We'll Take Care of the Homeless is the—to a modern listener—misleading title of this 1942 broadcast. The "homeless" in question are, in fact, those whose homes would be destroyed if the Nazis bombed New York City! Welfare Commissioner William Hodson is questioned by radio journalist Elmer Davis about the city's preparedness plans should Hitler attack. Emergency Centers will be set up, staffed by regular Department of Welfare workers. Cash allowances will be handed out to people who need to shelter in hotels or travel to relatives. Lists of affordable rental units will be provided. Emergency clothing needs will be met by the WPA Clothing Project. Hodson goes out of his way to defend this particular program against critics who call it "…another one of those boondoggling projects. To me, it is one of the greatest services that the WPA has rendered." Davis, recalling Blitz-ravaged London, asks how people will find friends and family members lost during the chaos. Hodson says central registry points will be set up. Sensitive, it would appear, to charges that his agency is wasteful, he emphasizes that no new staff has been hired. Workers who live near the emergency centers will be on duty there at night. The program ends with a call for volunteers in the event of an emergency to register now at the Civilian Defense Office.
William Hodson (1891-1943) was a career social worker at a time when that field was in its infancy. As the website SNAC reports:
In Minnesota he was instrumental in establishing the laws that became Minnesota's Children's Code. He moved to New York City in 1922 and joined the Russell Sage Foundation, first as director of its Division of Child Welfare, then as director of its Dept. of Social Legislation. He was the executive director of the Welfare Council of New York City from 1924 to 1934 and was Commissioner of Welfare from 1934 to 1943.
To be New York's Commissioner of Welfare during the depths of the Depression could not have been an easy task. The Brooklyn Eagle, in its obituary, notes:
Mr. Hodson had one of the most gigantic relief problems in the nation. … He took a vigorous stand against those who contended those on relief rolls were too lazy or dishonest to work.
A few months after this broadcast, Hodson took a leave of absence to join UNRRA, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In January 1943 he was killed in a plane crash over Surinam. Mayor LaGuardia told the New York Times that Hodson's death was "one of the greatest blows that has come to me in a long time."
Elmer Davis (1890-1958) rose from being a well-respected newspaper journalist to become what we would now consider a "radio personality" during World War Two. The website Radio Days relates how:
…Ed Murrow wrote to Davis, "I have hopes that broadcasting is to become an adult means of communication at last," said Murrow. "I've spent a lot of time listening to broadcasts from many countries . . . and yours stand out as the best example of fair, tough-minded, interesting talking I've heard." An example of Davis' tough-minded talk was his broadcast recommending the government organize news information under one organization. This would prompt FDR to create the Office of War Information, which Davis would be asked to head. Though reluctant at first, Davis finally accepted. Davis always thought of himself as a writer first, but eventually managed to create a powerful organization with one goal in mind: "This is a people's war, and the people are entitled to know as much as possible about it."
After the war, Davis was conspicuous for speaking out against McCarthyism. He portrayed himself on film and narrated an Emmy-award-winning television show before dying of a stroke in 1958.
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection.
WNYC archives id: 150197
Municipal archives id: LT4724