Call Number:

3467

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

0.7 linear feet (; 2 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Mrs. Stacy B. Lloyd papers on American Red Cross's Allied Prisoners of War Food Packing Service (Collection 3647), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1940-1945, undated; bulk 1943-1945

Creator:

Lloyd, Eleanor Morris.

Abstract:

Mrs. Stacy B. (Eleanor Morris) Lloyd, who lived in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, served as the chairman of the Red Cross Prisoner of War Food Packaging Center in Philadelphia during World War II. This small yet remarkable collection of papers relates to her work overseeing the local Red Cross facility that produced hundreds of care packages over several years for Allied prisoners of war in Europe and Japan. Comprising the collection are Lloyd's letters and notes, dozens of photographs showing everything from the women workers to the contents of the care packages, and many clippings pertaining to the Red Cross and its relief efforts, particularly the food packing service. There are also a few letters from overseas prisoners, examples of war camp newspapers, and other miscellaneous documents and ephemera concerning war relief.

Eleanor Burroughs Morris, a descendant of Philadelphia’s second mayor, Anthony Morris (1654-1721), was born in 1881 to Effingham Buckley Morris and Ellen Douglas Burroughs of Ardmore, Pennsylvania. On October 25, 1902, she married Stacy Barcroft Lloyd Sr., president of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society.

Mrs. Lloyd became the director of the nation’s first American Red Cross Allied Prisoners of War Food Packing Service, which opened at 30th Street and Allegheny Avenue in Philadelphia on February 1, 1943. From early 1943 through the end of the war in 1945, Lloyd supervised hundreds of mostly women volunteers as they created care packages for prisoners in war camps in Europe and Japan. Many of the volunteers were wives or mothers of prisoners of war. Working two shifts a day, six days a week, the volunteers created thousands of care packages a day that were shipped to camps that held soldiers from many different countries. In order to ensure that the men received the packages, each contained a receipt card that the recipient filled out and sent back to the American Red Cross. In the thirty or so months that the Philadelphia packing center existed, its workers sent over a million prisoner of war food packages. In recognition of her dedication to the cause, Mrs. Lloyd received the Gimbel Award for “America’s outstanding woman” in 1944.

This collection, though small in scope, is rich in details concerning the outcome of Eleanor Morris Lloyd's work overseeing the American Red Cross’s first Allied prisoners of war food packing center in Philadelphia. There is one box of manuscript material and one archival photo album. While this collection does not shed light on Lloyd’s personal life or how she became involved with the Red Cross, her personality occasionally comes out through her own notes, speeches, and correspondence. Additionally, there are numerous pictures of Mrs. Lloyd in her Red Cross uniform both in and outside of the packing center.

The box of manuscripts (Box 1) contains a mix of papers, most of which are clippings, correspondence, and materials from the Red Cross. There are both dated and undated clippings, though the undated clippings would appear to be from the same date range as the dated clippings, 1943 to 1945. Almost all of the clippings concern the Red Cross, their food packing service, and the results of their work--namely the happy soldiers who received the care packages. Mrs. Lloyd is mentioned or pictured in the articles that directly discuss Philadelphia’s food packing center. Some clippings highlight war relief more generally, as well as the plight of prisoners of war. Many of the articles are from Philadelphia newspapers, such as the Inquirer, Evening Bulletin, or Record; a few are from out-of-state newspapers.

There is one folder of Mrs. Lloyd's correspondence (Box 1, Folder 10) that contains a mix of incoming and outgoing letters regarding the food packing service. Almost all the correspondence is business oriented, though there are a couple of personal notes from family members of overseas prisoners thanking Mrs. Lloyd for the Red Cross’s services, as well as a few incoming telegrams from friends. Among the business letters is a note of thanks from Red Cross chairman Basil O’Conner, general letters from the Southeastern Chapter of the Red Cross War Fund, and copies of outgoing appeal letters from Mrs. Lloyd to prospective volunteers.

The folder of notes for speeches and radio transcripts (Box 1, Folder 11) is notable because these materials contain Mrs. Lloyd’s own words on the food packing service and its importance to both the local and national war relief efforts. Some of her notes contain information on war camps and the prisoners that were held in them. The radio transcripts contain Mrs. Lloyd’s generous promotions of the Red Cross and the food packing service.

Further information on the food packing service and other Red Cross programs can be found in Box 1, Folder 15, which contains numerous brochures, newsletters, handouts, and advertisements from the height of World War II. In addition to the prisoner of war care packages, there are brochures on the history of the Red Cross, Information booklets on the War Fund, and newsletters highlighting current events and war relief efforts.

While Box 1 contains a few photographs, all of the photos found loose in the collection have been re-housed in Box 2, an archival photo album. Among the assortment of photograph are pictures of Mrs. Lloyd, food packing volunteers on the assembly line and at rest, the food packing center’s building at 30th Street and Allegheny Avenue, and the rations that went into each package. There are also various photographs from overseas of prisoners in camps and Red Cross facilities. Most of the photos are from news services and some contain typed descriptions on paper pasted to the backs of the photos. There are also thirteen smaller photos that look like personal snapshots and contain candid images of Red Cross workers and volunteers.