses. The USO Club or Center will have books, magazines, a piano, a radio, and probably a record player; writing desks and stationery; shower and shave facilities; and frequently hobby rooms where the men can do anything from drawing cartoons or making model airplanes to scrambling eggs or concocting lobster Newburg. The USO sponsors classes in the arts and crafts, in languages, and in commercial and professional subjects. Dances and entertainments for service men are an important part of the USO recreational program.

Lounges for troops in transit have been established by the USO in railroad and bus stations in transportation centers throughout the country where men in uniform pass in numbers. These lounges are operated under the direction of the Travelers Aid Society and their aim is to furnish a quiet lounge room for members of all recognized military groups, the army, navy, marine, merchant marine, as well as for the WAACs, WAVES, and nurses, who may not have time between trains to visit established USO centers down town. Many of these lounges have 24 hour service. They usually have baggage checking facilities, showers, and cots for a nap. Frequently they have cookie jars and coffee pots which are kept filled by local donation, and movie passes are available for those who have time to make use of them. During one month in 1942, 9,000 volunteers working in USO lounges for troops in transit put in 73,000 hours and served over 500,000 men.

Mobile units supply recreation and entertainment for military men on detached duty and are increasingly important both in continental United States and in the hemisphere bases. These units are usually mounted on one or more station wagons. They make periodic rounds of isolated outposts and are a valuable factor in relieving the monotony of the men's lives and in keeping up morale. These units have a small piano, a movie projector and some entertaining pictures. They bring books, magazines, writing materials, games, candy, cookies, and cigarettes and — a very important item — they take letters back to civilization and mail them for the boys. Frequently these mobile units bring along some professional entertainers.

USO maneuver units serve a similar purpose of keeping up morale by supplying minor comforts, recreation, and entertainment for men on extended maneuvers. Camp Shows, Inc., an affiliate of the USO, has brought stage plays, vaudeville acts, opera singers, concert artists, and dance bands to the men in service.

Monthly attendance at USO operations, according to reports in November 1942, was close to 8,000,000 service men and women and defense workers.