As mentioned in my most recent article, THE CLASS OF ’44, the effects of World War II were deeply felt here at home. By 1944, most of the women in East Rochester were employed. Local industries were making products for the war. For example, at the Piano Works, aircraft bodies and wings for the Canadian Air Force were being made, and steel landing mats, pontoons, and tank treads were being made at the Carshops, as well as coal tenders for the Russian railroad.
Our village’s Child Care Committee saw a great need for a public child care center. Committee members included: Daniel Malone (Justice and longtime ER activist), Mayor George Schreib, E. D. Seward (Pittsford Town Supervisor), Theodore Morgan (outgoing School Superintendent), Lewis C. Obourn (Elementary School Principal/incoming School Superintendent), H. L. Brainerd (Trustee, ER Village Board), Rev. Earl Winters (Pastor, Parkside Methodist Church), and Mrs. William Greeley. Rooms on the second floor of the Parkside Methodist Church’s addition were selected as the appropriate location. Mrs. Mark B. Furman, a trustee of the Church, was chosen as Chairman of the Center. The Church was the perfect spot since it was next to the school buildings on East Avenue and bordered Edmund Lyon Park.
Funding for the Day Care Center was provided by the federal and state governments. Parents contributed to the cost of feeding the children. The Lanham Act of 1940 authorized funds for child care facilities for children whose mothers were working in defense and defense-related industries. Funding was authorized through Title II of the National Defense Housing Act. The purpose of the Law was to assist communities with water, sewer, housing, schools, and other local facilities’ needs related to the war and war industry. In 1943, the U.S. Senate passed the first national child care program “to provide for public care of children whose mothers were employed for the duration of World War II. The federal government offered grants for child care services to authorize community groups that could demonstrate a war-related need for the service. The program was justified as a war expedient necessary to allow mothers to enter the labor force and increase war production.” The centers helped families of all incomes, and so addressed the needs of both children and parents. The New York State War Council also realized the need for child care programs. And in 1942, organized the Committee on Child Care, Development, and Protection.
Articles in the spring and summer editions of the East Rochester Herald newspaper describe the planning and opening of East Rochester’s Child Care Center. The village Center was the first in Monroe County, outside of the city of Rochester. It opened on August 14, 1944. Government funding paid for the cost of renovating the two large playrooms and providing equipment. A sick bay and office area were also configured, with the church kitchen to be used for serving meals. In selecting a director for the Center, Mrs. Furman suggested Miriam Senzel, a young woman who lived in Rochester, and had graduated in 1942 from the University of Rochester with Mrs. Furman’s daughter, Justine. Miriam, “Mimi,” had gone on to maste