The National War Fund: A Story of Philanthropy and Crisis

New Rochelle Community Chest Appeal / 1942  (front)

New Rochelle Community Chest Appeal / 1942  (back)

A community chest was once a popular means of collective philanthropy, superseded today by non-profit foundations and the digital philanthropy of crowdfunding online. The first community chest appeared in Cleveland, Ohio in 1913, and New Rochelle organized its own in 1936 during the Great Depression, In the 1930s, business and social leaders of New Rochelle touted its community chest as "one campaign for ten human welfare agencies," noting the efficiency of one brief annual appeal by a single agency rather than ten individual appeals. The agencies that benefited from the largesse of the community included the New Rochelle Day Nursery, Huguenot YMCA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Colburn Memorial Home for the Aged among others. The local community chests of mid-century eventually morphed into what we now know today as the United Way. 

U.S. Committee for the
Care of European Children / 1943

In 1941, the philanthropic landscape changed with the advent of war. With the new crisis, the New Rochelle community chest broadened its mission to include emergency aid for victims of wartime catastrophe in Europe and China beginning in 1942. This was done through a new agency, the National War Fund (NWF). The NWF was created as an umbrella agency to support the United Service Organizations, known as "the USO," that provided live entertainment and other social support for American troops overseas. In addition, the NWF distributed its funds to affiliated relief organizations providing succor to nations suffering from Nazi oppression and the wartime tragedies of homelessness, hunger, persecution, imprisonment, exile, and injury brought on by the global conflict. There were many such relief organizations aligned with the "United Nations," as America and her allies were then known; these included American Relief for Norway, the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children, The British War Relief Society, the Greece War Relief Association, and the United Seamen's Service. 

National War Fund Member Agencies
with Norman Rockwell Illustration / 1943

Though there were many other fund-raising appeals during World War II (most notable were the periodic war bond drives), the NWF aligned with local community chests to provide direct aid to a host of relief organizations. The New Rochelle community chest was one of hundreds of local civic organizations that supported this effort through the NWF. In 1942, it advertised its mission as a community chest and "war chest." Among the many historical treasures of printed literature in the Library's archival collection is a fine assortment of pamphlets distributed during the war years to educate the public and raise awareness about this intricate network of national relief organizations. A small selection of these pamphlets appear here. One of the ("Remember Us") includes the artwork of famed New Rochelle artist Norman Rockwell whose message "each according to the dictates of his own conscience" typifies the appeal to common philanthropy in a time of crisis. As we struggle to come to grips with the current pandemic and express appreciation for the frontline workers in medicine and public health, it is helpful to reflect on the past generosity of ordinary citizens in a time of national and global crisis. The National War Fund existed from 1942 to 1947. Its history may seem obscure to us today, but it is one that deserves a much more comprehensive historical exploration. 

June 29, 2020 / David Rose / New Rochelle Public Library Archives