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 3

Transcribe
Translate

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

1944-01-04 Helen Fox to Miss Frances Camp Page 3

3
Fort Devens, Mass. I left with two other girls on Monday afternoon.  Most of the girls went to hospitals here in the East, although recent classes have gone to Wisconsin and even to Oklahoma.
There wasn't room in the Recreation Building for Mary Bess Doty and me (the other girl, Helen Crum went to New Station at Ft. Devens) so we had
a nice room in an old-fashioned New England home in a small town about fifteen minutes walk from the hospital. Although we had been told repeatedly, it was still a surprise to see the layout of an army hospital. The Red Cross building was the only two-story building in the 
unit, which consisted of long ramps and
corridors with wards sticking off them.
Since the hospital was good-sized the staff consisted of an acting Field Director (the usual one was teaching a class here) about five social workers, a head recreation worker, two recreation workers, a recreation secretary and about three other secretaries. There were also several miscellaneous women whose true function I didn't discover. We had about six regular Grey Ladies, and several ladies who came from Boston to teach a special crafts in the shop certain days of the week.
The recreation hall, where the ambulatory
patients came in flocks, offered movies twice a week, a tea dance or so (with girls!), several professional shows a week and a game and dance party. Besides the main hall there was a well-equipped craft shop, a library staffed

Saving...

3 Fort Devens, Mass. I left with two other girls on Monday afternoon. Most of the girls went to hospitals here in the East, although recent classes have gone to Wisconsin and even to Oklahoma. There wasn't room in the Recreation Building for Mary Bess Doty and me (the other girl, Helen Crum went to New Station at Ft. Devens) so we had a nice room in an old-fashioned New England home in a small town about fifteen minutes walk from the hospital. Although we had been told repeatedly, it was still a surprise to see the layout of an army hospital. The Red Cross building was the only two-story building in the unit, which consisted of long ramps and corridors with wards sticking off them. Since the hospital was good-sized the staff consisted of an acting Field Director (the usual one was teaching a class here) about five social workers, a head recreation worker, two recreation workers, a recreation secretary and about three other secretaries. There were also several miscellaneous women whose true function I didn't discover. We had about six regular Grey Ladies, and several ladies who came from Boston to teach a special crafts in the shop certain days of the week. The recreation hall, where the ambulatory patients came in flocks, offered movies twice a week, a tea dance or so (with girls!), several professional shows a week and a game and dance party. Besides the main hall there was a well-equipped craft shop, a library staffed