Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
NORTHERN IOWA SANITARY FAIR
NORTHERN IOWA SANITARY FAIR. Multi-county fund-raising effort scheduled and held in Dubuque during the CIVIL WAR to aid Union forces. The organization of the Fair held on June 21-29, 1864, began on March 10. A representative from each of the cooperating counties was made a vice-president.
Thirty-two counties participated. The Fair was held in the DUBUQUE CITY HALL. The first floor offered a series of booths along both sides of the unpartitioned room. Library and floral departments were found on the second floor. The Children's Amusement Department, located on the third floor, was used for the display of battle relics and curiosities.
Refreshments were offered on the first two floors of Turner Hall located nearby. Hardware, agricultural and household implements, and machinery were displayed in an adjoining building erected for the Fair.
The opening of the Fair featured no parades. The Germania Band performed "Hail Columbia;" a prayer was offered; and H. A. Wiltse, president of the Fair, made a brief speech in which the donations were formally turned over to the committees. City of Dubuque donations were received from many associations including the Congregational Society, Universalist Society, Young Ladies' Aid Society, Second Presbyterian Society, Methodist Episcopal Society, and the Catholic Society. Mrs. O. P. Shiras donated a garden vase that brought forty dollars. Julius K. GRAVES donated the gas used for lighting the buildings. Four handmade handkerchiefs, donated by Mrs. John T. Hancock and Mrs. G. B. Grosvenor, brought forty-two dollars.
All of the donations from the City of Dubuque brought in $3914.87. The total receipts of the Fair were nearly ninety thousand dollars which was nearly the amount raised in Chicago the year before. Unsold articles that could be turned into clothing were donated to the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society of Dubuque. Others items were donated to sanitary fairs in Illinois and elsewhere in Iowa.
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Swaim, Ginalie. "Thrown Upon Their Own Exertions," Iowa Heritage Illustrated, Spring, 2014. p. 33