Evening star., 1943-05-23
Women War Workers Without Portfolio
Started With Speak to Your Neighbor Idea
Mrs. ". II. Winkler
Built Organization
For Sfay.at.H0mes
Bv Lillian Arthur.

~
By Lillian Arthur.
Here is a story of a woman who
could not leave her home to do
war work, who organized other
women who could not leave their
homes into neighborhood groups
that carry on defense activities
in their own homes and in their
neighborhoods.
Her name Is Mrs. William H.
Winkler and she lives in East
Bethesda, Md.
These neighborhood groups call
themselves Victory Clubs, but
they are not clubs In the &C
cepted sense Of the word. Their
members pay no dues and they
have no clubhouse and they be-
long to no other organizations.
You might call them war work.
ers without portfolio.
Mrs. Winkler's home Is near
the National Naval Medical Gen.
ter. Many of the women In her
community are wives Of young
officers connected with the Med
ical Center and number OF
others are wives OF men who
have come to Washington to en-
gage in temporary war work.
They had done little war work
before they came here because,
as one woman expressed 1t, being
a young Navy wife she never had
lived anywhere long enough to
become a part OF any group OF
war workers"
Most of these women, moreover,
have one or more young children
and they solve the nursemaid
problem by taking the children
with them to their meetings.
Sometimes there are almost as
many children at the meetings
as there are adults.
Mrs. Winkler began her work
with the community little more
than a year ago when she was
appointed East Bethesda repre-
sentative of the Women's Activ-
tiles Division of Civilian Mobili-
zation and it was she who orig
mated the idea of organizing the
women into Victory Clubs.
Mrs. Winkler has a good back
ground for organization work OF
this sort. She is a graduate IN
physical education from Sargent
School OF Physical Education in
Boston and has been q physio-
therapist at Walter Reed Hospital
and at Children's Hospital. She
has had years of experience in
working with women and has or
ganized her community with the
technique of professional work.
er and in the spirit of friendliness
characteristic of one who knows
and likes people.
The first thing Mrs. Winkler
did was to organize speak to
your neighbor" campaign.
You may be lonely" she told
the women with whom she met
in the beginning, but many Of
your neighbors are strangers
here, too, and they may be just
as lonely as you are"
With a start like that, it wasn't
long before she had the women
organized by blocks, then by
streets and finally by areas, with
a leader for each area.
At present there are three Vic
tory Clubs in East Bethesda
the Roesdale Club, with Mrs. r.
G. Carlsen as leader; the West
boro Victory Club, with Mrs.
Richard j. Powers as leader, and
the Glenbrook Victory Club, with
Mrs. Charles L. Poor as it's head.
What do these women do? Well,
for one thing, they act as day.
time afraid wardens. 1t was
they who arranged a plan for the
evacuation of the children in the
local school in case of a daytime
air raid. They supervise scrap
and metal collection. During the
winter, as a part of the use
what-you-have" campaign, they
made blankets and small articles
from the scraps left over at the
Red Cross Production Center in
Bethesda, sold them for about
$500 and gave the money to the
new Suburban Hospital.
Victory Club members also take
an interest in civic affairs and
serve on local committees-the
Library Board, the Hospital
Board, the committee responsible
for the USO center recently
started in Bethesda and the
Blood Donor Committee.
The most recent activity of
these energetic young women is
the development of a recreation
center for their own neighbor-
hood In a wooded section back Of