UNION LEAGUE

UNION LEAGUE. The Union League was a group of men's clubs established during the CIVIL WAR to promote loyalty to the Union, the Republican Party, and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. They were also known as Loyal Leagues. Members were usually upper middle class members who provided financial support for organizations such as the United States Sanitary Commission, which provided medical supplies to treat wounded soldiers after battle. The clubs supported the Republican Party, with funding, organizational support, and political activism. (1)

After the Civil War, members of the Union League Club of New York helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art and build the Statue of Liberty's pedestal and Grant's Tomb. The Union League Civic and Arts Foundation was established in 1949 as a public, not-for-profit charitable and educational organization. The Foundation's mission is one of community enrichment; it is funded largely by contributions from members of the Union League Club of Chicago. (2)

Famous historical members of the League included Cyrus McCormick, Robert Todd Lincoln, Daniel Burnham, William D. Boyce,[6] and Charles D. Barney. (3)

In 1863 there were seven branches of the Union League in Dubuque County. (4) Estimates placed the number of League members in the City of Dubuque at one thousand. (5) The Dubuque Democratic Herald in November repeated the rumor that once a member, an individual was safe from the draft. (6)

The Herald continued its attacks on the members of the League on November 21, 1863. The paper charged that members had withdrawn their advertisements from the paper and were even boycotting butchers with whom they did not agree. Furthering their protest against the League for not serving in the military, they challenged Edward A. GUILBERT and Frederick E. BISSELL who they described as "only a little lame." (7)

---

Source:

1. "Union League," Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_League

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. "Will You Go?" Dubuque Democratic Herald, November 20, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18631120&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. "Will You Go?" Dubuque Democratic Herald, November 21, p. 1. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18631121&printsec=frontpage&hl=en