Women played a key role on the American homefront during World War I. In Whatcom County, the “Minute Women” were among the most active supporters of the war effort.
Whatcom County Women Join the Homefront
Congress created the Council of National Defense in 1916 to coordinate civilian and government war-related activities. The governor appointed the Washington State Council of Defense in May 1917. The Whatcom County Council of Defense was formed in July.
Susannah Roberts Campbell (1871-1947) was chosen to lead the Council’s “Woman’s Work Committee.” The pick was logical. She was the leader of the Bellingham chapter of the National League for Women’s Service (NLWS), a voluntary organization formed to help women engage in war-related activities.
Campbell continued leading the NLWS while serving on the Council. The State Council of Defense, however, wanted to form its own organization for women through local councils’ Woman’s Work Committees. Ready at a moment’s notice to aid the war effort, these volunteers would be called the “Minute Women” after the Revolutionary War Minute Men.
The Whatcom County Minute Women formed in February 1918, with Campbell as their leader. “Captains” were appointed to lead each of Bellingham’s six wards, with “lieutenants” assigned to precincts. Each precinct was supposed to have at least six other members.
In the county, captains lead townships. Minute Women groups formed in Acme, Blaine, Columbia, Crescent, Custer, Deming, Ferndale, Geneva, Glacier, Lawrence, Lummi Island, Lynden, Marietta, Park, Point Roberts, Semiahmoo, Sumas, Ten Mile, Van Wyck, and Bellingham, Rural Free Delivery Districts Numbers One and Two.
The NLWS continued to meet for the rest of the war. They even started a servicemen’s clubhouse in September 1918!
Whatcom County Minute Women Get To Work
The Minute Women got off to a roaring start. They continued much of what the NLWS did, including collecting donations for the hospital at Camp Lewis, knitting for the Red Cross, and collecting clothing for overseas refugees.
In February, they went door-to-door collecting donations for the YWCA. On March 20, they sold War Savings Stamps at stores.
Over 175 Minute Women attended a meeting on March 27 to sign loyalty oaths and plan for their biggest job yet: campaigning for the Third Liberty Loan.
“The Minute Women of America,” Campbell told the Bellingham Herald after the meeting, “are true representatives of the government, and it is their duty to carry the messages from the government to the homes. We sincerely hope and believe that every home will receive these messengers of the government in their true capacity as disseminators of pro-American propaganda.” Propaganda didn’t yet have a negative meaning.
While banks handled the actual transactions, the Minute Women went door to door asking people to buy bonds. They were said to have visited every home in Bellingham on April 6, sometimes more than once. By April 10, they had sold $25,700 worth of bonds.
By the close of the campaign, the Minute Women had sold over $65,000 of bonds.
The Minute Women were enthused by success but did not rest. In May, they began forming “thrift societies” to promote the sale of war savings stamps and thrift stamps. “It has been well documented in Whatcom County,” Campbell told the Herald on May 9, “that this organization of Minute Women are capable of taking the field on short notice and of achieving results.”
An Armistice Can’t Stop the Minute Women
The Minute Women returned to campaigning door-to-door for War Savings Day, June 28. They did the same in October for the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign.
The war might have ended with the Armistice on November 11, but the Minute Women went door to door on the days after, collecting donations for the United War Work campaign.
On November 23, they sponsored a “Tag Day.” They sold white Thrift Stamp and red War Savings Stamp tags at stores and on the streets of Whatcom County. Mrs. Palmer Evanson, captain of the Van Wyck group, led a group to visit Bellingham mills.
That Christmas, the Minute Women went door to door for the Red Cross’ membership drive. They did the same the following month, collecting donations for Armenian-Syrian relief at homes and businesses.
In May 1919, the Minute Women helped sell 30 percent of the County’s total war bonds in the Victory Loan campaign. They even organized a school parade. In recognition of their service, 34 members were later awarded medals from the U.S. Treasury Department, made from a captured German cannon. Among them was Alma Hibberd, who was credited with selling half of the total value of bonds sold by the Minute Women during the campaign.
Should the Minute Women Continue?
With the war over, Whatcom County Minute Women officially disbanded. But some thought the group should continue.
Ex-Minute Women from across Washington state formed the Minute Women Association of Washington in 1920 to continue the organization’s work supporting veterans and promoting patriotism. Membership was open to ex-Minute Women and their female lineal descendants.
Whatcom County did not form any local associations, but some ex-Minute Women were active in the State organization. Hope Thompson of Bellingham, for example, was the group’s recording secretary in the mid-1930s. The Association disbanded in 1943.
While their work as Minute Women was over, former members weren’t idle. Susannah Campbell, for example, volunteered with organizations as diverse as the Bellingham Community Chest fund and the public library. She also helped found the Bellingham Visiting Nurse Association. Long after the war ended, these active women continued to help their communities.
