DIY History | Transcribe | World War II Diaries and Letters | Helen Angell Fox letters to Bess Peebles Fox, January-May 1944 | 1944-01-04 Helen Fox to Miss Frances Camp Page 1

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Helen Angell Fox letters to Bess Peebles Fox, January-May 1944

1944-01-04 Helen Fox to Miss Frances Camp Page 1

American Red Cross
Washington, D.C.
January 4, 1944
Dear Fran,
At long last, a letter of sorts. Now the trouble is that I have such an accumulation of things that I don't know where to start.
Before I get into any details, I'd like to say that I love it and haven't been sorry for one single minute that I came in.
When I arrived, way back on October 4th, I had a week of orientation. The classes were from ten in the morning to one and three to five. We had speakers from all branches of Red Cross to talk on the history and what all the various parts do. I recall the talks on First Aid, Voluntary Special Services, Disaster, and of course, several on Military Welfare and working with the army. We were also given instructions in communications from overseas, details of clearance, loans and grants, and many other things.
At the end of the first week I began to hear rumors of a wonderful course that one could get into if he were lucky. I went in to ask about it and was invited to take it.
Basic Recreation was a concentrated course in all aspects of recreation, from the most abstract psychological discussions by Mr. Romney to the rough and tumble of real football. Our days were filled with music, crafts, dramatics, athletics, lectures on group analysis and leadership, square dancing, boxing matches, and party planning. This went on for four weeks, during which we were sure we'd never live. We, somehow, not only lived buy were more robust when we had finished than we had been for years. As a sort of finale we gave four project  parties which had to be planned simultaneously. There was a workshop party in the loft, where we made Christmas cards on an assembly line

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American Red Cross Washington, D.C. January 4, 1944 Dear Fran, At long last, a letter of sorts. Now the trouble is that I have such an accumulation of things that I don't know where to start. Before I get into any details, I'd like to say that I love it and haven't been sorry for one single minute that I came in. When I arrived, way back on October 4th, I had a week of orientation. The classes were from ten in the morning to one and three to five. We had speakers from all branches of Red Cross to talk on the history and what all the various parts do. I recall the talks on First Aid, Voluntary Special Services, Disaster, and of course, several on Military Welfare and working with the army. We were also given instructions in communications from overseas, details of clearance, loans and grants, and many other things. At the end of the first week I began to hear rumors of a wonderful course that one could get into if he were lucky. I went in to ask about it and was invited to take it. Basic Recreation was a concentrated course in all aspects of recreation, from the most abstract psychological discussions by Mr. Romney to the rough and tumble of real football. Our days were filled with music, crafts, dramatics, athletics, lectures on group analysis and leadership, square dancing, boxing matches, and party planning. This went on for four weeks, during which we were sure we'd never live. We, somehow, not only lived buy were more robust when we had finished than we had been for years. As a sort of finale we gave four project parties which had to be planned simultaneously. There was a workshop party in the loft, where we made Christmas cards on an assembly line