Becher, John C.

Keeping morale high was important during the war. This was recognized at the highest military levels. General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, for example, stressed the importance of maintaining high morale: "Napoleon evaluated morale over material as three to one. I believe that recent experiences indicate a re-estimate of this value - the odds being near five to one, or probably even ten to one in some instances in favor of the psychological factor" (Morale Program, box 7 folder 2 page 7). Programs and services that maintained or heightened morale covered a wide range - athletics, libraries, religion, education - and none was more important than entertainment, which is well-represented by the materials in the Becher collection.