LETTER TO MRS. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R000900010059-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 11, 2002
• Sequence Number: 59
• Publication Date: March 4, 1960
• Content Type: LETTER

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Dear &Irs. Lisenh *r:
it 1 Very thwa$>1al at you to wr
Mrs. 1 1? and nry"U COMMIAIng *0 Army
DiMmg "aon4uiaa. I have red ist tv.st!al.
be dates about the )'a atlea and ]a w t
cause is most sordwo U* and aLl.ngiag.
aria dwa firono
1 - ER w/bwsic
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February 2, 1960
General John E. Dahlquist USA (Ret) is President of the
Army Distaff Foundation, a recently formed organization which
hopes, with public support, to build here in Washington a
Residence Hall for widows of Army Officers -- the first of
its kind in the nation. It is my understanding that he is
communicating with you to ask you to become a member of the
Foundation's National Committee of Sponsors.
I have been delighted to accept the Honorary Chairmanship
of the Women's Advisory Committee of the Foundation. I am
writing to commend the Foundation to you and to express my
hope that you will consent to join the approximately 100 Army
Officers and leading civilians throughout the country whose
public association with the Foundation will play a powerful
part in winning the national support it will need.
The Foundation seeks to meet a very human, compelling
and urgent need. It is my hope that you will accept General
Dahlquist's invitation to join the sponsoring group.
Sincerely yours,
Zze 4g-;4eZ:f 0
Mr. and Mrs. Allen W. Dulles
2723 Que Street
Washington 7
District of Columbia
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THE ARMY DISTAFF FOUNDATION
Recognition that an Army woman left alone
by the death of her husband is peculiarly adrift
and in need of companionship brought the
Army Distaff Foundation into being. It is a
group of men and women, from both military
and civilian circles, who organized in the District
of Columbia as a non-profit, charitable corpora-
tion, the object of which is to obtain funds to
build and operate a residence for older Army
women. A board of 19 members serving without
compensation, with an Executive Vice President
and Executive Secretary, direct the Foundation's
business.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
The Foundation was incorporated in February
1959. In one year's time if has acquired an out-
standingly lovely 14 acre site in the District of
Columbia facing Rock Creek Park. Stores and
transportation are nearby. The land lies midway,
one mile between Connecticut Avenue on the
West and Walter Reed Hospital on the East.
Offices have been set up in the graceful Tudor
mansion already in existence on the property.
This house will become the future Administration
Building and recreational center for the project
and will also house key members of the staff.
Mr. Edwin Weihe has been retained as archi-
tect and The Chas. H. Tompkins Company as
builders. Complete plans have been drawn and
filed with the District of Columbia authorities.
The Treasurer and all employees are bonded.
The American Security & Trust Company is the
Found:tion's bank. To date over $100,000 has
been received in contributions, for organizational
and current expenses, such as taxes, etc. These
contributions came from individuals and Army
Wives Clubs throughout the world, evidence in-
deed of the interest of the public.
WHAT IS ARMY DISTAFF HALL?
It is the name proposed for the building that
will house the residents. In it will be three hundred
living units and a central dining room for optional
use, though all but 38 living units will have kitchen
facilities. There will be a fully equipped infirmary
with twenty-five beds and doctors' offices and
treatment rooms. There will be four types of
units of varying sizes, all with full baths, very
ample closets, and picture windows overlooking
the beautiful grounds. The building will be air-
conditioned.
All features of the plan were carefully designed
to meet the requirements of "Housing for the
Elderly." The corridors are 7 feet wide to permit
the easy movement of stretchers or beds; doors
are 4 feet wide to accommodate wheelchairs;
bathroom doors open outward in case of acci-
dent; and wall-to-wall carpeting or non-skid file
will cover all floors, again, to prevent accidents-
details that add to the expense in building but
also add immeasurably to the safety and com-
fort of the occupants.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
To be eligible for entrance in Army Distaff
Hall, a woman must be 62 years of age or over at
date of entrance; in reasonably good health; and
the widow, mother, daughter, sister, or mother-
in-law of a Regular Army Officer, or of a Reserve
Officer with twenty years' active service. She
must be able to meet the modest entrance fee
and rental charges, or, if unable to meet these
charges in full, she may apply for Foundation
Fellowship Assistance. Such assistance will be
entirely confidential, and the recipient will in no
way receive different treatment than other resi-
dents. The exact amount of the rents and the
entrance fees will be announced later, when all
costs are established, but well before the com-
pletion of the building and acceptance of en-
trance applications. It is anticipated that rent
will be below comparable commercial rental
rates, and the entrance fee, moderate. All resi-
dents are thus assured of "life care."
WHAT CAN I DO?
The success of this undertaking lies in clear
understanding of the needs and objectives of the
Foundation. The building will be financed prin-
cipally by a loan. The remaining cost of con-
struction must be met by the Foundation. The
smaller the loan assumed, the less the carrying
charges and hence the lower the rentals. Thus
the money contributed will be used for two pur-
poses: to pay a part of the cost of constructing
and equipping the building, and second, to
establish an endowment fund.
Understanding the situation of the Army
widow is of utmost necessity. Army officers' com-
pensation, according to the Cordiner Report, is
about one-third of what their civilian counter-
parts-business executives-earn. Consequently
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their' widows and other dependents are often
left with limited income. Few are now eligible
for Social Security. Pensions for officers who die
on active service range from $143 a month for
the widow of a lieutenant to that of $316 for
the rare case of a four-star general who dies on
active duty. The widows of retired officers who
die of a non-service connected disability are elig-
ible only for Veterans Bureau compensation on
the basis of war service. Thus the maximum
amount paid to the widow of a Spanish War
veteran is $75, or to an officer who served in the
Ist World War or incurred any percentage of
pensionable disability in World War II or Korea
is $50.40, PROVIDED that her total income from
all sources does not exceed $ 1,400 annually.
But aside from the financial problem, there is
a social and psychological need, one long recog-
nized by those interested in the problems of the
aging. Early in life Army wives sever home ties
to accompany their husbands from post to post.
Seas, continents and years separate them from
family and former friends. When they become
widowed they are truly alone, often strangers
in the land they served. At Army Distaff Hall,
they will meet and mingle with other Army
women, people of similar backgrounds and in-
terests, in a congenial and friendly atmosphere
of security. This will give them privacy, dignity
and "life care" at a moderate cost.
Realize these facts, explain them to others and
give in such measure as you yourself can, thus
a humane and practical solution to a vital
problem will come into reality.
OFFICERS AND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
ARMY DISTAFF FOUNDATION, INC.
GENERAL JOHN E. DAHLQUIST, USA (Ret)
President
LT. GENERAL LESLIE R. GROVES, USA (Ret)
First Vice-President
GENERAL WADE HAISLIP, USA (Ref)
Second Vice-President
MRS. GORDON R. YOUNG
Third Vice-President
MAJ. GENERAL PAUL H. STREIT, USA (Rot)
Fourth Vice-President
MAJ. GENERAL MARK McCLURE, USA (Ret)
Treasurer
?
MRS. WILLIAM H. ARNOLD
MR. DANIEL W. BELL
MAJ. GENERAL ERNEST M. BRANNON, USA (Ret)
MRS. CHARLES K. GAILEY
BRIG. GENERAL WILLARD HOLBROOK, JR., USA (Ret)
MRS. LYMAN L. LEMNITZER
MAJ. GENERAL A. B. QUINTON, JR., USA (Ret)
MRS. SAMUEL D. STURGIS
MRS. JAMES W. TOTTEN
MRS. RAYMOND A. WHEELER
BRIG. GENERAL ROBERT E. WOOD, USA (Ret)
MAJ. GENERAL GEORGE H. OLMSTEAD, USA (Ret)
COLONEL JULIAN B. LINDSEY, USA (Ret)
Executive Vice-President
MRS. JASPER L. SEARLES
Executive Secretary
JANUARY 1960
FACTS
about the
ARMY DISTAFF FOUNDATION
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