Evening star., 1944-10-19
Letters to The Star
A Former Guide of OPA Girls
Tells How They Were Helned

~ I'OI AuCI ouluC VI OI "A olTlS
Tells How They Were Helped
To the Editor of The Star:
For the past II days the behavior of
teen-age girls in Washington has been
a front page subject of our newspapers.
bad news travels fast and far; good
news is no news" is my conclusion after
reading some of these articles. As a
supervisor of Government girls for the
past three years, I strongly resent this
conclusion. What will be accomplished
by such stories? Can we afford to have
the teen-age girls quit helping us? Is
the war over? Why not present the
other side of the picture? I am sure
there are many other Government su-
pervisors Of girls who can encourage the
girls and their families to feel secure
and happy in their social activities, as
well as feeling proud of the effort they
are making to do their bit In the Ma
tion's Capital, now the center of the
universe.
thoroughly agree with Mrs. Roosevelt
when she says that the character of our
young people has been nodded in their
homes. Induction removes our young
men from their homes. Parents would
do we'll to talk with" them before they
leave. Our teen-age girls, however,
voluntarily leave home. Maybe the
Civil Service Commission could require
written consent of the parents of girls
under II before allowing them to accept
civil service appointments away from
home. If the parents so sheltered"
a daughter that she still needs shell
tering, then let them keep her home
until they have trained her in the art
Of living without such shelter.
1t is not the responsibility of our
churches to warn our girls against their
fellowmen. I don't remember ever
hearing a single sermon in that vein.'
For 23 years before coming to Washing
ton almost every activity of mine was
closely connected with the church. I
was trained there to have faith, to be-
lieve In the goodness of man.
1t is not the responsibility of the Civil
Service Commission to delve into the
moral training of the business women
1t hires. When anything goes wrong
with Government personnel, the COM
mission is sure to come in for 4 share Of
the blasting. Why not give it credit for
the splendid job it has done in these past
three years, especially? 1t is kept busy,
and rightly so, with the chief concern
of finding help for all Government
agencies not only in Washington, but
all over the country.
Nor Is it the responsibility of the en-
ploying agency to assume the duties OF
parenthood just because the girl has
been hired as an ONCE worker. But
consult any personnel director of any
Government agency regarding steps
taken in this direction and, without
exception, I am sure you will be told
that one cf the major responsibilities
Of all personnel supervisors is the ac-
climatizing of all personnel. This re-
sponsibility is carried out in many ways.
Permit me to become personal. for ex-
ample, and cite my experience with OPA.
First Meeting . Good Start.
Directly after Pearl Harbor 80 girls
were assigned to me within three days.
sight unseen, no personnel history sheets,
only slips of paper giving their name,
civil service classification and salary.
They truly represented a cross-section
Of the country.
Leon Henderson, director Of OPA at
that time, Immediately permitted us the
daily morning use of his large conference
room. We met in that room each girl
introducing herself by name home town
and State, and exchanged informal
chatter along that line. At the first
session each girl was asked to send me
note giving her educational back
ground, brief resume of any previous
business experience, her hobbies and
any particular likes and dislikes she
had regarding working as we'll as her
chief ambition in life or anything else
she would like to say. I briefly sum-
married the events leading up to the
freezing of sales and the establishment
Of rationing of rubber, our" COM
modify. They were given an idea Of
where the branch, and they in par
ticular, f1tted into the organization as
whole. told them that 1 would be
glad to help them In personal prob
lens; that would recommend doctors,
dentists, optometrists; that I was old
enough to be the mother of many of
them and young enough to be the
daughter of others. I made only one
plea: That they remember at all times
that the main reason they were in WASH
ington was to assist their country In
winning the war as quickly and as COM
fortably as possible both for the service
men and for those at home that they
at all times maintain the standard of
morals which they had had back home
and which they had brought here with
them.
I never will forget that after that
first meeting one woman, old enough to
be my mother, squeezed my hands and
said, God bless you!" with tears in her
eyes, and one of the most sophisticated
young girls said, Il am 50 glad you men,
toned maintaining home moral stand
ards. I'm native Washingtonian and
1t makes me burn to hear stories of
foolish goings on just because they are
away from home!"
Cooperation Succeeded.
On subsequent mornings we discussed
places of interest for sightseeing after
office hours, opportunities for going to
school evenings, concerts, theaters, State
societies, churches. We organized eight
bowling teams and, later, softball teams