History: In the early 1940s, Dean Alice M. Baldwin, Dean Mary Grace Wilson, and faculty member, Ruth Addoms (Botany), attended meetings of the American Women's Voluntary Services, the largest women's service organization in the United States during World War II, as representatives of the Woman's College. Their participation in this organization led them to contemplate the idea of starting a student service organization at Duke.
COGS at Duke: In 1943, this idea came to fruition with the founding of the College Organization for General Service (COGS) under the leadership of Woman's College senior, Barbara Jarden, Wilson and Addoms. "COGS stands not only for the real name, College Organization for General Service, but is also significant of the college woman's place in the complicated machine of an 'all-out-for-victory' campaign. The purpose of this organization is to be of service, to offer participation and cooperation in all war work and war organizations, and to stand on call for all activity in which college women can be of service."1 All Woman's College students were automatically COGS members with the leadership of the group made up of representatives from the women's dormitories, the Town Girls' Club, and graduate students. COGS leadership actively encouraged the establishment of branches at other universities resulting in chapters at Southern Methodist University, University of Texas, Carnegie Tech, and George Washington University. With the ending of World War II, COGS disbanded in March 1946.
Activities: COGS members were awarded keys for their participation in wartime and community activities. In the the beginning, members earned one key for every 55 volunteer hours; this requirement increased to 65 hours in 1944. Wartime volunteer activities included preparing surgical dressings, donating to blood banks, knitting hats, scarfs, sweaters, etc. for soldiers, attending OSC (Officer Candidate School) dances, collecting magazines and books for soldiers, selling war bonds and stamps, and hosting stationery nights at Duke where people could write to Duke students and alumni serving in the war. Community activities included volunteering at Edgemont Community Center (recreation center for disadvantaged youth), Wright's Refuge (home for displaced children), and local hospitals.
Notable Members:
Barbara Jarden, Chairperson, 1942-1943
Dorothy Chorpening, Chairperson, 1943-1944
Mary Louise Merritt, Chairperson, 1944-1945
Frances Ellis, Chairperson, Summer 1945
Harding Boehme, Chairperson, 1945-1946
1. College Organization for General Service Records, 1940-1949, Annual President's Report, 1942-1943, Duke University Archives.