North Dakota By Dorothy Scheele The Friendship Train is America’s unmatchable gift of $4,000,000 worth of food to France and Italy after the Second World War. The idea of the Friendship Train originated from Drew Pearson, a well-known broadcaster and columnist of the mid twentieth-century. While in Europe, Pearson noticed that the Russians were sending food to Europe and creating an enormous brouhaha whenever a shipment arrived. Pearson realized that this beneficent gift was actually an attempt to persuade the Europeans to accept communism. He loathed communism and conceived the idea that America can also send food to Europe: hence, the Friendship Train. Americans opened their cupboards and scoured their fields to give. The United States government was not a part of this unique event. Every state contributed to the Friendship Train even though it travelled through only 11 states. A more thorough history of the Friendship Train is available on the home page of this web site. The citizens of the Peace Garden state gave generously to the Friendship Train. However, scant information about the amount of money or quantity of the donations exists, making it difficult to site or credit donors. Other than some brief exceptions, few facts are available. In one of the few instances where credit was given to donors was printed in the December 31, 1947, Stutsmen County Record. TraillCounty topped the list, contributing $5,857. Next was Divide County, giving $5,783, Hettinger County $4,826, and Grand Forks County, $4,481. These figures were the only ones reported in the North Dakota newspapers at that time. Funds collected by December 1947 as reported by the StutsmenCounty Record were $62,450, a significant amount for a state with a population, according to the 1940 census, of 41,935. Officials anticipated the monetary figure to be between $89,000 and $ 90,000 by the end of the food campaign. The departure date for North Dakota’s donations and the date when it would join other boxcars heading for New York were not available. The fact that most of the newspaper articles were dated between December 1947 and February 1948 indicates that the donations were not shipped with the original Friendship Trains which left from the west coast on November 7, 1947. Simultaneous with the Friendship Train was another food drive which was termed ‘Wheat for Relief.’ C. A. Armstrong was the executive secretary of this program which was formed to send wheat to northern Europe. Officials decided not to mill the grain in the Peace Garden state, but instead to have the Europeans mill it. By so doing, the people would have some of the work they needed and also be able to mill it in whatever way they wanted to use it. North Dakota received the historic and grateful thank you from France known as the Merci train, which consisted of 40 & 8 boxcars. The Merci train arrived in New York harbor on February 9, 1949. It consisted of 49 boxcars of gifts, one for each state and one to be shared by D.C. and Hawaii. These gifts were given by the French people from their homes in the same way that America’s gifts were from their homes North Dakota’s boxcar is located at 612 E. Boulevard Avenue in Bismarck. Gifts from the French to the North Dakotans can be viewed on the web site of the North Dakota Center and State Museum. List of works consulted “December 31 is Deadline For Wheat For Relief” Stutsman County Record Dec. 25, 1947: 6. “Report to Governor Marks Climax of Scout Week Here: The BismarckTribune Feb 12, 1949: 1. “’Thank You Train’ To Arrive Feb. 15” The Bismarck Tribune Feb. 3, 1949: 1. The author welcomes any corrections or additional information which would add to this state's history. Her email address is draetrain@gmail.com. The Friendship Train was the genesis for the French Merci Train. The. Websitewww.mercitrain.org has extensive information about that train. Copies of Mr. Bennett's Book The Merci Train, A Big Thank You From the French Merci Train isavailable at ebennett89@yahoo.com. The price is $25.00 per copy, including postage. |
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