The “C” in TCU
In the times that try men’s souls, many turn to religion as an escape from the events that are happening. This trend is not only observable among soldiers and those who were deployed but very evident on the homefront as well. During this time, TCU students began to attend religious services more frequently and follow the pious example set by TCU’s leaders. Just as soldiers sought comfort through religious services, TCU students did as well.
“Colby Hall, E. M. Waits, & M. E. Sadler,” 1941, TCU photo collection, TCU Digital Repository, Mary Couts Burnett Library.
One of the observable tenants of religious participation is that when U.S. soldiers came home, they came home much more religious and motivated to attend church meetings. After the war, “ they [church members] amounted to 59.5 percent of the population, ‘marking an all-time high in the nation’s history.’”[1] More deeply, Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed that freedom of religion was vital to the preservation of democracy and saw a Nazi victory as a threat to religious freedom across the world. Thus, G. Kurt Piehler in his book A Religious History of the American GI in World War II, praises FDR by saying “Roosevelt and the U.S. Army devoted unprecedented resources to promoting the free exercise of religion.”[2] Roosevelt wanted to ensure that American soldiers maintained their religiosity while serving.
TCU too had a very religious leader at the helm in President McGruder Ellis Sadler, who in 1944 became President of the International Convention of the Disciples of Christ. President Sadler delivered sermons at the University Christian Church very regularly. Dean Emeritus Colby Dixon Hall was another very prominent religious figure at TCU at this time. When Brite College of the Bible was established in 1914, Hall was chosen to be Dean. He also served as Dean of TCU from 1920 to 1943.[3] Moreover, Dean Hall preached at the University Christian Church regularly during World War I, as he was a part-time pastor, and would continue to do so during World War II. Dean Hall was elected head of the Southwestern Society of Biblical Study and Research at this time as well. With two very devout leaders on campus, it is easy to see why the students at TCU participated more in religious services than they had before.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. Chaplain George C. Farmer and Wife (1946).
The TCU weekly newspaper, the Skiff, notified students of the religious services occurring that week and also featured articles that discussed religious topics. In the Skiff an article titled “College Students Take New Interest in Religion as World Problems Loom,” published August 13, 1943, enlightens students that other students are turning to faith to guide them during this time.[4] Students engaged in charity and volunteer work in their spare time and prayed regularly for the preservation of freedom not only for themselves but for people around the world. Later, on November 26, 1943, another article was published in the Skiff titled “Wartime Religion and TCU.”[5] This article explains that Brite College of the Bible was chosen by the Military to train Navy chaplains. The article goes further in saying that religious participation has increased to the extent that worship needed to become a weekday practice as well as Sunday services. Students also met at the University Christian Church for meditation every morning. Throughout the rest of the 1943 to 1944 school year, a few more religious affirmations were published in the Skiff like “The College Student and Mr. God,” which reassured students that God is looking out for them.[6]
Due to Brite beginning to train Navy chaplains, the school had the largest class to date with thirty-one students the following year, Brite had the smallest student body as twenty-five of its students would join the armed forces, twenty-one becoming chaplains. Captain George C. Farmer, former TCU student and chaplain of the 3rd Army under General Patton, received a Silver Star for gallantry.[7]
Texas Christian University is a stellar example of using faith to rally a group of people behind the cause of supporting one’s country and its soldiers who have gone off to preserve freedom. Religion was a staple to motivate students and faculty to support the effort to defeat the Axis Powers and maintain the ideals that we were trying to preserve overseas. It is best summed up by an excerpt from the Skiff on November 26, 1943: “Wartime religion is a responsibility of a denominational school. TCU is accepting of this responsibility.”[8] This responsibility was accepted and through leadership and student participation, the “C” in TCU was pronounced loud and clear.
[1] Michael Snape, God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America’s Armed Forces in World War II (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2020), 591.
[2] G. Kurt Piehler, A Religious History of the American GI in World War II (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021), 4.
[3] Colby Dixon Hall and Beatrice Tomlinson Hall Papers, 1892-1960, Special Collections Online, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
[4] “College Students Take New Interest in Religion as World Problems Loom,” The Skiff, August 13, 1943, Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
[5] “Wartime Religion and TCU,” The Skiff, November 26, 1943, Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
[6] “The College Student and Mr. God,” The Skiff, March 10, 1944, Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
[7] “Christian Soldiers in Service–TCU Chaplains Boss Stars, Win Medals in War Duties,” The Skiff, June 15, 1945, Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
[8] “Wartime Religion and TCU,” The Skiff, November 26, 1943, Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University.
For Further Reading
Snape, Michael. God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America’s Armed Forces in World War II (Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, 2020).
The “Greatest Generation” is the generation who won World War II because of their intense bravery and patriotism, right? Not exactly, Snape argues that the United States was as formidable a fighting force as it was due to the widespread religious tolerance that was practiced in the military, which then followed the soldiers home to be practiced domestically as well. The soldiers in our armed forces relied on religion to keep them marching toward victory in Europe and Japan, and without religion as an outlet, the outcome of the war would have looked very different.
Piehler, G. Kurt. A Religious History of the American GI in World War II (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2021).
Piehler challenges the popularly held sentiment that the American GI was a soldier without religious convictions. Quite on the contrary, the American GI used religion to cope with the war and with being away from family. The soldiers in Europe did not exactly know why they were fighting aside from the fact that Germany was allied with Japan, but they knew that maintaining their faith in God (whichever rendition that may be) would help them keep their sanity and focus on getting the job done and returning to family.
Stanley, Brian. Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019).
This book explores the toll that was absorbed by worldwide Christianity throughout the entire twentieth century. Not so shortly after the twentieth century began, diseases and wars began to plague the world and in times like this, many people turn to religion to maintain their faith in humanity. The book seeks to enlighten the reader about how the Christian church and the various denominations of it have become what they are today and how the events of the twentieth century shaped that transformation.