A campaign to establish the U.S.O. in the Fort Leonard Wood area began in March 1941. Because the military was still segregated, plans called for separate clubs for Caucasian and African American soldiers. Space for a Caucasian U.S.O. club was secured in the Knights of Pythias hall in Rolla. In August 1941, Ruth Chambers, Young Women's Christian Association director of Fort Leonard Wood, and Sara Long, African American U.S.O. director, tried to establish an African American club in Rolla, but no landlord would rent them space for it. Long relocated to Lebanon, where she established an African American U.S.O. in a tent one mile east of town. Land was later purchased in Old Town in Lebanon, and the government erected a building for the African American club, the first U.S.O. building dedicated in the area. The Lebanon African American U.S.O. closed in 1942, and the land was given to the community. It was then used as the William T. Vernon Colored School until it closed in 1958.