When Eleanor Roosevelt visited San Quentin prison

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it didn’t take long for the country to shift its focus to the war effort. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was well suited for the role, especially as roles once again changed for women during wartime. Roosevelt was a strong advocate for expanded roles in the workplace, civil rights and the rights of World War II refugees. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his “Day of Infamy” speech. That evening, Eleanor Roosevelt gave a radio address urging Americans to focus on the war effort and beckoning people for their support of the president and the nation’s leaders in the tough days ahead. Her “My Day” columns highlighted information about war preparation on the home front and rallied citizens to volunteer for organizations such as the Red Cross.

Most citizens looked for ways to help the war effort, including those who were incarcerated at San Quentin prison. Men and women in California prisons jumped in, purchasing war bonds, making United States flags and constructing cargo and anti-submarine nets.

In 1943, while Roosevelt was in the Bay Area to promote war bonds, she visited San Quentin and met with Warden Clinton Duffy and his wife, Gladys. They had met when Duffy traveled to Washington, D.C. as a consultant for the War Production Board. For this visit, 3,000 prisoners were given half a holiday and gathered in the main auditorium to hear a brief address from Roosevelt.

According to the Associated Press, she said, “You’re doing a magnificent job of war work. The president is going to be proud of the work the prisoners are doing for this war. I know he will be proud of the way you do it.”

Roosevelt also took a tour of the areas devoted to war work and had a “keen interest” in the cargo nets, with the cargo slings being made of recycled materials along with the cafeteria trays given to the mess halls at war camps. On a side note: There was secrecy surrounding the submarine net project. Although Duffy was not allowed to disclose specifics about the work, he received four times the number of volunteers needed. Men had to haul inch-thick cables to a staging area and splice them together. It’s no surprise that a newspaper described this work as “grueling hand-lacerating work.”

One prisoner, Johnny White, spoke to the group, acknowledging how special and “American” it was that a high-ranking person would come to the prison. It was also revealed that the prisoners were happy to sacrifice a large portion of their commissary allotments to purchase $130,000 of war stamps and bonds.

Other war efforts taken on by San Quentin prisoners included assisting with the distribution of 8,000 ration books to the community, blood drives with the Red Cross and adhering to the strict blackout protocol in the evenings to prevent air attacks. Prisoners at the California Institution for Women contributed to the war effort by canning food and sewing flags and clothing.

The Wilmington Daily Press Journal wrote on Oct. 25, 1944, that “few institutions are more devoted to the war effort than California’s prisons. When the final record of achievement in production for the war, sale of war bonds, the war chest and blood bank is completed, San Quentin, Folsom and Chino will rank with the highest.”

Roosevelt remained active in politics even following her husband’s death in 1945.

The San Quentin Museum is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Go to the east gate for parking. Note: Don’t wear denim or any shade of blue. Admission is free.

History Watch is written by Lane Dooling, marketing and social media coordinator at the Marin History Museum, marinhistory.org. Images included in History Watch are available for purchase by calling 415-382-1182 or by email at info@marinhistory.org