Continuation and expansion of community services during World War II depended largely on volunteers and initially was organized primarily by women. The Office of Civilian Mobilization (OCM) was created to recruit volunteers for participation in the civilian war effort in areas such as child care, recreation, health services, war production, food production and preservation, and salvage. As World War II progressed and the United States' involvement grew, the citizens of New York considered it their duty to support the war effort overseas by volunteering their services at home. Governor Herbert H. Lehman created the OCM's forerunner, the Women's Division of the Defense Council, in 1941. It was subsequently renamed the Division of Volunteer Participation and was charged to coordinate the activities of approximately one million volunteers.
Volunteer offices in the counties, and when necessary state advisers, orchestrated the citizens' efforts by reviewing federal and state programs and implementing only those programs that maximized the efforts of their citizens. Because Governor Lehman believed that a strong organization of women was essential to the success of volunteer services at home, he appointed Clarice Leavell Pennock as the director of the Division of Volunteer Participation. During 1941 the Division of Volunteer Participation expanded and strengthened its ties to the local volunteer agencies by the establishment of three subordinate agencies (the Volunteer Office, the Section on Citizen Morale, and the Section of Civilian War Services) and through the efforts of volunteer field agents, who analyzed counties' needs and suggested strategies for implementing federal and state programs.
The Volunteer Office had responsibility for the formation and direction of local branches of the U.S. Citizens Service Corps, composed of all volunteers working in community war programs. The Section on Citizen Morale was created after the bombing of Pearl Habor; however, the United States' subsequent involvement in the war, and the perceived ineffectiveness of the section, led it to be the first War Council program abolished. The Section of Civilian War Services was designed to address problems in housing, nutrition, child care, consumer interests, youth problems, and recreation.
In 1942, the State War Council reorganized and separated its programs into three major divisions: Division of Civilian Mobilization, Division of Civilian Protection, and Division of Industry and Labor. The Division of Volunteer Participation was renamed the Office of Civilian Mobilization and placed within the Division of Civilian Mobilization. The OCM was still responsible for establishing programs in education, war training, physical fitness, health care and social welfare by assisting in the establishment of local volunteer agencies. However, as the war progressed and pressure grew from the federal and state governments, the OCM evolved into an active participant in the implementation of war programs.
One of the major innovations resulting from this shift was the "Block Plan" which was established to organize community programs (such as salvage, transportation, and war savings) to make them more effective. The Block Plan was only successful in counties where citizens perceived their efforts as essential to the war effort. Between 1943 and 1945 the number of volunteers grew both because of the intensified role of the United States in the war and a growing desire at home to support the war efforts. During this period, Rebecca H. McNab replaced Clarice Pennock as the director of the OCM. In order to increase morale both within the OCM and at the local level, she allowed individual field agents to take control of three major programs: farm labor, hospital personnel, and recreation.
Major shortages in the work force required the OCM to ensure that it and local agencies did not duplicate their efforts in recruiting volunteers. In most communities the efforts of both state and local agencies were effectively integrated, but it required a great deal of coordination through correspondence and meetings on the part of the OCM. The programs from 1943 to the end of the war involved recruitment of soldiers, maintenance of morale of servicemen both at home and abroad, recruitment of workers for factories and farms, advertisement of the "Don't Travel" campaign (which discouraged all forms of non-essential travel in order to conserve gasoline and tires for the war effort), and support of social services. Child care, recreation, physical fitness, health care, nursing, welfare and Red Cross programs all became important to the overall effort of volunteers. The OCM was disbanded in September 1945, but some of its planning functions (particularly in the financial and social areas) were maintained after the war by the Citizen's Council, a statewide organization coordinated by members of the Citizens' Unity Section of the OCM.
