Our History: The 1940s and '50s
During World War II, the House was linked with air-raid systems with the Wilmington public schools and began collaborating with the Wilmington Board of Education to provide increased nursery school programs. The Red Cross joined the House and set up a home-nursing program to train women in first-aid skills, while staff also coordinated the sale of thousands of dollars of war bonds in the neighborhood.
As women from the neighborhood obtained jobs in defense industries, the House assumed a special significance as a "home away from home" for many of the youth. It provides the same sense of security today.
The late 1940s and the 1950s proved to be a period of stability for the Neighborhood House and for the West Side community as a whole. But the challenges of the turbulent '60s were yet to be met. Go to next history page.
Our History:
1880s * WWI * Great Depression * 1960s, '70s and '80s * Today