USO History

The United Service Organizations (USO) was founded February 4, 1941. Incorporated in the state of New York, six service agencies came together to bring the USO to life. These six motivated agencies are: YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army, and National Traveler’s Aid Association. In six short months after it’s founding in New York, on August 7, 1941, the Chicago Servicemen’s Center is launched by the Chicago Commission on National Defense through Mayor Edward J. Kelly. Though operated by the City of Chicago, the center was supported inside the Elk’s building at 178 W. Washington St., in downtown Chicago.

While support for our service members was booming in Chicago, the USO established it’s first USO club in Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to legendary Army base, Fort Bragg on October 13, 1941. Fort Bragg, to this day, is one of the largest military bases in the world.

It only took a couple of months for Chicago to take charge and establish it’s Auxiliary Center for Chicago’s Servicemen. Serving the 6th Corps, the facility was operated by the City of Chicago on 5111 S. Calumet and opened on December 15, 1941.

Not long after the opening of the first USO club in North Carolina, Chicago opened two, within a few weeks of each other. These dedicated Chicagoans opened the first USO club at the Illinois Central Railroad Terminal at Roosevelt Road in April of 1942. The second USO in Chicago appeared in the historic Union Station on May 20, 1942.

If you think the USO had any ideas of slowing down, think again. Just a week after the club opening at Union Station, on May 27, 1942, the USO Servicemen’s Center opened at 131 S. Wabash. With over 20,000 square feet of morale boosting dance halls, driving ranges, movies and a canteen packed with pogey bait, service members found their share of R and R…and then some. Rented from Norman E. Bensinger for $1 per year, the facility was to remain open through the duration of WWII.

In the summer of 1942, just as the war was heating up, so were activities at the new Servicemen’s Center in Lincoln Park. Located at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, the City of Chicago operated a full-on service member’s beach resort with outside tents, cottages, outdoor pavilion, dance hall, canteen and even swimsuits for our warriors.

With a sound victories on both fronts of World War Two, on December 31, 1947, all USO clubs and facilities closed. All operations were terminated by the World Board of Governors and less than two weeks later, the USO is given an Honorable Discharge by President Harry S. Truman.

Stand by: Ahhten-huh! The USO is back in July of 1948. The call of duty rings once more for the USO under a Memorandum of Understanding between the President and the Department of Defense, lead by Secretary of Defense Forrestal.

Shortly after, in the blazing Chicago summer, a sister organization called the Chicago Servicemen’s Club opened at 308. N. Michigan Avenue under the operation of the Chicago Associated Services Committee. The club was not an official part of the USO but the idea was the same: serve and provide for those who sacrifice for the freedom of the American people.

Under the direction of Stuart McCutcheon, the same wartime director as the USO, The Chicago Servicemen’s Club played an important role in giving back to our service members. This facility would exist on it’s own until January 18, 1951 when the USO took control of operations.

Acquiring the facilities once run by the Chicago Servicemen’s Club was all the USO World Headquarters needed to see before deciding to separately incorporate the USO of Illinois in February of 1951. That’s some daggon motivation!

In the years spanning 1962 and 1963, the National Ad Hoc USO Survey committee was formed under the direction of President John F. Kennedy to study whether organizations like the USO were needed in peacetime and if so, how would they be funded. The Hannah Survey, named after chairman Dr. John A. Hannah determined that the need for the USO in peacetime was absolutely necessary for those serving abroad and at home.

From 1963-1972, USO’s worldwide service our service members during the tumultuous times of the Vietnam Era. Get some! Meanwhile back on the home front, the USO of Illinois Woman’s Board is formed. The first Chair was occupied by a dedicated Mrs. William H. Arnold, accompanied by hard-charger Mrs. Walter J. Cummings in 1965. Four years later, in 1969, the USO makes it’s grand opening at O’hare Airport and now has two sites inside the behemoth civilian airfield.

A decade later, on December 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the USO’s Congressional Charter. This act aptly says that in times of peace, the USO is always a driving influence in the lives of our service members.

So the USO is here to stay and continued to thrive in Illinois. In August of 1985, the USO facility at Great Lakes Naval Training Center held it’s grand opening in Building 27. Following the opening in Great Lakes, the Woman’s Board of the USO of Illinois is absorbed into the parent Board.

During the months of September 1990 through May 1991, USO’s across the world once more provided invaluable support to the brave men and women deployed to the Middle East in support of the Gulf War. Shortly after this time, and not letting O’hare Airport take all the service member support, Midway Airport opened it’s doors and welcomed service members to their new lounge on August 21, 1991.

All is quiet on the Midwestern Front for the USO of Illinois except for the “Commissioning” Grand Opening after the USO Great Lakes had undergone renovations in August of 2001. In September of 2001, once again, USO’s across the nation and throughout the world answer the call to serve our warriors in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Recognizing the need for more facilities, the USO of Illinois opened a new site in Chicago’s Navy Pier on June 14, 2002.

Today, the USO of Illinois serves over 300,000 active duty, guard, and reserve military and their families throughout Illinois and the Midwest. With over 300 programs and services offered year-round, the USO of Illinois operates 6 facilities powered by a network of over 400 dedicated volunteers who donate nearly 20,000 hours of their time annually. The USO of Illinois is a civilian 501(c)(3) registered non-profit that is not government funded but is supported solely by the generosity of the America people.