closing claiming that America’s first duty at this crucial hour was to give full sup-
port to the government’s foreign policy and its military forces. 18
Speaking in a similar vein, J. Howard Pew, President of Sun Oil Company,
addressing a meeting of the Congress of American Industry of the National Asso-
ciation of Manufacturers at the Waldorf Astoria, denied that patriotism required
abolishing competitive enterprise and substituting all-powerful central control.
It was necessary, he said, to preserve those thousands of small manufacturers who
were threatened by defense priorities and other restrictions. He called for the
Wagner Act to be amended and relief programs returned to the states. He urged
economy in all nondefense government expenditures and called for the rejection
of pending bills on a Florida ship canal and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, recom-
mended the postponement of any plans to extend Social Security and launched
a challenge to the defeatists who forecast the end of free enterprise at the end of
the defense emergency. 19
Life in These United States
State and local interests occupied much space this day. In Georgia, from Rabun
Gap to the Tybee Light—a poetic rendering of the geography of the state—there
was a virtual uprising by citizens shocked and embittered by the suspension of
accreditation of the state’s university system by the Southern Association of Col-
leges and Secondary Schools.
Professor J. E. Mathis was a former president of the Georgia Education Associ-
ation and Superintendent Emeritus of the Americus school system. He called the
situation a calamity such as had never before befallen the state. He did not hesitate
to hold the governor responsible for this educational disaster. John H. Moore of
Dahlonega was a significant benefactor of North Georgia College whose Moore
Hall bore his name. Had he been a member of the Southern Association of Col-
leges Committee, he would have voted precisely as they did. Meanwhile, the
governor failed to appear at his office and his aides could not say where he was.
124 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
Freedom also found defenders in a New Jersey Superior Court, which reversed
the conviction of nine members of the German-American Bund for making anti-
Semitic speeches at a Bund meeting. One of the nine was national leader Wilhelm
Kunze. Declaring Kunze’s speech as revolting to any fair-minded man as it was
absurd and unjust, Chief Justice Thomas J. Grogan nevertheless ruled that, to be
actionable, the utterances must be such as to create a danger to the state. The court
could not find that the statements of the defendants, however distasteful, were of
such a character. 20
A freedom that flourished vigorously, even riotously, was the freedom of religion
as practiced in the diverse creeds and congregations of southern California. Surely
the established churches were regularly heard from, but a review in the Los Angeles
Times of sermons to be preached on Sunday, December 7, shows the theological
riches that would be on offer to Angelinos on that day. At the Angelus Temple, the
evangelical star of stars, Aimee Semple McPherson, would preach on “Keep ’Em
Flying,” a nice topical touch. At the First Hebrew Christian Synagogue Doctor A.
U. Michelson was to preside over the baptism of Jewish converts. “Lighting Your
Path with Astrology” was the topic of Will P. Benjamine at the Church of Light.
He would also speak on “Predictions on the Japanese Crisis.”
The Christ Church of Unity was scheduled to meet at the Wilshire-Ebell The-
ater to hear Dr. Ernest C. Wilson preach on “Some Things I Know.” The Human-
ist service would be led by Dr. Theodore Curtis Abell, Director of the Humanist
Society, speaking on “The Shape of Things to Come.” “The Spotlight of the
Prophetic World Turned on Our Present World” would be preached by Drs. Floyd
Johnson and Louis Valman at the Los Angeles Evangelistic Center, while at the
Mental Science Institute in the Ambassador Hotel Theater Dr. Arthur J. Green
would inspire his congregation to “Doing the Impossible.” “Death and Rebirth”
was scheduled for Theosophy Hall, while at the Institute of Religious Science Dr.
Ernest Holmes would discuss “Discovering the Self.”
Dr. William Philip Sachs was titled as the Organizing Ministrant of the Church
of the Holy Grail, where he would speak on “Intelligent Realization of the Indwell-
ing Spirit of the Christ in the Mind and Soul of the Christian.” The Church of
Natural Science did not state the topic chosen by the Rev. Vincent M. Wilson for its
service the next day. Other churches announcing their Sunday programs included
the Church of the New Jerusalem, the Progressive Spiritualist Church and The
Assembly of Man, where the 8:00 p.m. Sunday topic would be “Creative Imagina-
tion.” At the Old Catholic service, John Howard Trimmer was to be ordained by the
Rev. Edgar R. Verostek, the Old Catholic-Vicar Apostolic in California.
Los Angeles had become a headquarters of show business, and the theater was
a natural environment for spiritual communion. Thus, at the Doakmore Theater
Dr. Clem Davies was scheduled to speak on “The Prophetic Outcome of the
Nazi-Russian Struggle,” while at the Embassy Auditorium Dr. John Matthews
would speak on “On Our Way to World Expansion as the Bible Predicts.”
*
Los Angeles was, of course, the capital of the movie industry, together with
radio America’s mass medium before the advent of television with its hundreds
Saturday, December 6, 1941 125
of channel choices, long before the Internet, long before the social media. The
movies were a refuge from the hardships of the Depression years and the public
was titillated by the lives and romances of their larger-than-life stars. Thus there
would be widespread interest in the wedding of actress Joyce Matthews to Mil-
ton Berle, not yet the Uncle Miltie of television fame. There was an international
f lavor to this pairing. The bride had formerly been the wife of a Col. Gomez
who, in turn, was the son of the long time Venezuelan dictator. And comedian
Mischa Auer had married Joyce Hunter the day his divorce became final. 21
What Hollywood did best was large spectacles and one such was Mark
Hellinger’s musical revue Rise and Shine , with an all-star cast that included Jack Oakie, George Murphy (a future U.S. Senator), Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan and
Milton Berle. Jeanette MacDonald and Brian Ahearne were featured in a revival
of the lachrymose classic Smilin’ Through , a remake of a ten-years-past version of that sturdy vehicle. The New York Times critic observed that a decade was apparently sufficient time to allow for the maturing of a new generation and for the
repair of the tear ducts that had been damaged in the earlier version. 22
*
When it came to human interest, there was something about Houston. Thirty-
year-old Helen O’Keefe was freed on bond after being indicted for the mur-
der of J. C. Franklin, a fifty-seven-year-old investment broker. The Houston
Chronicle carefully noted that she was a blonde, which it backed up by a large
and quite glamorous photograph of the defendant in a story that was b
ound to
sell newspapers. 23
Texas was a society that cherished its guns and its history. These were com-
bined in the obituary of Thomas Early Brennan, an old-time trail driver and peace
officer. Mr. Brennan’s life, the notice advised, was like a western adventure story.
Brennan had been a top hand at cattle ranches and had made several drives “up
the trail.” He had worked cattle throughout Texas and the Indian Territory and
served as a deputy to Lee County’s infamous Sheriff Ike Sparks. He had also served
as a jailer. In its appraisal the Houston Chronicle concluded that he had “made quite a record for himself.” After so colorful a career, it was something of a letdown to
read that Uncle Tom Brennan had finished his days in the mundane role of an
Austin building contractor. 24
*
Hard times and multiple crises could not overcome the natural human pursuit of
happiness. That spirit was brilliantly displayed at the reception given by Briga-
dier General and Mrs. Sherman Miles at the Army War College Club to honor
Gen. Newton Cavalcanti of the Brazilian Army. It was a colorful affair featuring
the midnight blue of the uniforms of the American officers and the grey blue of
the Brazilian Army. These were only two of the brilliant plumages on view at
the event. Gen. and Mrs. Miles received their guests at the entrance to the second
f loor ballroom of the Club. Mrs. Miles’s corsage of tawny orchids lent a note of
color to her f lowing black f loor-length chiffon gown. The tea table at the end
of the ballroom held two large silver vases of pink roses, matching snapdragons
126 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
and baby’s breath f lanked by candles in silver holders. The table was called an
epicurean’s delight, featuring as it did heaping platters of turkey, a shrimp bowl,
tiny cucumber sandwiches, and more. At the other end of the table, great urns
dispensed coffee and tea.
There was no holding back. A cheese table carried a wide variety and even
boasted a large cream cheese boat of caviar, which, it was carefully noted, was avail-
able at few places in the nation’s capital other than the Soviet Embassy.
Pouring tea were the wife of the Brazilian Ambassador and the wives of the
Brazilian Assistant Military Attaché, the Brazilian Air Attaché, and the Coun-
cilor of the Brazilian Embassy, while American ladies presided at the coffee urn.
The guest list included many high-ranking officers and public officials but the
feature of the afternoon was the brief appearance of the former Evalyn Walsh
McLean, nineteen-year-old daughter of Edward “Ned” McLean, sometime owner
of The Washington Post and of the Hope diamond and its legendary curse. She
had recently been married at the McLean estate to fifty-seven-year-old Senator
Robert Rice (“Bob”) Reynolds of North Carolina. There was music in the air. An
orchestra played gaily to the delight of the dancers who took to the floor. Surely
none of those who were enjoying that night of nights had any inkling of what the
morrow might bring. 25
The gaieties of the afternoon were followed by even more luxurious events in
New York that evening. The first Friday in December was the traditional date for
New York’s Junior Assemblies in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The list
of sponsors of the event included ladies of the bluest blood who had approved the
submissions of the 122 debutantes elected this year. With the debutantes came the
mothers and other relatives who had subscribed for them and their escorts.
The Times report of this signal social event covered two full pages, including
formal portraits of many of the most prominent girls. The event was lovingly
reported in extensive detail, covering the many dinners and dinner-dances that
preceded the main event and listing in full the names of each of the hosts and
hostesses and all of their guests. Oscar Wilde had once remarked that it was a bore
to be in society but a tragedy to be out of it. Surely many readers of The Times
the next morning scanned the extensive lists of the attendees for their own names,
the names of others who had been present and of those who unhappily had not.
Typical of the preassembly events was the dinner party given by Mr. and Mrs.
William Alan Butler to introduce their daughter, Miss Mary Marshall Butler. She
received with her parents in the adjoining Palm Court wearing a gown of white
tulle with an off-the-shoulder neckline and trimmed with white ostrich plumes.
She carried a muff of bouvardia and white orchids tipped with fuchsias. The muff
and the ostrich plumes were redolent of Edith Wharton’s New York. Her mother
wore gray chiffon accented with aqua blue and a corsage of lavender orchids.
Even the centerpieces on the dinner tables were remarked upon—in this case pink
roses, white snapdragons and lavender sweet peas.
Another dinner was given in the Oval Room by Mr. and Mrs. Magruder Dent
of Greenwich, Connecticut, in honor of their daughter Miss Edith Dent. Among
the young men seated at this table were her brother, Frederick Dent, Quentin
Saturday, December 6, 1941 127
Meyer, Townsend Hoopes and John Lindsay. Dent, Meyer, Hoopes and Lindsay
were all members of that year’s Yale freshman football team. Frederick Dent was
a future Secretary of Commerce, Townsend Hoopes a future Assistant Secretary
of Defense, and John Lindsay a future mayor of New York. Quentin Meyer was
to die in August 1944, leading a company of Marines on the sands of Pelielu. 26
Chicago, the city of broad shoulders and Midwestern heartiness, had scoffed
at the social pretensions of New York and Baltimore but reported with breathless
enthusiasm on its own Assembly Ball and the 800 guests who attended. The venue
was exotic. The ballroom of the Palmer House had been transformed, under a
large full moon, into the pavilion of an exclusive Florida hotel replete with coco-
nut palms and what it described as a Spanish veranda. The cream stucco veranda
had a Spanish tile roof or at least a very good imitation thereof. Flowers twined
around the arches which supported the tile roof and beside each one stood a palm
tree with green cellophane leaves and clusters of orange coconuts. The lighting
added to the triumph: a green glow that shimmered through the coconuts cour-
tesy of silver reflectors. New York ball-goers in the chaste and elegant surround-
ings of the Ritz-Carlton might have considered the decorative excesses of Chicago
provincial. Clearly, though, Chicago was putting on the dog.
It was, the Tribune said, the most exclusive party of the year. In the newspaper report, it appeared that the Chicago ladies had outdone themselves in sartorial
splendor, described in sufficient detail to titillate the hoi polloi .
The sounds of the music and the sight of the dancers at the New York and
Chicago balls must have lingered in the memories of those who had been there
and in the mind’s eye of those who only read about these gaieties. As the hands
of the clock swept past midnight, the Orient would soon be ablaze in the red rays
of the Rising Sun. 27
Notes
1.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 1
2.
; New York Times , December 6, 1941, 4
3.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 1
4.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 1
5.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 1
6.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 2
7.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 2
8.
New York Times , December 6, 1941, 2
9.
Atlanta Constitution , December 6, 1941, 1
10. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 2
11. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 16
12. Los Angeles Times , December 6, 1941, 1/5
13. Washington Post , December 6, 1941, 2
14. Chicago Tribune , December 6, 1941, 1
15. Chicago Tribune , December 6, 1941, 22
16. Oregonian , December 6, 1941, 6
17. Los Angeles Times , December 6, 1941, 2/4
18. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 10
19. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 10
128 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
20. Washington Post , December 6, 1941, 5
21. Washington Post , December 6, 1941, 6
22. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 16
23. Houston Chronicle , December 6, 1941, 1
24. Houston Chronicle , December 6, 1941, 1
25. Washington Post , December 6, 1941, 18
26. New York Times , December 6, 1941, 12
27. Chicago Tribune , December 6, 1941, 17
PART III
“Day of Infamy”
Sunday, December 7, 1941
11
A QUIET MORNING IN AMERICA
A World in Flames
In the quiet of his home the attentive reader of his Sunday, December 7, paper
would look for the latest developments in the tremendous drama being played
out across Russia from Leningrad in the north to the Caucasus in the south.
There were, as was so often the case in those days, conf licting reports. The
Russians claimed their troops had driven eleven miles beyond Taganrog, reach-
ing the shores of the Gulf of Taganrog and leaving a large body of Germans
encircled in the pocket. The German command claimed there were no Russian
forces west of Taganrog and that the Red Army drive was at a standstill. Mean-
while, it was reported that Russian armored units and Cossack cavalry were
Crucible of a Generation Page 21