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The Friendship
Train in Arkansas
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.
Although the Friendship Train traveled through only 11 states, every
state contributed to it, including Arkansas, the Natural State.
An advertisement in the Northwest Arkansas Times urged residents to give to the
Friendship Train. The ad began with
an encouraging line “… and Mr. Grocer, please include in my order a case of
Ozark Canned Goods for the FRIENDSHIP TRAIN”. It also suggested other ways to
donate: you yourself take a full
case of canned goods to the Friendship Train collection station at the
Houston Taylor Motor Company, or send a check to either Paul Young, Jr. or
to J. R. Kennan, chairman of the local food committee.
The Blytheville Lions
Club contributed five 100 pound bags of rice.
At the home of
Mrs. W. A. Fowler, the Fayetteville Garden Club gave $5.00 for the purchase
of food stuffs. The Little Rock
Chamber of Commerce intended to contribute one carload of rice, which they
did, and then found that they had raised enough money to buy 500 bushels of
wheat, which was also contributed.
The Lions Clubs of Fayetteville and Fort Smith and
several smaller clubs in northwest Arkansas sent a car of canned foods to
Kansas City, the closest place for the state to connect with the Friendship
Train. The contents of the boxcar
were 46,000 cans, 400 pounds of dried peas, six sacks of flour with a
production cost of $4,000, and a retail value of $6,000. In addition to this shipment the Natural
State had sent 1,725 bags of rice each weighing 100 pounds.
The Northwest
Arkansas Times reported that Fayetteville had 748 cases of food which
the city intended to deliver to a truck in Ft. Smith. The paper also stated that there were two
carloads of food in Ft. Smith to transport to Kansas.
The Rice Milling Industry in the area of Carlisle,
DeWitt, and Stuttgart committed to $2,000 with which to buy
rice. Local school children in
Little Rock gave an impressive sum of $300.
Monetary contributions were sent to R.P. Hall who was secretary of
the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
The French nation exhibited amazing gratitude for the
foodstuffs which the United States had donated to it. The gratitude arrived
in the form of the Merci train. This
train consisted of 49 boxcars of gifts.
The gifts were donated by the people, not the government, in the
same spirit with which Americans, not the government, donated the
foodstuffs. The Merci train arrived
in New York harbor on February 3, 1949.
Every state received a boxcar.
The 49th car was to be shared by Washington, D. C. and
Hawaii. To date Arkansas’s boxcar is
missing. To learn more about the
Merci boxcars, see the web site of Earl Bennett, cited below.
The author welcomes any
additional information which would add to this state's
history.
The Friendship Train was the genesis for
the equally fascinating French Merci Train..
Website www.mercitrain.org has
information about that train. Copies of Mr. Bennett's
Book The Merci Train, A Big
Thank You From the French Merci Train is
available at ebennett89@yahoo.com.
The price is $25.00 per copy, including postage.
List of Works Consulted
“Arkansas To Provide Food” The Camden News Nov. 10, 1947:
1.
“Here and There in Arkansas” Hope Star [Hope, Arkansas] Nov. 20, 1947: 5.
“Lions Club Will Contribute Rice to Friendship Train” The Courier News [Blytheville,
Arkansas] Nov. 12, 1947: 26.
“Merci Train In State Sunday” Northwest Arkansas Times
[Fayetteville, Arkansas] Feb. 9, 1949: 1.
“Merci Train Visit To Fayetteville
Proposed” Northwest Arkansas Times
[Fayetteville, Arkansas] Feb. 1, 1949: 1.
“. .. Mr. Grocer; please include .
. .
Northwest Arkansas Times
[Fayetteville, Arkansas] Nov. 12 1947: 9.
“Northwest Arkansas Sends Aid
To Europe” Northwest Arkansas Times
[Fayetteville, Arkansas] Nov. 28, 1947: 1.
“Plans Made For Collection Of
Canned Goods” Northwest Arkansas
Times [Fayetteville, Arkansas] · Nov. 11, 1947: 1.
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