The Records of the Lucius Fairchild Woman's Relief Corps Post 37 have been organized into three series: Administrative Records, Correspondence, and General Information.
Administrative Records (1886-1971) include: cash books, journals, ledgers, member rolls and other official records. The journals, cash books, ledgers and member rolls are all bound materials and not in folders. The first seven journals are in flat boxes for preservation purposes. The cash books (1906-1953) contain a number of ledgers kept by the Corps Treasurer, containing the balance of the bank account of the Corps, money paid to the Corps and expenditures.
Journals (1886-1957, 1962-1969) were kept by the secretary, and inspected by members of the Corps and a national inspector. Entries include voting to pay bills, taking dues, the election of new officers, and decisions on charitable works. The Corps funded their charitable works with the dues they paid, and socials and other parties they held as fundraisers. The main focus of the Corps was to provide relief to soldiers and their families, giving food, money and clothing. The Corps also would visit sick members of their own association, the GAR and soldiers, sending cards and flowers, as well. Each year, the WRC would hold a Memorial Day service, laying flowers at the graves of soldiers in Madison, and are detailed in the journals.
The ledgers (1906-1949) contain membership information. In the beginning of each ledger is an alphabetized index of all members, including their standing, and often the page number of their record. The records in each ledger contain information on dues paid by each member, and the standing of the member in the Corps. It is noted in the ledgers when a member lapses in payments, drops out of the Corps, is discharged, or dies. The member rolls contain information similar to the ledgers. Most entries are dated with annotations entered later, such as the date of death for a member. Starting with the second volume, there is a “necrology” of members who have passed, including date of death and where they are buried. The second member roll is an attempt to list all members from 1898 to 1949 in alphabetical order.
Also included are an attendance book (1949-1954), a copy of Corps bylaws, several reports on conferences and a circular from the National WRC. Membership materials include applications, letters to the WRC about membership and honorable discharge cards. Miscellaneous financial reports includes receipts, checks and a booklet of request forms to request materials from the National WRC. Monthly and quarterly treasurer's reports detail the balance of the Corps' budget. Patriotic materials reports on promoting patriotism in schools include circulars urging members to encourage and foster patriotism in themselves and others and reports of flags given to schools. Quarterly secretary's reports include membership numbers and the number of people the Corps helped in that month. Also included is a register for the Monona Lake Assembly Corps are included in this series. It is unclear how the Monona Lake Assembly book came to be part of this collection
Correspondence, (1886-1969) include a folder of correspondence and two letterbooks (1886-1888 and 1890-1908). The 1890-1908 letterbook was dismantled for preservation purposes. Most of these letters are to the Corps from other posts about fundraisers, the GAR about business between the Corps and general correspondence from members. Of note is a letter dated September 20, 1890 from the Madison Grand Army of the Republic Post 11, the WRC Posts' counterpart, announcing they had changed their name from the C.C. Washburn GAR Post 11 to the Lucius Fairchild Post 11, requesting the WRC follow suit. Also of note is a letter from Mr. Rood, February 21, 1908, the Custodian of the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall about Memorial Day plans.
General Information, (1928-1962) includes ephemera, memorials and necrology, newsclippings and rituals. Ephemera is mostly materials that had been tucked into the journals for safekeeping, such as lists of the officers of the Corps, notes from the secretary and a napkin from a celebration of Minnie Wise on her 50th anniversary of membership. The memorials and necrology folder contains two memorial cards for WRC members and a necrology list that was originally located in the second member roll volume (B7). Newsclippings contain short news pieces about the WRC Post 37 and their works as well as Civil War history. Included is an article about Abraham Lincoln, and the last Wisconsin Civil War veteran, Lansing Alphonse Wilcox, turning 104. Of note is an article about Alice Whiting Waterman, a Southern woman who moved to Madison after the end of the Civil War. Mrs. Waterman maintained the Confederate Rest, Forest Hill Cemetery, in Madison, Wisconsin until she died and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery herself. As a group, the Lucius Fairchild WRC was very secretive with the workings of their society and rituals. Meeting minutes include references to performing rituals, but no details about the rituals themselves. The rituals folder include two copies of instructions for the Water Ritual, detailing how the ritual is performed, but not the purpose of the ritual.
