Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS
WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS. The National Woman's Relief Corps, the oldest national women's patriotic organization in the United States, the Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, Inc., is a patriotic organization whose purpose has been to perpetuate the memory of the GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (G. A. R.) provide assistance to veterans of all wars and extend needed aid to them and to their widow(er)s and orphans. (1) The organization was organized on July 25 and 26, 1883 in Denver, Colorado, and incorporated by Public Act of the 87th Congress on September 7, 1962.
From 1879, the primary criterion for eligibility to become a member of the WRC was loyalty to the Union cause, and membership was not necessarily restricted to residents of Union States.
The first chapter of the WRC began in Portland, Maine ten years prior to the more notable one in Massachusetts. In 1879, a group of Massachusetts women from different associations started a "secret" organization that sought to more effectively unify the various local and state relief programs that had been loyal to the North during the American Civil War. In 1890, a chapter of the WRC was introduced in New Hampshire and it, along with the Massachusetts post, formed the Union Board of New England. (3)
While most organizations prevented African Americans from joining, the WRC had many all black chapters in many urban cities across the country. Various southern states also had detached black corps. Although the south kept their chapters segregated, the majority of the corps in the north were desegregated.
One notable African-American WRC member was Susie Taylor, who helped organize Corps 67 in Boston, Massachusetts in 1886, and over the next twelve years served as its secretary, treasurer, and president.[citation needed] Two other black women, Anna Hughes and Marilla Bradbury also held officer positions in the Martin Delaney Corps.
Julia Mason Layton, a black WRC member, fought for the 1893 National Convention decision that allocated funds to African American southern members so that they could be trained to more efficiently organize and finance black veterans. She also helped to create the first all-black chapter in the Department of Potomac.
In Massachusetts, African American woman R. Adelaide Washington was elected as the president of the St. John Chambre Corps. Her election was incredibly impressive considering, at the time, this chapter was dominated by white members.
Being the official auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, the WRC could not operate as it wished. The founding members of the WRC had to write rules and regulations that the GAR would approve of and also ran along similar lines of the GAR. The Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Woman's Relief Corps stipulated three main objectives. The third of these objectives was to "maintain true allegiance to the United States of America" and teach patriotism and "love of country."
The numbers of state and territory departments and posts changed regularly from year to year. In 1892, the WRC was made up of 45 departments, provisional departments, and detached corps of various territories and states. There was a combined total of 2,797 corps (chapters) across the country. In 1892, the WRC also had 98,209 members.[9] Arizona, Florida, Georgia (U.S. state), Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, New York (state), North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. all also had WRC posts, detached and attached, by 1916.
As desegregation of the state departments continued, members at the national level, such as president Abbie Addams, wanted to halt black corps from being created. She proposed this idea on the basis that black women were not educated enough nor interested in joining such an organization. She also wanted to investigate black chapters and dissolve them if they did not have proper permits or licenses to hold group meetings.
The disagreement over this actiion was reflected in the following two quotations:
I cannot forget that our white soldiers, flying for their lives, were
often glad to sleep in the beds, and share the coarse food of the loyal
colored people. And I never knew or heard during all those terrible
years of strife and blood, of a colored man, woman or child proving a
traitor to the Union cause, or to the men who upheld it.......It seems
to me that the question in the Woman’s Relief Corps should not be: whether
a woman’s face is white or black, but whether her heart is white and loyal,
and her life pure and generous.
Annie Wittenmyer Journal of the Eighth Annual Convention of
the Woman’s Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the
Republic, Boston, Massachusetts, August 13-14, 1890, 25-26.
Although fifty-one corps were organized in Kentucky, they did not flourish
as well as they might have, and in the course of time some disbanded, due
to the fact that so many colored members met at the Department Convention
with the white members. Although in entire sympathy with the Lincoln
Proclamation, white women of the Southland do not associate so closely with
the colored race, and thus the downward pathway was started.
Martha Francis Boyd, historian
The WRC began as an auxiliary to the GAR, but because the GAR required members to be veterans of the Union, their numbers began to dwindle as generations passed. In New Jersey, the Ladies Loyal League was an auxiliary that was created by women who had evidence that they were related to Union veterans. This group never reached the same level of importance nor power of the WRC whose members were abundant and reputable. In the 20th century, the WRC gained a political foothold as it lobbied for feminist policies and pensions for Union nurses, as well as patriotic education.
Early on in the creation of the WRC, Memorial Day was used to teach patriotism and nationalism to children of all ages across the North (there was an effort in the South, but there was a great deal of resistance). The members of the Woman's Relief Corps with the assistance of children would make floral wreaths and place them alongside American Flags at the graves of Union veterans and nurses who died during and since the Civil War.
The members of the GAR and WRC viewed Memorial Day as a holy day, but by 1915, the organizations were combating the view that Memorial Day was now a holiday and the memory of the Civil War began to dwindle. (2)
In April 1887 the thirteenth encampment of the G.A.R. meeting was held in Dubuque. The committee on entertainment was expected to provide boarding places and lodgings for an estimated 200-300 women delegates. The chairman "hoped the lady citizens would respond to the the appeal" and help provide lodging. "Please send particulars as to price per day (if pay is desired)." (3)
At the meeting, the Women's Relief Corps Department of Iowa's President Mrs. Clara Nichols called attention to the "crippled condition" of the G.A.R. due to lack of money. During the year, twenty-five corps in Iowa had been visited and "general orders" issued along with two "circular letters" and 666 letters. The budget showed that the Corps had $7,066.87 after $550.12 had been given to posts and $1,766.58 had been given to charity.
It was believed the Corps should provide aid to the sons of veterans. The suggestion was made that the Corps should prepare wards of rooms in the new building of the Soldiers' Home. (4) The veto of the pension bill by the President of the United States was condemned.
Four years later, the G. A. R. celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 7th with speeches and music. Among those invited were members of the Corps, Sons of Veterans, and Ladies' Aid Society. (5) The state encampment was again scheduled for Dubuque on April 15, 16,and 17th. Commander Erwin of the Hyde Clark post, returned to Dubuque to report that the meeting appeared to be very large with over 500 members of the Women's Relief Corps expected in addition to the soldiers. (6)
Fundraising to help provide for needy soldiers, widows and orphans led to a fair and bazaar for one week beginning on November 19, 1894. Donations of money and items for sale were collected by the Corps and the Hyde Clark Post of the G. A. R. (7) The Corps, usually associated with the G. A. R., joined with the DUBUQUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in February, 1895 to present a charity ball and supper to aid "sufferers in Nebraska." (8) Membership increased to the degree that the Corps in Dubuque were to be represented by the Hyde Clark No. 37 Post as well as the Lookout No 299 Post.
On February 22, 1898 members of the G. A. R. gathered to celebrate a new holiday, Washington's Birthday. Piano and vocal solos were performed and Thomas J. FITZPATRICK presented an address. The Corps served light refreshments. (9) In March of the same year, the Corps presented 21 silver and 4 gold medals to pupils in the public schools for the best essays on Memorial Day and its importance. (10)
In 1904 it was suggested by Col. M. B. Davis, past commander of the Department of Iowa of the G. A. R. that with the death of the last survivor of the CIVIL WAR the organizations of the G. A. R. and Women's Relief Corps should cease to exist. He pointed to the lack of interest in the Sons of Veterans organization. He believed that since the Corps had come into existence only after receiving permission from the G. A. R. that it had no reason to continue. This met with resistance from members of the Corps. Only those who were linear descendants of soldiers in the Civil War could join the Ladies of the G. A. R. (11)
The Dubuque County Soldiers' and Sailors' Reunion in 1907 was held at UNION PARK. The "old army fare of beans and coffee" was served by the Corps. (12) Veterans of the CIVIL WAR, SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, Sons of Veterans, Women's Relief Corps, G. A. R. Circle and hundreds of visitors were entertained in 1910 by the Dubuque County Old Soldiers' and Sailors' Association at Epworth. (13)
By the 1920s, in addition to their continued work in veteran relief and commemorating Union memory, the WRC had worked or lobbied for maternity care, child labor and education reform, women’s suffrage, immigration laws, assimilation and Americanization programs for immigrants, combating “radical” ideologies like anarchism and bolshevism, and many others issues. In so doing, the WRC resembled the many organizations interested in addressing social problems in American society between the Civil War and Great Depression. (14)
The WRC continues its social activism. In 2023 its national headquarters was being relocated from Springfield, Illinois to Murphysboro, Illinois. There it will house the organization's collection of artifacts and research material in the General John A Logan Museum. The organization's 141st annual national convention was held in July, 2023. (15)
In 2023 the WRC had an affiliate organization. Logan's Brigade was a 509c3 men's associate organization formed especially to assist the NWRA in perpetuating the memory of the GAR and honoring its dead, supporting all veterans of all wars of the United States and their widow(er)s and orphans, maintaining allegiance to the United States and supporting its Constitution and its flag, and encouraging the spread of universal liberty and equal rights for all, and striving to inculcate patriotism among our children and in our communities. (16)
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Source:
1. "Woman's Relief Corps," https://womansreliefcorps.org/
2. "Woman's Relief Corps," Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Relief_Corps
3. "Women's Relief Corps," The Herald, April 15, 1887, p. 4
4. "The Encampment," The Herald, April 21, 1887, p. 4
5. "25th Anniversary of the G. A. R.," The Herald, April 5, 1891, p. 8
6. "G. A. R. Encampment," The Herald, March 4, 1891, p. 4
7. "Fair and Bazaar," The Herald, October 28, 1894, p. 8
8. "Sweet Charity," The Dubuque Herald, February 10, 1895, p. 5
8. "The Veterans Celebrate," The Dubuque Herald, February 23, 1898, p. 8
9. "Caught on the Fly," The Dubuque Herald, March 8, 1898, p. 5
11. "Would Let G. A. R. Die With Old Soldiers," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, July 26, 1904, p. 7
12. "Beans and Coffee Will be the Fare," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, August 6, 1907, p. 3
13. "The Old Soldiers Have a Gala Day," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, August 11, 1910, p. 5
14. Kennedy, John Christopher, "A Perfect Union: The Woman's Relief Corps and Women's Organizational Activism, 1861-1930," Doctoral dissertation, Online: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI10270318/
15. Bower, Kathy, National Senior Vice President-National Woman's Relief Corps, e-mail, June 13, 2023
16. "Logan's Brigade," Online: https://logansbrigade.org/
See: Mary C. AGARD