The Effects of War (1941-1948)
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visiting the women of the Navy Civilian Employees at American University on February 26, 1945. She found "They do a full day's work, six days a week, and then they do seven hours of college work in the evenings. They live at American University in one of the buildings formerly occupied by boys who have gone off to the war. I gather that most of them would have found it difficult to go to college under other circumstances, and they feel this is a great opportunity to do something for the war and still acquire a college education."
World War I had little effect on the academic of AU as the university had only been operating for 3 years, but World War II dramatically changed academics programs. To keep AU operational during the war AU created a partnership with the Lucy Webb Nursing School to train Red Cross nurses and provided a variety of work-study programs with the WAVES, SPARS, Armed Forces Institute, and the Navy. These programs allowed men and women in service to the war efforts to work in various parts of DC during the day and to be educated and housed in the evening at AU. After the war, many of these partnerships adjusted to serve returning veterans, wounded, and incoming war refugees. The latter half of the 1940s, saw the creation of <span>post war programs like the Veterans Service Training Program and Crusade Program as well as new accommodations to house the influx of students on the GI Bill and their families.