The Des Moines Women's Club Red Cross Auxilliary

As we all grow weary of the Covid-19 pandemic, we may seek solace by helping others but struggle to find ways to do so. Faced with the crisis of the First World War, Des Moines Women’s Club members directed their energy toward relief efforts including establishing an auxiliary to the American Red Cross.

Over the summer of 1917, the executive board voted to purchase $500 in war bonds, and donate $50 to the Red Cross for “Christmas Comfort bags.”  It would certainly be interesting to know what went into those bags!

In September, 1917, the Des Moines Register reported that Mrs. L. C. Kurtz would chair the war emergency committee and that, while the war plans for the year were as yet indefinite, “it has been definitely decided that the club house, Hoyt Sherman Place will be open each Sunday afternoon and evenings during the club season to the soldiers, their mothers, their sisters and women friends. The hospitality of the club will be extended by members of the various departments, each department being responsible for certain days.”

The committee voted to convert the two east floor rooms of Hoyt Sherman Place into work rooms where Red Cross work would be done every day. Activities in these workrooms included sewing “cretonne property bags” for which the club furnished materials and members were admonished to “be present to conclude the work in the allotted time.” Each department was instructed to submit its own war work plan.

The philosophy and science department announced they would have no study club in the 1917-1918 club year so members could devote more time to Red Cross efforts. Members were also urged to buy war bonds, and the Register reported, “Mrs. H.L. Carrell was called upon to speak in behalf of the new Liberty loan, and gave a spirited talk in which she urged all women to buy a bond on their own initiative and not to wait until forced to do so by the government. ‘If we must win this war by our dollars, let us do it.’”

War news was, of course, often distressing but programs and speakers were featured to keep club members informed. In November, Mrs. Robert Fullerton spoke in support of the American Red Cross. In introducing her, Mrs. Gardner Cowles reminded members, "While we are here for a little fun we must not forget that we are in a terrible war." Mrs. Fullerton described battlefield conditions in uncomfortably graphic detail, telling members, "Our soldiers are in the trenches not only to save our democracy, but to make it a safe place for women”, urging them to support the Red Cross.

Some efforts had more light-hearted aims. The war emergency committee invited wives of Camp Dodge officers for a tea in December where 300 women were “delightfully entertained.” A musical program was presented and light refreshments served by the executive board, the war emergency committee, its auxiliary, the hospitality committee and the chairmen of the seven departments. The club president “extended to the guests the use of the club house on the first Monday of each month.”

In March, 1918, club Welfare Day was devoted to Red Cross efforts with “each member being expected to take her war knitting or thimble to sew on material furnished the war emergency committee.”  Lunch was a picnic with each member “taking her own luncheon, thereby conserving strength and food.” Members were also requested to bring their knitting to each departmental afternoon so that “not a moment may be wasted for war work.”

It’s hard to imagine what life was like for these women during this time of crisis. Were their hearts in their throats if their husbands and sons were fighting overseas? Did a December tea provide a welcome respite? Was it easier for them to relax and find distractions when news was not literally available in the palm of their hands 24 hours a day? For members of the Women’s Club, it seems the companionship of their fellow members and opportunities to take action in the service of others provided a way to see themselves through a very dark time.