Advancing the Kingdom

50 / 150

World War II, St. Louis, like other U.S.
cities, had an urgent need for childcare.
Fathers were off in the service, and
mothers became employed to participate
in defense activities and industries.
Kingdom House helped care for these
children and followed the government’s
mandate as outlined in the forty-page
document issued in March 1943 titled
“When Mother’s Away – A Guide to
the Development of Children’s Day
Care Units in Wartime….” By linking
good childcare with patriotism, the
publication urged existing centers
to consider that “…certain general
principles, universally accepted as
fundamental to the democratic way
of life, are basic to sound day care.”31
Although many places offering daycare,
like public schools, were subsidized
by the federal government, it is not
clear whether Kingdom House received
government money during the war for
this purpose.
Records do show that Works Progress
Administration (WPA) workers were
deployed during the early 1940s, serving
as program leaders in Puppetry, Weight
Lifting, English-Citizenship classes,
Girls’ Dramatics, the Game Room, Girls’
Metalcrafts and Boys’ Crafts. In 1940,
eight WPAworkers were laboring at
Kingdom House. They were male and
female, married and unmarried.32
By the following year, the number
had increased to fifteen workers in
47
Chapter Two: ‘Forgetting One’s Self in Service to Humanity’ (1928 – 1955)
D
E
P hotos:
D: Members of the
American-Syrian Red Cross,
circa 1941-1945
E: Victory Day, 1945
After the United
States entered World
War II, St. Louis, like
other U.S. cities, had
an urgent need for
childcare.