WAR CAMP COMMUNITY SERV ICE, an organization founded in May, 1917, by the Playground and Recreation Association of America, to assist com munities located near the camps in which American soldiers were being trained, to make provision for recreation facilities of the men in their free time. The service extended over the United States and it was estimated that over 600 communities had been organized to provide recreation and hospitality. There was great variety in the activities to which the community service dedicated itself. Dramas were staged and local artistic talent was called on to provide the personnel, where it could not be provided by the men them selves. There were concerts, and many singers of note on various occasions gave their services. Pageants, more or less elaborate, and often of a kind to arouse the martial spirit of the men as well as to interest and instruct them were given.
There were sporting carnivals, and athletic meets in which the men them selves took the major part. Many families gave hospitality to the soldiers, most of whom, when in camp, were at a great distance from their homes. Clubs were established in great numbers and where they were not formed on the actual initiative or by the direct organization of the War Camp Community Service, they became affiliated with it and enjoyed the facilities it provided. The total number of Soldiers' and Sailors' Clubs established exceeded 500, of which something like 60 were for colored soldiers. The cen tral office and headquarters of the Service were maintained in New York, in the vicinity of which were several of the largest camps.