RECREATION FOR DEFENSE

_ Prepared by the

Division of Recreation

Office of Defense Health and Welfare Service

FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D. C.

 
THE RECREATION DIVISION
OF THE
FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY
GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE COOPERATION
OF THE
NATIONAL RECREATION ASSOCIATION

IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS MANUAL

 
On the
Home Front

a

Chapter I.
WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO

In these days when democracy is threatened as it never
has been before, every good American wants to make a
positive contribution to national defense. Many people
who cannot perform military service are troubled be~
cause they do not know what they personally can do as
volunteers. Actually there is a job of some kind
waiting for all of us in our home commumities. For

it is a fact that the home front is as important in its
way as the military front. Our soldiers on leave, as
well as the workers in our defense factories and their
families need opportunities for play and self~expres-
sion off the job. So indeed do all the people in every
community big and little. Ina time of entiones emer=
meas like the present, when strains increase, all the
people need healthy recreation more than ever before.
Recreation, as you know, means being re~created, or
renewed,

In case your community has not already organized a
recreation program the first step is the setting up

of a Defense Recreation Committee. This Committee
should be responsible to the local defense council,

or where no defense council exists, to the local

governmental authorities.
On the
Home Front

~~ oe
WHAT VOIR PEERES CAN DO

Before the Defense Recreation Committee makes any
blue-prints for a volunteer service program, it should
find out what type of activities are wanted and needed
in the commmity. It is better not to start too many
volunteer prejecté at ane. Begin with only a few and
concentrate on sna them successful. Before organ-
izing any projects look around to see what expert leader-
ship is available in your commmity. A former big
league baseball player can be called on to organize

and coach a baseball team or league for young boys s

or a twilight sorttall league for men factory workers.
Or some one with good theatre experience may be itching
to organize a dramatics program; or a trained musician,
a choral or orchestral group. The local Civilian De~
fense Volunteer Office, if it has already been set up
and has registered volunteers, will know available
qualified people.

The choice of projects will be as wide as the talents
and interests of the people in your community. You will
find in the veges that follow a list of activities in
which volunteers can engage. Some few projects will re-
quire paid recreational leaders, but not nearly all.

Only a small number call for a considerable expenditure.
On the
Home Front

In Average
Communities

» § «
WHAT .~jVOLURERERS » CAR «DO

Some will take up only an afternoon or evening; others

can be spread over several months. Some will appeal

to a special age group; others to a wide range of ages.
Most are on a commmity-wide scale, but some may be
carried on by volunteers within organizations to which
they already belong.

First are listed activities for the average commmnity;
then activities especially needed in industrial defense
areas; then activities suitable for training camp communities.
These suggestions may aid the local Defense Recreation
Committee to map out a successful program, and the indi-
vidual volunteer to find his or her niche in the larger
scheme. To be effective saat person and each senlities
must be an organic part of a Defense Recreation Committee.
All people of good will in the community should work
together,

Program Leadership

Since the range of recreation for various age and interest
groups is practically unlimited, anyone who has a skill
and can impart it to others, may be a successful. program
leader in such fields as;

Athletics, ranging from highly organized games of foot-
ball, through swimning, boating, canoeing, iife-saving,
aquatic games, skating, tennis, etc. to the Slmpie ac-

tivity of hiking. (See aiso Work witn Young People,
pp. pownan!

Music, instrumental and choral.
Painting and Sculpture.
In Average
Communities

Es

WHAT *YVGOERUNTEEERES ‘CANTO

Program Leadership (continued)
Arts and crafts.
Stage, radio, and puppet shows.

Hobbies, such as photography, stamp-collecting, flower
gardens.

Dancing - partners as well as instructors are needed.
Nature study, in which there is growing interest.
Forum discussions and lecture programs.

Social affairs, such as parties, picnics, barbecuss,
boat trips. :

Reading club.

Library, to be organized in recreation center or in
small community where there is no public library.

'- Work with Young People

Volunteers serving either with such agencies as the
Scouts or religious associations, or with newly formed

groups, can:

Serve as sponsor for playgrounds - visit them, attend
special events, report needs, etc. .

Serve as member of Parents! Council to safeguard standards
on playgrounds, raise money for equipment, arrange com-
munity socials on playgrounds, serve as advisors to City
Council.

Get use of vacant lots - private and public — and clear
them for play purposes.

Devise ways to light play areas.

Make simple playground equipment such as sandboxes ,
teeters, etc.

Conduct all kinds of games.

Prepare or build benches and seats for mothers and older
people.
In Average
Communities

WHAT: VOLUATEBRS' CHW" DO

Work with Young People (gontinued)

Develop backyard play and organize inter—family
play groups.

Conduct classes in swimming, tennis, gymnastics,

archery, etc.

Organize tournaments: coach teams, act as referee,
umpire, judge.

Get municipality to build swimming pool; build pool
by damming stream; build pool for sailing boats.

Organize trips to beach, parks, picnic areas; provide
transportation for poor children; assist lifeguards ;
start fly—casting contests.

Set up day camps; teach children to cook out of doors.

Arrange to get children into private and public summer
camps.

Prepare facilities for winter sports: flood tennis
courts for skating and ice hockey; guard coasting

streets and areas; secure permission to use private
property for skating, coasting, and skiing.

Teach skiing, ice sculpture; help build ice boats;
organize skating carnivals.

Lead and instruct craft groups in woodwork, weaving,
carpentry, pottery, needlework, etc.

Organize trips to historic and other important centers.

Help children make kites and conduct kite-flying
contest.

Repair Christmas cays and distribute to needy.

Pien birdhouse hut Ladin contest.

Help mark nature trail — make place marks.

Form hiking, book, astronomy, and other clubs.
Arrange pet shows, community circus, and lantern parades.
Provide and direct such entertainment as puppet shows,

story-telling, dramatics, music festivals, magic, radio
programs.
In Average
Communities

“OG -
WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO

Aid to Young Men Away as Camp

Since every community has sent its quota of boys to
training camp, concerted efforts can be made by parents,
friends and neighborhood groups to:

Write weekly letters; send snapshots; remember birthdays.

Send cookies, candy, cakes, Thanksgiving and Christmas
gifts.

_ Make special items of clothing such as socks, sweaters.

Take up collection to help boys from home furnish their
company rooms.

Send subscriptions to magazines and home~town newspapers.
Information Service

Collect and index catalogues, pamphlets, schedules
and other informational material on recreation.

Prepare mimeographed or printed pamphlets on trips
and tours, housing facilities, etc.

Make contacts with community agencies to facilitate
the use by outside groups of meeting places, gyms, etc.

Conduct information services on housing, tours, amuse~
ments, other recreational activities.

Conduct trips and tours.

Special Senedcbe

Volunteer typists, stenographers, secretaries, file
Clerks, etc. are needed in the administration of al-
most every program,

For other ‘special services see Service to Camp,

page .....
In Average
Communities

ey i
WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO

Public Relations :

Under the direction of the Publicity Committee systematic
provision should be made for adequately publicizing
activities and providing prompt and accurate new serv~
ices to the press, radio stations, and cooperating
organizations. Posters, printed matter and mimeographed
materials may be rir hice

Research and Surveys

Help in measuring existing recreation needs: fa~
cilities and services: and possible resources si
— unmet needs.

Assist in studying the recreation interests of the
individuals to be served.

Training Courses

Specialists are needed to conduct training courses in

all kinds of recreation leadership. Those who have

had experience or training in teaching and possess

some other skill, can be very useful in this field.

Committee Service

 

Committee members and secretaries who will serve faith-
fully are needed in almost every phase of a recreation

program, Areas of service include;

- Central Recreation Committee

County Recreation Committee

Hospitality, finance, and other administrative
sub-committees.

Liaison committee between various public and private
agencies and groups,
In Average
Communities

In Industrial
Defense
Communities

-a-

WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO

Committee Service (continued)
Committee on space and facilities for recreation.

Special interest committees, such as hobbies, music,
lectures, and athletic clubs.

Special event committees such as Christmas, dance,
carnival, track meet.

Special organization and campaign committees for

such groups and organizations as Boy and Girl Scouts,
United Service Organizations, etc.

* # * * * eae me
The sudden influx of workers into defense factories
has caused a housing shortage and put a strain on
schools and community recreation facilities. Pro-
vision must be made for the defense workers and their
families if they are not te be forgotten people. First
of all they should be integrated as far as possible
into the community recreation program. New projects
should be adjusted to work shifts and special needs.
Social Life and Entertainment

Arrange parties for wives of newcomers so that they
may get acquainted with each other and their neighbors.

Give parties and dances for young people.

Arrange company dances and provide music; arrange
company smokers and department banquets.

Arrange with local movie theatres for special showings
for men on night shifts. Help provide movies where
facilities are inadequate.

2 Athletics

Serve on plant recreation committees; organize depart-
ment teams, interdepartment leagues, and city-wide
leagues and tournaments.
In Industrial
Defense
Commuhities -

In Training

Communities

+ Dm
WHAS* VOLMAICSERSy CANe PO

Athletics (continued)
Arrange for bowling.

Secure space and facilities for softball, baseball,
horseshoes, etc. Get people to help mark courts;
get company or union to provide equipment.

Organize tournaments in golf if courses are available;
teach sports and games; coach teams; act as umpire,
referee, judge. :

Care of Children

Provide play centers and nursery schools for children
of -workers.

Arrange parties, picnics, and other activities listed
on pp. 4-and 4.

* * * * » * * *
If you live in a commmity near an army training camp
or a naval training station you have a special op-
portunity to help provide wanted recreation and com-

forts for our armed forces in their off-duty hours.

Every community so situated will welcome the opportunity

to serve our young men in uniform. A program for serv-
ice men should be many-sided:
Physical Recreation Activities

Help secure for service men use of facilities in public
and private organizations, - gymnasiums, playfields,
golf courses; secure additional facilities, secure
loan of equipment; help raise money to buy or rent

what is needed.

Serve as instructor in golf, fencing, boxing, tennis,
etc,
In Training
Camp

Communities

1D x.

WHAT’ VOLURTERRS CAR: DO

Physical Recreation Activities (continued)

Organize and promote tournaments, leagues, field meets;
water tournaments; serve as umpire, referee, judge.

Arrange with commercial concerns for concessions in
bowling.

Help publicize activities in community.

Social Activities

Plan dances for service men ~ in halls, churches, clubs,
community centers, hotels; serve as hostess, chaperon,
floor director, or dancing partner.

Help decorate dance hall; prepare and serve refreshments;
play in dance orchestra; call square dances; make costume

for masquerade ball.

Help arrange socials and parties in churches, lodges,
clubs and homes. |

Plan picnics, hikes, boat rides, excursions. Provide
transportation.

Invite men in uniform to home for social evening or
sunday dinner.

Musical Entertainment
Arrange for, or lead community singing.

Sing solos or in quartets, play accompaniments, play
in orchestra or string ensemble, etc.

Get loan of phonograph records; arrange listening
groups on radio.

Teach or coach musical activities.

Arrange concerts for bands and choral groups from camp;
arrange for men in uniform to play in church orchestras
and to sing in church choirs.

Organize music appreciation groups.
In Training

Camp
Communities

~ 11 -
WEATsVOLGRPTEBREY CE N D.0
Dramatics

Organize and put on dramatic activities such as

Minstrels, pageants, plays, puppet shows in churches,

schools, clubs.

Arrange for camp. aromatic groups to put on shows in
community.

Education-Recreation Activities

Plan and arrange for lectures, discussions, forums,
concerts, special movies, etc.

Start hobby clubs for civilians and men in uniform
or for service men only, such as camera, coin, stamp,
nature or historical study clubs.

Arrange special library facilities for men in uniform;
provide both general and technical books.

Help organize celebrations representing special features
of community or city life.

service to Camp

Collect books, magazines, musical instruments, game
equipment if needed.

Help provide speakers (7) entertainers; arrange with
morale officers for presentation of community dramatic
shows.

Provide costumes and scenery for camp plays.

Prepare and send home~cooked specialties to convalescents
in camp hospitals (if permitted); send flowers; read to
and write letters for patients; give rides to convales~
cents.

Sew or mend for men off duty.

Teach special subjects in camp recreation program as
requested by morale officer.

General Activities

Help educate public to be friendly.
In Training
Camp 4
Communities

How to
Organize
Recreation
Volunteers

a
WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO

General Activities (continued)
Arrange transportation for sight-seeing trips.
Work in soldiers! and sailors! clubs supervising
activities, serving food, leading specific groups
or activities, acting as hostess.
Help prepare and arrange-exhibits in show windows (?)
Raise money for program.
Help see that program for colored soldiers is adequate.
Check on undesirable commercial facilities.

% me * % # a me
In every community some organization or coordinating
body must assume responsibility for creating a recreation

program and for enlisting volunteers. In certain local-
ities public recreation agencies are already in the

field. In others, churches, and such organizations as

the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., Y.M.H.A., the various service
clubs, the Junior League, and the Scouts, regularly re-
cruit volunteers for recreational work. And now, in

all communities, the Office of Civilian Defense will
recruit through a local Volunteer Service Office volunteers
who wish to make their contribution to national def ense.
(See manual "A Civilian Defense Office" published by
United States Office of Civilian Defense, Wiohington, D.Oe,
September 19th, 1941.)
Fitting the
Volunteer
to the Job

« 18 ue
Chapter II

HOW «20+, 8.2.1.8.0 2. F050 WIE RRS

If a Civilian Defense volunteer office has been
organized in your community your first job will

be to make needs for volunteer personnel known to
it. Be very specific as to the exact nature of the
job volunteers are to do and the desirable qualifi-
cations for each jov, giving other information such
as days and hours, where the volunteer is to report,
who will supervise him, etc. The volunteer office
will refer prospective volunteers for the position,

leaving to the particular recreation group the right

to the acceptance or rejection of these volunteers.

The recruiting of volunteers should not be difficult

since in a national crisis people are readier to volun~
teer than under normal conditions. If possible every-

one who shows a genuine desire to serve should be given

some sort of work in a field with which he or she is

familiar. Best results are secured if volunteers are

assigned only to jobs for which they have some aptitude

or preparation. All volunteers should have such quali-

fications as:
1. Character and a high standard of personal conduct.

2. Dependability.
Fitting the
Volunteer
to the Job.

Recruiting 3

Volunteers

ihn

HOW TO SELECT VOLUNTEERS

a
4.
3.

ie

Ability to work with others.

Readiness to accept training and supervision.

Ability and willingness to carry projects a
to completion.

Aaceptability to the édinmantity:

Judgment is needed in placing volunteers. Here

are some good rules to go by:

<a

Select each volunteer carefully in terms of the
needs of the job. to be done and the aptitude of

the volunteer, To have too many volunteers for

one job is almost as bad as the wrong person in
the right job.

In choosing program leaders, remember that the

person who can perform skillfully may or may not
have the ability to organize, lead and arouse
interest in others.

Give the volunteer a clear idea of the nature of
the job. Make certain that the task interests
the volunteer.

Allow the volunteer to participate as far as pos-
Sible in the selection of the task, and in plan~
ning its execution so that he or she may gain some
personal satisfaction from its completion.

Have a definite understanding as to the nature and
extent of the service expected and of the respon-
sibility to beassuméd by the individual and by
the Central Recreation Committee. Occasionally
volunteers are asked to sign a form of agreement
covering their duties and responsibilities, but in
most communities verbal agreements can be relied

upon.

Recruiting should’ be tied in to a Volunteer Office if

one exists. Recreatiional agencies should get the

volunteer they know and want to register in the Volun-

teer Office,
Recruiting
Volunteers

“Uo
HOW TO SELECT VOLUNTEERS

The most satisfactory method of recruiting volunteers
for positions of leadership is to approach individuals
known to have the necessary qualifications. If, for
instance, the Committee is looking for a conductor of
a community orchestra, it should cast about for an
experienced musical leader of first~rate ability. But
if volunteers are only needed to transport a eroup of
children to a swimming pool or a museum or to collect
and repair Christmas toys, appeals for help may be
broadcast through talks to local organizations and
church groups, over the radio, and in the press.

If a Civilian Defense Volunteer Office has been organ
ized in your community, it will do the recruiting

for you. It will probably have people registered

whom you can use. Only if no Volunteer Office has
been organized will you have to do your own recruiting.
Volunteers may be recruited in many quarters. Agencies
or city departments represented on the Defense Recrea~
tion Committee can suggest volunteers who are already
serving with one agency or another. The Junior League ,
for instance, has for a number of years supervised
volunteers in the social service field. Various as-
sociations and civic groups are likely to be sources
of potential help. The American Legion often takes
Recruiting
Volunteers

What
Occupational
Groups Can
Do

— 16 -
HOWTO SELECT * VOLUNTEDRDERS

charge of Fourth of July celebration or sponsors a boys!
baseball league. The Parent~Teacher Association may be
called on to conduct a backyard playground contest or

an institute for training mothers in home play activities.
The Woman's Club may sponsor a community garden project;
and a service club, such as Rotary or Kiwamis, may promote
an overnight youth camp or an outing for playground
children. Labor unions may help in constructing recrea~

tion facilities.

_ Any systematic search for volunteers should take in

all the occupational groups which have a contribution

to make to a recreation program. These include:

' Professional People

Accountants cah audit books, make cost evaluations of
projects.

Physicians can examine people who wish to take part
in an athletic program.

Architects can advise on selection, planning, and
renovation of facilities.

Landscape gardeners can advise on lay-out and maintenance
of playground, on settings for out-door parties; and
instruct gardeners.

Teachers can train volunteers and leaders.

Technicians, such as airplane designers and radio experts,
can lead special interest groups.

Lawyers can serve as consultants.
Business People

Business men and women can manage money-raising campaigns,
What

_ Occupational _.
Groups Can Do

“.17-

HOW’ TO’ SELECT VOLUNTEERS

Business People (contimed) ... -

“secure sites and empty stores, get advertising ~~

space, lead groups in hobbies, —

“Artists |

Since a good recreation program encompasses almost every
form of artistic expression, individuals are needed with
talent and training in music, painting, sculpture, stage
production and design, arts and crafts, and dancing, as
suggested on pp. 4 and 5, Ch, I, Muralists are needed to
decorate interiors of recreation buildings; writers to do
articles and radio scripts; and photographers to lead clubs
and make a pictorial history of the recreation program,
Women of the Home

The woman who would like to help in a recreation

program, but regrets she has no special skill, can

do a number of things:

Supervise children in pre-school centers, on playgrounds,
beaches, in street play, neighborhood play spaces, com-
munity centers, and child clinics.

Give a welcome to such newcomers in the community, as
service men and defense workers and their families, by
inviting them to meals, offering baths, miking social
contacts for them,

Prepare and serve food for special events, club meetings
and military men on leave.. . :

Collect and distribute play materials,

Collect and distribute books and magazines for hospitals,
clinics, camps, ships, etc.

Serve as hostess or chaperon at dances and social functions.

Plan recreation for smt-ins, the aged, and sick,
What
Occupational
Groups Can Do.

ie, Eu

HOW ff Oy Sheet VOoLUaATESRS

Office Workers

Young business people can fill many gaps in the recrea-~
tion program. They can:

Serve as secretaries to committees, keep and file
records, type reports, surveys, and case records;
keep accounts.

Act as dancing partners.

_ Assist in preparation and serving of food.

Other Sources

Conduct an information service; answer telephone; be
reception clerk.

Farm Folk

People living in rural areas and farm communities can
contribute to a recreation program through the Grange,
4H Clubs, Farm Security Administration, and other
agricultural agencies. : They can: |

Instruct in the care and protection of animals.

Lead and assist in planning camping trips.

Supervise and instruct in recreational home economics,

such as candy-making, sugaring off, herb-cultivation.

Lead f ishing and hunting clubs.
Teach and lead community dancing, including square dances.

Lead community "sings" and choral groups.

Start travelling library.

Volunteers may also be found among:

Hobbyists .

_ Married women who formerly served as recreation leaders.
Other Sources

“1D «
HOW 0 S2EeCT VOEUSTEERS

Volunteers may also be found among: (continued)

People with school or college experience in sports,
dramatics, music, discussion groups.

Older boys and girls associated with playground or
community center activities.

Students in college recreation courses who would
like experience working under supervision.
Extent of
Training
Needed

Sources of
Training
Personnel

p20:

Chapter iil

HOW TO TRAIN VOLUNTEERS

Recreation affords opportunities for volunteer service
regi varying degrees of professional capacity,

cca cai skills of a wide variety, and varying types and
degrees of training.

ioe the recreation task for the volunteer involves group
organization or leadership only those volunteers should be
sought who have had the same background of training and
experience that would be required of the employed pro-
fessional. Where partial experience or training can be.
found the training program should emphasize the supple-
mentary training needed to fit the individual to the task.
For example, a manual training or art instructor in the
public schools may have the necessary technical background
and formal teaching skills, out may need to learn the methods
involved in organizing a group and in conducting an activity
in a manner adapted to voluntary attendance groups.

The planning and organization of this special training can
be carried out more readily in those communities with
organized community recreation services with experience in
training professional staffs, and with resources to use and
supervise the volunteers when trained. Staff members of
these agencies supplemented by capable training personnel
from their national organizations, educational institutions,
and sources with which they are familiar can organize and
conduct a training program in general accord with professional

standards.
Sources of
Training
Personnel

BOM POV TRALARCVYORURTEsRS

Smaller communities with limited resources will — to
look to outside sources for help as well as to discover
locally individuals whose avocations or hobbies may equip
them to help effectively on this problen. Staff members of
any local agencies should be carefully canvassed. When the
extent of training help is determined, it is essential that
the training program itself be limited to what can be well
taught and the program for use of volunteers be limited to
those activities for aac adequate training is provided.
In search fe training instructors at home or in nearby
communities, the following list of sources may be suggestive:
Public recreation officials.

Public school personnel such as directors of physical
education, teachers of manual training, arts, music,
dramatics.

Librarians.

Staff members of YMCA; YWCA; Scout Leaders, settlement
workers and similar children's or youth agencies.

College extension departments.

Local hobbyists,

Agricultural extension departments.

Work Projects Administration Recreation Leadership Program.
NYA and CCC supervisory personnel.

Local athletes or former athletes.

Church organists, choir leaders, group leaders.

Red Cross for swimming instructors.
Types of
Training

Institutes

HOW TO TRAIN VOLUNTEERS

Three general types of recreation training institutes have
been successfully used in training volunteers. The first is
designed to train volunteers for service in a special type of
facility or for a special group such as an institute for
playground workers. This type of training program has four
broad objectives:

(1) To acquaint volunteers with the value of playgrounds,
the significance of play, the place of recreation in
‘community life and other aspects of the philosophy
underlying playground service.

(2) To familiarize leaders with the accepted procedures,
rules, and operations of playgrounds and other
recreation centers.

(3) To improve leadership skill in various activities
including knowledge of the various play interests
of different age groups, diversification of activities
to sustain interest, etc.

(4) To develop technical knowledge of various games and
activities.

The major part of the institute time is usually devoted to
the last two purposes.

The second type of institute is for the training of workerw
in the conduct of different special activities where the
outstanding need is to strengthen understanding of the
significance of recreation and a kmowledge of leadership
principles and methods. Technical knowledge of the activity
in which the volunteer is to participate is presumed in this
type of program.

This institute usually comprises three to five sessions. A

typical session opens with an address, forum, or panel
Types of
Training
Institutes

2) «

HOV. 710 A2RATM FJOLTAATEERS

. discussion, one of a current recreation subject such as

_ The Present Crisis - A Challenge to the Volunteer";

Recreation and Defense"; "Recreation and Community Life."
This is followed by section meetings for small groups
selected on basis of activity interest for practice
discussions of leadership methods. The session closes with
the entire group reassembled for conducting activities under
the leadership of those registered for the institute.

The third type of institute is usually conducted in larger
communities or where an area training program is possible, and
is restricted to a single activity such as music, dramatics,
social recreation, and deais with methods and resources.
Many factors contribute to the success of an institute but

the following are important items to keep in mind in planning

and conducting one for volunteers:

1. Subject matter - Topics for discussion should be related
to major interests and needs of registrants and attrac~
tively presented, and should be carefully organized in
advance for effective presentation.

2. Instructors - Faculty members must be competent and
sympathetic to objectives of course.

3. Time - The course should be scheduled at a time con-
venient. to those for whom it is given. Men can usually
attend only in the evening. Number of sessions rarely
exceed ten, usually there are fewer. Whether sessions
are held on consecutive evenings or one evening a week
will depend on local conditions.

4, Place ~ The institute should be held in a building
centrally located or easily accessible. The building
should have facilities suitable for the courses given.
Types of
Training
Institutes

In-Service
Training

2k »
HOW TO TRAIN VOLUNTEERS

5. Literature - Printed or mimeographed material related
to courses given should be distributed to students.
This saves unnecessary note taking in class and is
useful for future reference.

6. Attendance ~ Registration should be limited to the
number who ¢an be effectively handled.

Volunteer training must not stop with assignment to a
particular task. It is essential that continued training

and help be provided if the volunteer is to have the continued

interest in the job which can come only from the knowledge

of steadily increasing effectiveness and breadth of service.
In-service training and supervision usually is more informal
and personalized than pre-entry training. The most effective
help is given where volunteers have an opportunity for day to
day contact with professional staff workers of the organiza~-
tions to which they are assigned.

Prior to assignment to a definite task volunteers should have
an opportunity for observation of similar activities and
practice work under close guidance. Personal conferences
should be arranged periodically on the individual's work
problems.

Additional methods for continued training of volunteers are:
Staff meetings.

Outlines for reading relating to the work of the volunteer.
Opportunities to observe similar work in different agencies.
Frequent observation visits by supervisory staff.

Resource materials.

Clinics.
= 25 =

HOW T0 Ware VOLURTEERS

Some Sources of Advice and Material in Recreation Training

1.
me
a
4.

5

9.
10.

il.

Boy Scouts of America,
2 Park Avenue, New York City.

Camp Fire Girls,
88 Lexington Avenue New York City.

Girl Scouts ae America,
14 West 49th Street, New York City.

Jewish Welfare Board,
220 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

National Federation of Settlemenis,
147 Avenue B, New York City.

National Recreation Association,
315 Fourth Avenue, New York City.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Extension Service,

‘Washington, D. C.

'U. S. Department of Labor, Children's Bureau,
Washington, D. ©.

Work Projects Administration, Recreation Division,
Washington, D. C.

Young Men's Christian Association,
347 Madison Avenue, New York City.

Young Women's Christian Association,
600 Lexington Avenue, New York City.

Local public libraries.

Local offices of public and private recreational agencies.
Public schools.

Colleges and universities.
ei a0
Chapter IV

H.0.W- .7 0..SUPBRI-1:5 &. VOLUNTEERS

Supervision It is not enough to select, train, and assign a
by Professional -
Staff volunteer to a particular task. Since practically

every volunteer needs help and guidance on the job,
professional workers should supervise wherever
possible, If there is daily or frequent contact on
a playground, in an indoor recreation center or a
boys! club, the staff member can give advice, en~
couragement, and help with problems that are bound
to arise. 3

Staff members should avoid professional arrogance
and recognize the volunteer's willingness to

learn and zeal to serve. In case the volunteer
happens to be as highly trained as the paid worker ~
or more so — all hands should work together in a
cooperative spirit. While the volunteer's contri-
bution, little or great, is to be sincerely appre~
ciated, he or she should be held, within reason,

to a definite schedule of hours and should be as
responsible as the paid worker for the performance

of assigned tasks,
_ Supervision
by Professional
‘Staff

HOW.

PO. SUPARVA SE. POLUNTERRS

' Here are some sound rules for the supervision of

volunteers ‘

ba

3.

De

Fs.

9.

Ws

Assign each volunteer to report to a special
person, either a member of the paid staff or
volunteer chairman of ‘volunteers.

Be specific in outlining each worker's duties
in the particular job, time involved and when
and where the volunteer should report.

Be sure a plan is made for introducing the

volunteer into his job. This means introducing
him to people in the program and giving him
the broad objectives of the program.

Schedule volunteers for hours of service which
will not conflict with their home or business
responsibilities and which will leave them some
free time. A volunteer needs a rhythm of work
and play just as a professional does.

Encourage the volunteer to train a substitute
or understudy to pinch-hit in case of an un~
avoidable absence.

Ask the volunteer to make progress reports and
final reports. This will systematize the work,
provide adequate records, give the worker a
sense of importance of the task, and allow him
or her to benefit from the supervisor's experi-
ence,

Help the volunteer plan the project and evaluate

the achievement. The volunteer needs and is

entitled to excellent professional supervision.

Make the volunteer feel like a person and not
a small cog in a very large wheel.

Give the volunteer credit for the effort put
forth, for training accomplished, and for unusual
achievement. A pin, medal, or some other symbol
of achievement is a good device,

Maintain continuous contact with all groups using
volunteers in order to correct misplacements,
more surely fit the volunteer to the job, and
encourage others to enlist.
« Se 28 thie
HOW TO SUPERVISE VOLUNTEERS

Supervision | 11. Keep a card index list of individuals who have
by Professional offered their services, indicating what they
Staff can do, and recording their past service. Such

a list is useful in emergencies.
Supervision In communities ts Wiveseional supervisors are
by Committee pe Aas.” ;
not available and all workers may be volunteers,
the Recreation Comittee mist find other ways of
overseeing the cele of volunteers. Either a single
3 qualiried individual or a subcommittee of competent
indi vidudda tay Beatin’ the responsibility for taet~
ful direction and supervision of various projects.
Harmonious human relationships are of the utmost
importance in recreation, not only between the leader
and the individuals served, but also between the
Recreation Committee and the volunteer workers. It
mst not be forgotten that the volunteers are fellow
citizens giving of their time and talents in the
interests of others in the community. As such they
deserve consideration, appreciation, and support.
The committee should meet regularly with the leaders,
discuss their problems with them and secure whatever
facilities and supplits are needed, This will give
the volunteers a sense of backing that is reassuring.
The appointment of special committees to back specific
projects encourages cooperative effort, and is partiow

ularly helpful on projects which extend over a
Supervision

by Committee -

Stimulation
of Volunteers

c = 23+

HOW TO SUPERVISE VOLUNTEERS

considerable period and involve service by a number

of people. If, for instance, a girls' club is to be

established, a committee of women may be of great

assistance to the volunteer club leaders, just as

Troop Committees are a help to Scout leaders. Sim-

ilarly, a Children's Garden Club or a Community
Christmas Celebration is more likely to succeed if

a committee is formed to carry out the project. Such
a committee can formulate plans and recruit the volun-
teer workers, and also, through the personal interest,
advice and cooperation of its members, help with the
job itself.

Volunteers may be stimulated to do better and better
work by:

Press notices and other publicity regarding faithful
or outstanding service.

Public recognition of recreation volunteers, as
through election to membership in a service club or
honors paid them at an annual dinner.

Distribution to volunteers of bulletins, magazine
articles, and other publications relating to their
work,

Occasional conferences at which volunteers have an
opportunity to discuss their problems with an out~
standing recreation authority.

Interchange of service with neighboring communities,
as through a play exchange circuit or exchange con~
cert service.
HOW TO SUPERVISE VOLUNTEERS

Stimulation Opportunities to observe activities, and to talk
of Volunteers with recreation leaders in nearby communities.

Assignment to places of greater responsibility of
volunteers showing capacity and merit.

Attendance at events relating to their field of
service, such as a flower show, handcraft exhibit,
play demonstration, square dance festival, or Scout
jamboree, held in or near the locality.
The American Way

No matter with what organization you enlist as a
volunteer - public, philanthropic, or a newly
formed civic eroup—-the spirit and zeal which you
bring to your task will in the final analysis be
the measure of your success. Now, more than ever,
volunteer work can be a challenge and an adventure
in contentment. Working as a responsible member
of the community, you will know that you are doing
your part to defend the home front and to make a
better life possible for all the people.

This is the American way.
es

SR ase RE cena diet ceh a detere oek cease ane ee NEN

October 30, 1941

Dear Doc:

Dean Smith called me over yesterday morning to talk
to me regarding the advising of graduate students. During the
course of the conversation I dropped the idea that I have had
& feeling that the’ University is in an excellent position to

train recreation leaders for thensermy. He seemed to like

the idea and suggested that I put my ideas in writing im-

‘mediately. The attached is a copy of. what I gave him. It

is just an idea.

 
z .

Dear Dean Smith:

Relative to my suggestion regerding the offering of short
term courses for training recreational leadership for branches
of the military service I should like to submit the following
tentative outline: |

1. That the recreational and library facilities of the University,
under the direction of the trained personnel of the University |
be used to conduct courses of from four te six weeks in duration
with the icea of training sports and recreation leaders in the
army. No University credit would be offered,

2. That opportunity would ve offered to the army to send officers
anc non-commissioned officers who have had at least high school
education and sports experience to the University for this
intensive course of training.

3. That the entire athletic and physical education personnel
be used in conducting such a course,

 

4. That the Department of Physical Wducation be in charge of the
course and enlist assistance from other departments if necessary.

5» That these men be housed either in large houses (a number of
which are vac nt) fitted with srmy cots and equipment or be
kept in various arproved rooming houses, or perhaps fraternity
houses,

6. That the Physical Education and Athletic Departments cooperate
in furnishing equipment such as basketballs and footballs for
practical demonstrations, While the individual trainees be
equipped (perhaps by the army) with gym shoes, and simple gym
clothing.

7e That the various sports be taught not only from the standpoint of
developing various skills for use in coaching but with the idea of
furnishing the trainees with basic facts regarding the administration
of various sports,

8. That in the construction of a definite schedule the courses be
SO arranged that theory courses or activities not demanding extreme
physical exertion be interspersed with those which demand «
great amount of physical effort.

I would suggest the following sports. I have not considered

it necessary to comment on some, while, for the purpose of clarity,
I have some statements regarding others.

:
+A Sia hse Sleds aa saad
he

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f.

Ee

Re

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je
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Me

fie

Basketball-Inetruction involving rules, offensive and
defensive tactics, individual fundamentals, various
types of plays, etc,

Football- Touchfootball- ‘Six-Man Football- American
Football- ‘Study of the rules of each, Discussion of
the various systems of signals; basie plays from various
formations. Fundamentals of individeal and team offense
and defense...

Track and Field athletice- Emphasis placed upon the methods
of conducting meets involving large numbers,

Theory and Practice of Athletic Training- The fundamental
principles underlying athletic training and conditioning.
The study of methods for emergency treatment for the more
common athletic in-uries,

Softball.

Volleyball .

Swimming, Diving and Life ®aving- “treacing the methods
involved in water safety and the various mathods of
conducting swimming meets, etc.

Individual games-~Study of rules anda the fundamentals
skille of~ Shuffleboard, Aerial Darts, Table Tennis, veck
Tennis, Dart Basebali, Horseshoe Pitching, Badminton,
Handbells...

Boxing - This vourse would be designed primarliy as a
fundamental course, Special stress would be placed upon
the rules and the conducting of boxing bouts.

Hireatling-

Baseball-

Prineiples in the Administration of the Recreation Program
Methods ef constructing schedules, tournaments, ete. Instruct-

jen in the construction of and. care of ecuipment.
Discussion of particular problems.

Sperts yg necro ae ae and et in orenaee ime Be in

sports. Would perh pe. pesetnt-e 7 secure th
service of Seton official in eonducting vibde clinies,

and discussion sessions,

Secial and Mixer games=- To acquaint the trainees with vardees
group games acceptable in programs for entrtainsents and
social gatherings. ' Sincerely yours

E.R. Ebel

Saeiict Gr Rachels se tee 0, z pases
Health Bulletin for leachers

Out of Old Fields, New Corn

H™: our health?” is the question that naturally arises in dis-
cussing the preliminary findings of the medical examinations
made so far under the Selective Service Act of 1940. This question is
highlighted to an extraordinary degree by the fact that the findings of
the World War draft examinations were the spur that quickened the
tempo of the child health movement in 1918. To many public-spirited
people the situation revealed by the 1917-1918 examinations was intoler-
able. Here were more than a million young men—about one third of
the nearly four million called in the draft—who were unfit for general
military service because of physical defects, many of which were pre-
ventable and traceable to the period of childhood. It made little
difference that the majority of these defects did not interfere seriously
with useful careers in civilian life, but only unfitted men for the rigors
of military life. Not passable health, but “radiant and abundant’
health was considered to be the birthright of every young American.

Men and women in those days thought they had finished the job which
now must be done again, and believed in the peace which has now been
broken. And so with the faith that the scientific knowledge then avail-
able might be applied to bring children to healthy manhood and woman-
hood, not primarily for the sake of success in war but for success and
happiness i in times of peace, the newly founded Child Health Organiza-
tion of America working in cooperation with the United States Bureau
of Education raised that early cry of “Health! Strength! Joy!”
which, with bitter irony, has since been twisted to the purpose of mis-
guided men who seem to value youthful strength and enthusiasm only
as instruments for destruction.

Beginning in 1918, pioneer efforts to improve the health of school
children were expanded into a nationwide program for the improvement
of the school environment, for the provision of school health services,
and for the transfusion of health instruction with a new and vigorous
appeal to the children’s own interests. During the Children’s Year
inaugurated in 1918 by the United States Children’s Bureau, infants
and preschool children all over the country were weighed, medeured,
and examined by physicians and found wanting to an alarming degree.
As a result, both in volunteer and official quarters, the machinery was
set in motion for child health centers, well-baby clinics or conferences,
prenatal and postnatal clinics, the expansion of public health nursing,

 

 

 

 

ێ

 

Vol. XIII, No. 1 SEPTEMBER 1941
and the creation of child hygiene divisions in city and State depart-
ments of health. Within five years of the close of the first World War,
43 States had public, tax-supported divisions of child hygiene.

The special efforts in behalf of babies and children were only a part
of the huge ground swell of public health action which has steadily
been gaining force and volume during the interval between the two
wars. From year to year physicians and public health officials have
been able to say: ‘““We know more and are in a position to do more
than at any period in the past.”

Vigorous and increasingly successful attacks have been made on
communicable diseases, particularly the acute childhood infections, the
venereal diseases, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Of the “four grim
horsemen of contagion,” diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping
cough, one—diphtheria—has been conquered in some localities by
immunization, and could be conquered everywhere. The other three
are far better controlled than formerly by preventive and therapeutic
measures and consequently take fewer lives and leave fewer serious
aftereffects. The incidence of rheumatic fever, which is responsible
for most of the heart disease in early adult life, has appreciably declined
during the past two decades, with a consequent reduction in the heart
defects caused by it. With the advent of the “sulfa drugs’’, puerperal
fever, pneumonia, gonorrhea, wound infections, and a number of other
acute diseases and conditions are losing ground as causes of death.

Tuberculosis, the first disease to be called the ““Foe of Youth” and the
“Captain of the Men of Death,” has had directed against it an educa-
tional campaign unparalleled in public-health history. Partly, at least,
as a result of this effort there has been a steady decline in the tuber-
culosis death rate. In the interval between the two drafts, this decline
for white males at all ages has been 80 percent and for men at the
selective service ages nearly 90 percent.

The so-called water-borne and milk-borne diseases including typhoid
fever, dysentery, and the intestinal diseases of infancy, referred to
variously as infant diarrhea, summer complaint, and cholera morbus,
are on the way to practical extinction. Except in certain rural areas,
experts in public health engineering have been able to accomplish this
feat by measures taken to improve the healthfulness of the environment,
including the protection of water supplies, the safeguarding of milk and
other perishable foods, the inspection of food-handling establishments,
the control of insects, and the sanitary disposal of sewage.

Furthermore, in the fields of public health action concerned with the
improvement of living and working conditions, extraordinary progress
has been made. Housing, one of the knottiest of all public health
problems, has at last been given special attention. Revolutionary
improvements have been made in working conditions in industrial
plants, and sound health and safety conservation programs for workers
have been inaugurated. Research in nutrition has gone on at a rapid
pace, and serious attempts have been made to educate the public con-

2
cerning the fundamentals of good nutrition in terms of adequate, well-
balanced diets.

A picture of the activities of the past two decades would show in-
dustrious scientists in pursuit of new knowledge; health and education
departments eager to apply every form of disease prevention proved
to be safe and good; and enthusiastic nonofficial lay and professional
groups working together to safeguard life and health. And into this
picture the Federal Government has recently stepped with financial
aid under the Social Security Act of 1935 for public health and welfare
activities in the various States.

Thus the young men of 21 to 25 upon whom the hand of the Selective
Service Act of 1940 principally falls, have grown to manhood in one of
the richest flowering times of medicine and public health. They have
had the benefit of the extraordinary progress made in curative and
preventive medicine, besides being the objects of a wide-scale program
of health guidance and protection which was greatly expanded since or
shortly before they were born. No wonder that deep interest attaches
to the relative importance of the various causes of disqualification in
the two drafts! Never before has it been possible to examine medically
a sizable cross-section of two succeeding generations in the civilian
population at approximately the same age level, the second generation
the beneficiary of efforts initiated by the shortcomings of the first.

At first sight it would appear that we have in the two sets of examina-
tions a clear-cut and concrete check on the success of those efforts. As
a matter of fact, this is not so. It is impossible to compare the incom-
parable. Early indications that more than 40 percent of the men
examined under the Selective Service Act of 1940 are being classified
as unfit for general military service has tended to give the impression
that the health of American youth is inferior today to what it was 20
years ago in spite of all our efforts to improve it. However, neither the
situation, the purpose, the means of measuring health status, nor the
physical standards are the same today as they were in 1917-1918.

The very progress which has made it possible to give better health
protection also enables physicians to give better physical examinations.
Diagnostic techniques and instruments and tests for detecting objective
signs of defects in structure and function have been vastly improved.
The very insistence on the right of youth to be “well born,” well
nourished, adequately protected against communicable diseases, and
free of remediable defects has tended to raise the standards of physical
and mental fitness. We have become “allergic” to malnutrition, dental
caries, preventable diseases of every description, even though we have
not yet found a way to apply universally the known methods of dealing
with them. Finally when the Selective Service Act of 1940 was passed
we were not at war as we were when conscription was put in force in
1917. There has not been the immediate urgency for man-power that
makes expedient the sifting of men through a coarser screen than is
used in less hurried times.
Better facilities for detecting defects, more rigid definitions of fitness
for military service, less urgency in supplying men fit to fight, have
undoubtedly combined to increase rejections for certain defects, and for
others to indicate only slight improvements when we might reasonably
have expected far greater ones on the basis of the observed national
morbidity and mortality rates. It has been pointed out that national
vital statistics give a much truer picture of the Nation’s health than do
the preliminary statistics of physical defects brought to light in the
selective service examinations. The death rate is lower now than it
has ever been, and longevity is at its peak. There is no question but
that there has been marked improvement in the health of the civilian
population with a vastly greater chance now for young people to win
through to adult life than 25 years ago.

Let us not forget, however, that it was physical defects at a period
when health should be at its best, and not the death rate, which aroused
the crusaders of 1918. It was to equip for life, that led us then to start
working for healthier boys and girls. It does not help us much to
know that the young men of today must pass more rigid tests and meet
higher standards than did their fathers; that on the whole they are
taller and better educated, and stand a good chance of living longer.
This is the year 1941, not 1918. We are judging and being judged by
the standards we have helped to establish. And by those standards
preventable and remediable defects and diseases are still all too common
among American youth.

On the other hand, if we have failed to achieve dramatic and universal
improvement in the young men of one generation as compared with
those of the preceding generation, there is no reason to be discouraged.
In Emerson’s words, “Our knowledge is the amassed thought and ex-
perience of innumerable minds.” As the generations succeed one another,
new methods are tried out, new facilities are made available, new a
mation is spread, old prejudices and superstitions are overcome. With
each generation we begin afresh, with well-tried knowledge constantly
growing, with workable iachinery constantly being improved, with a
few spectacular triumphs to hearten us. What we have already accom-
plished, what we have yet to do, is the theme of this year’s HEALTH
BULLETIN FOR TEACHERS.

For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,
Comyth al this newe corn from yere to yere.
Cuaucer, The Parlement of Fowles

REFERENCES

Public Health Reports, United States Public Health Service, Washington, D.C. “Summary of Defects Among
Men Drafted in the World War,” issue of January 10, 1941; “Physical Disqualifications Under the
Selective Service Law,” issue of May 9, 1941.

“Relationship of the Health of Civilians to Efficiency of the Army,” James C. Mace, M.D., Sc.D, American
Fournal of Public Health, November 1940. American Public Health Association, New Y ork, N. Y

“Physical Fitness of American Youth,” Statistical Bulletin, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, June 1941,

ScHooL HeattH BuREAU—WELFARE DivISsION

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
4

METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PRESS
NEW YORK, U.S.A.
87931
In reply address not the signer of
this letter, but Bureau of Navigation,

Navy Department, Washington, D, C. NAVY DEPARTMENT
Refer to No.
Nav-1431-FS BUREAU OF NAVIGATION
NC1(420)

WASHINGTON, D. C.

January 12, 1942.

My dear President Malott: ‘

It is the hope of the Navy Department that the students of
all the Universities and Colleges throughout the country will realize
fully the seriousness of the present war and the sacrifice and toil each
must make in order to fashion a total victory from it. It is further
hoped that the men of the Universities will institute among themselves
a regime of self-discipline and conditioning in order to better complete
the immediate job at hand and prepare for the greater tasks to come. It
is sincerely urged that the college officials and faculty members will
support and participate in all such programs.

Today, not tomorrow, the youth of America must undertake the
most colossal task and assume the most terrible responsibility of any
generation in history. This, our country, must be defended with the
last measure of our strength and the. last ounce of our wealth, Only in
democracy and freedom can mankind exist with faith in the future and
confidence in the final fruition of the valiant efforts of the past. It
is our way of life, our creed and our hope. Democracy has long pro-
tected the rights of individuals and the sacredness of personality. It
is now the duty of each individual, in turn, to protect and perpetuate
that order which has now been placed under desperate attack and seige by
totalitarianism, No one can avoid his part in this task, nor retire fron
his responsibility of American citizenship. ©

The Nation has passed through an era of soft living and ram-
pant individualism, Today as a result, there is a tremendous effort
being made in all the armed forces of the Nation to correct the result
of this long period of wasteful existence, The rejection figures for
physical defects released by the Selective Service Commission are stag-
gering. The armed forces are succeeding slowly with the actual train-
ing and mental and physical conditioning of their men. While this is
being done, other young men of the nation should be taking time by the
forelock so that the job will be less weighty for the armed forces when
they join the ranks...

The Navy has underway a tremendous program to make the offic-
ers and the men of the Fleet hardened and physically fit for the fight-
ing job confronting them. Into every Naval training station pours a
cross section of American youth. The Navy trains them with drills,
military science and physical exercise. The Secretary of the Navy has
directed that every provision should be taken to guarantee that Amer-
ican Naval Officers and Bluejackets be second to none in physical fit-
mess,
It appears, therefore, that the American college students,
especially, should be keenly conscious of the job in national defense
that lies just ahead of them. The nation will put its trust in these
students as a natural reservoir of leadership, and officer material.
They, therefore, should be more than anxious to maintain themselves in
the best physical condition possible, Theirs is truly a rendezvous
with destiny -—- not in’a vague and shadowy future, but tomorrow, They
are preparing themselves mentally for the task ahead and it would seem
inconsistent if this preparedness did not include physical and spirit-
ual development of a°similar rigorousness, quality and quantity.

The’students:of all Universities have within their grasp the
opportunity to develop a plan and pattern of self-discipline, physical
fitness, and preparedness for eventual service in the armed forces of
their country, or as skilled and hardened workers in civilian defense
that could serve as a model and inspiration for all Americans.

The challenge to our University men'is at hand. Will they
take the initiative as natural leaders and prepare themselves to
"Fight the good fight"? For it is only by the most strenuous and com-
plete preparation on the part of all that we can expect ultimate vic-
tory for our way of life. Those young men who accept this challenge
and assert their leadership, and their numbers will be legion, are
urged to select the U. S. Navy as the instrument through which they
Will strike the final blow to preserve America and keep its symbol of
honor, our Flag, flying unsoiled and nobly over its institutions in
whatever part of the world they may be.

Sincerely yours,

RANDALL. JACOBS
Rear Admiral, U. S. Ne.
Chief of Bureau

President Deane W. Malott,
University of Kansas,
Lawrence, Kansas,
_

2

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72 we pe: “

ka yD