Jessalyn Pinneo
Special Projects Reporter

Courtesy University Archives During World War II, student groups, such as the Panhellenic Council, participated in the war effort by selling war stamps.

D.C. and WWII

The nationıs capital was, not surprisingly, a hubbub of activity during World War II. Many of the Navyıs Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were stationed here, as were officers of all the armed forces. Officials from every facet of government swarmed around Capitol Hill and the Pentagon, taking over the city as they tried to get legislation passed and military strategies established.

During WWII, D.C.ıs nightlife took off, active again for perhaps the first time since the jazz age of the 1920s. Night clubs and bars were overflowing with men and women excited by the rush of patriotism and the acceleration of the speed of life brought on by Americaıs involvement in the war in Europe. Restaurants stayed open later, hotels opened piano lounges with large dance floors, and concerts and theater productions were sold out for nearly every performance.

Things werenıt all fun and games, though. As the countryıs center of government and the worldıs leading crusader for democracy, the political and military leaders spent most of their time dealing with far weightier matters. An audio air-raid alarm system was set up in the city, and GW installed a similar system. A case of an approaching unidentified aircraft used a different signal to warn students of a possible air strike, and the all-clear was one long blast. Although the United States was never attacked on the home front, the fear that it would be was pervasive, and the country wanted to be prepared.

Bomb fire tests were conducted on University property to ensure that fires ignited by the detonation of various bombs could be quickly contained and the damage kept to a minimum. The GW Office of Scientific Research and Development operated the Allegheny Ballistics Laboratory in Cumberland, Md. The laboratory conducted missile testing and chemical warfare research and introduced the first bazooka.

During the war, national and local leaders reached out to the community ­ particularly the collegiate community ­ in an attempt to keep people involved and their spirits up. GW benefited from this by visits from a stream of famous speakers such as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who requested participation in the civilian defense program and urged the women of GW to get involved with the war effort. Lieutenant Colonel Louis B. Hershey spoke about life in the army and the involvement of ³college men² during the GW Student Council Forum on Youth and National Defense.

As GW students past and present know, Washington is rarely at rest. But during WWII it became more of a community, unified against the common foes of Nazism and fascism.

Social life

The 1940s in America are often remembered as a time of fun despite the tension of World War II, with pictures of smiling girls greeting handsome, grinning men in uniform with a kiss; of kids chasing each other on their bikes; of happy couples on the dance floor.

That same air of conviviality marked GWıs social scene. Every issue of The Hatchet was filled with announcements of mixers, dances, picnics and banquets. Each month an activities program was printed in the paper, detailing campus happenings including everything from Greek-letter life events to Glee Club tryouts.

Students had the same problems in 1940 as they do today, trying to balance social activities with studying and homework. A cartoon titled ³Comes the Dawn² in the Oct. 8, 1940, Hatchet pictured a woman coming into her room after a night of parties, music and romance to the horror of a mountain of ³undone homework,² much like students today who are unlucky enough to have Friday morning classes after a night of clubbing.

In warm weather, GW women flocked to Strong Hall to take advantage of the sunshine on the rooftop patio. Ping-pong and bridge games, as well as sunbathing, were favorite pastimes for GWıs female population.

One of the stereotypically least social people on campus, the engineers, were affectionately teased every year in The Hatchet upon the event of their annual ball. ³Engineers Forsake Slide Rules for Social Whirl at Ball Friday² read the headline on February 25, 1941.

The headline beneath that one, ³40 Blind Dates and Nobody Complained,² announced a GW tradition that was carried on for several years. Once a year, students from visiting universities were set up on blind dates with GW students. In 1941 only the GW men were lucky enough to participate because the visiting students were ³Christian College girls, on tour from Columbia, Mo.²

One of todayıs favorite high school social traditions was so adored by GW students in the 1940s that it was continued in college ­ prom. In earlier years, there was typically a Junior Prom during the spring semester, but beginning in 1937 it became a University Prom. ³All-U Prom Completes Its Plans for Feb. 7² announced a front-page article in The Hatchet on January 21, 1941. The ³All-U Prom² was originally designed to give non-Greek students ³an opportunity Š to Œget outı to a big school dance given especially for them.² It was such a hit that it became a tradition.

In the 1940s, GW students had not yet begun to explore all of the off-campus entertainment options they enjoy today, but they still found ways to amuse themselves.