Alice Throckmorton McLean (1886–1968) was an American civic leader and founder of the

American Women's Voluntary Services American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) was the largest American women's service organization in the United States during World War II. AWVS provided women volunteers who provided support services to help the nation during the war such as mess ...

(AWVS) before the start of World War II. American Women's Voluntary Service

Life

Alice Throckmorton McLean was born March 8, 1886, in New York City and was the youngest of three daughters born to American millionaire, James McLean, and Sara Throckmorton. In 1919, after a brief marriage to Edward Tinker, Alice Tinker took back her maiden name and also legally changed her sons’ surnames to McLean.

AWVS founding

Alice McLean founded AWVS in January 1940, headquartered in New York, 23 months before the United States entered the war, and modeled it after the successful

Royal Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

, which was helping Great Britain in its war efforts. McLean recruited wealthy women who shared a global vision to help her establish the service. McLean's major goal of the large and highly successful organization was to help prepare the nation for the coming war and later to provide material aid, assistance and information to both the American armed forces and civilians during World War II. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred, officially beginning

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

effort for the United States, the AWVS had more than 18,000 members who were ready to help the nation's defense efforts. They were formally trained in many skills including ambulance driving, fire fighting, evacuation procedures, mobile-kitchen operation, first aid, and other emergency services. During World War II, McLean remained the president of the AWVS. One of its missions was to help finance the war by selling war bonds and stamps. It's estimated that AWVS members successfully raise more than $1 billion for the war effort. By 1942, total membership had reached 250,000 women in 595 units in 30 states. By 1945, membership had grown to 325,000 women, and more than 200 junior auxiliary groups had enlisted 32,000 teenagers.

Women of color

When creating AWVS, McLean indicated that all women were welcome to join "regardless of race, color or creed." Women of color (including Black, Asian and Hispanic ethnicities) in New York State were the first to join AWVS ranks and were soon followed by women joining units in

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and

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, Texas,

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, California,

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, Nebraska and

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, Pennsylvania, among others. These AWVS members took classes in

Morse code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

, first aid, map reading, nutrition, war photography, child care, and public speaking. In volunteer workshops, members knitted sweaters and caps and made blankets and children's clothing that was distributed to underprivileged members of their community. Each unit also included a Junior Auxiliary with girls from 14 to 18 whose work included a messenger service, nursing and taking training other courses. In New York, junior members were trained with the Red Cross Drive for Nurses' Aides and worked

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hosp ...

as volunteers. On May 26, 1942, two women of color were elected to the national AWVS board of directors. Both Dr.

Mary McLeod Bethune Mary Jane McLeod Bethune ( McLeod; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, Womanism, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established th ...

and Mrs. T. Arnold Hill had already served in leadership positions in New York.

Wartime assembly

On October 13, 1946, the International Assembly of Women, was held in a small upstate New York town of South Kortright where McLean lived. During the 10-day conference there,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

joined McLean and about 200 female delegates from more than 50 different nations to discuss the political, economic and social issues in hopes of bringing peace to the world.

Last years

Because the organization did not receive substantial support from the federal government, McLean spent much of her personal fortune to keep the AWVS financially viable. In 1944, McLean moved from her New York City home to her estate in South Kortright and lived there until the war's end in 1948. Then she moved to live with one of her sons in

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. She donated her estate in New York to a foundation that was helping European children displaced in the war. McLean died October 25, 1968, at the age of 82 in Baltimore, Maryland. At that time, the AWVS was still in existence.

References

External links

Video describing McLean's founding of AWVS
by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Images of AWVS membership cards
with McLean's signature. * Yellin, Emily. Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II. United States, Free Press, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Alice Throckmorton 1886 births 1968 deaths American women activists American humanitarians Women humanitarians