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The
Friendship Train in Arizona
by
Dorothy
R. Scheele
The Friendship Train, one of America’s greatest
contributions to mankind,
exploded into American life in November 1947. Leaving from Los
Angeles on November 7, the train reached New York 11 days later. Its
purpose: to collect food for the famished people of France and Italy.
All aspects of the Friendship Train were gratis, from the food itself, rail
transportation, unloading the cargo of the freight cars unto the ships,
trans-Atlantic shipping, and the myriad other jobs demanded by such a
colossal endeavor.
Arizona chose not to participate in donating to the
Friendship Train. Gov. Preston
Osborn stated that one reason for not participating in Friendship Train
movement was that the state did not have sufficient time to launch a food
and clothing drive. The Grand Canyon
state had only four days to organize and collect the food and clothing and
transport the donations to Ogden, Utah, the city where the commodities
would be loaded on the Friendship Train which was at that time crossing the
nation. Gov. Osborn also stated
that the rail lines, the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe, had not received
any authorization to transport goods free of charge. The lack of authorization was another
impediment to the state’s situation regarding participation.
Instead, the idea emerged to start a “Friendship Train”
within the state intending to help the very destitute Navajos. Although US government officials had
traveled to the Navajo reservation to evaluate the situation there and they
reported what was needed, only a trickle of necessities arrived.
Supporting the idea of a Navajo train was the Indian
Citizen League which sponsored a movement for emergency relief, deeming
Indians the first Americans. The Navajo
Relief Caravan which had headquarters in Hollywood also backed the
movement. Tucson citizenry responded
to the notion of a train for the Navajos with exploding enthusiasm.
C. W. Gardner, Justice of the Peace and chairman of the
Navajo Aid committee spearheaded the movement. He asked 50 members of various Tucson
organizations to a meeting, and from this meeting people were assigned to
fill the many positions required to run such a movement. Mel Goodson was appointed chairman for
the University of Arizona. Bill
Chamberlain became publicity director for the Sunshine Climate Club and the
Rotary Club. Others asked to serve
in some capacity were Mrs. Richard Harvill for
the YWCA, Forrest G. Priser for the Veterans of
Foreign Wars, Ed Stonewell for the
Boy Scouts, Dolly Young for
Legions Auxiliary, Royal Irving for the Kawanis
Club, Mrs. O. T. Norton for the Girl Scouts, Mrs. Mae Bake for the R &
P. W. Club, and Nick Barrada for the Eagles. Others with undetermined
responsibilities were Jack Stile, past state Legion commander,
Ed Russell, adjutant for the Morgan McDermott Post, Mrs. R. R. Hinnant, and Col. O. G. Brown. The Morgan
McDermott Post of the American Legion began organizing and collecting 30
hours after an appeal to help the Indians was made.
Tom Soleng of the Chinese
Chamber of Commerce said that 85 Chinese businesses would put boxes in
their stores for customers to place their donations and that he would use
some of his advertising space to promote the train. Also offering advertising space were
Tucson Gas, Electric Light and Power, Levy’s, Elmer Present and Monte.
The Southern Arizona Bank and Valley Nations Bank served
to accept the cash donations. The
Fraternal Order of Eagles, in a gesture to start the cash donations
rolling, pledged $100.
Robert Brickman, owner of Tucson Laundry and Dry
Cleaners, offered his fleet of trucks and his employees to collect food and
clothing. Brickman said that he
would encourage all other cleaning businesses to do the same. The drive would end December 15th. There could not be a train to the
reservation because there were no rails leading to it, but every town
Arizona could at a minimum send a truck full of food and clothing.
Van Valenbaugh, who had spent
several years living with the Navajo, said that he thought distribution
would be a problem, especially if there was heavy snow. He suggested that either the federal
government or churches on the reservation take charge of the distribution.
The empathetic Arizonians responded to the Arizona
Friendship train for the Navajos with hearts filled with caring, kindness,
and generosity.
List
of Works Consulted
“Relief Train Misses State” Arizona Republic Nov. 6, 1947: 13.
A Friendship Train For The Indians” Arizona Daily Sun Nov. 17, 1947: 2.
“Launch Plans For
‘Friendship Train’ To Hungry Navajos” Arizona
Republic Nov. 24, 1947: 1.
“Caravan To The Navajo” Arizona Republic Nov. 25, 1947: 6.
“Emergency Help for Navajos Is Organized by Tucson
Group” Arizona Daily Star [Tucson,
AZ] Dec. 4, 1947: 22.
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