Title: Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.). Department of Wisconsin: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1883-1984

Creator:

• Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.). Department of Wisconsin

Call Number: Micro 1151; SC 174; PH 3805; PH 3806

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 folder), 21 reels of microfilm (35mm), 9 photographs, and 9 pieces of ephemera

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of local Wisconsin chapters of a national women's organization, the auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic, established in the state in 1884. Although also concerned with general charitable endeavors and patriotic education, the corps was primarily concerned with aiding veterans and their dependents, particularly those at the Grand Army Home at King, Wisconsin. Microfilmed records include minutes of groups at Columbus, Delavan, Evansville, Fond du Lac, La Crosse, Monticello, Neenah, Omro and other communities, as well as a few charters, financial records, scrapbooks, and correspondence. From the department headquarters there are histories, sample forms, and copies of general orders and circular letters pertaining to Wisconsin. The photographs include images of individuals and groups associated with the Woman's Relief Corps. Also included are holiday cards from the corps, an envelope imprinted with “Corps 1090,” and a ribbon from a candidate for national president of the Woman's Relief Corps.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr1151

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The origins of the Woman's Relief Corps, the women's auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic, date to the formation of many Christian commissions, sanitary commissions and other relief organizations to which women belonged during the Civil War. During the 1870s the records of the GAR note charity work carried out by women in conjunction with their organization. In 1877 a Woman's Relief Corps was formally organized in Massachusetts as an auxiliary to the GAR in order to aid them in their charitable activities. After several other states followed suit, the GAR authorized a national organization for women in 1881, and an organizational meeting was held in Denver, Colorado in 1883. Unlike the GAR, the organization admitted as members all women committed to its purposes, not just those related to veterans.

The Wisconsin Department of the corps was organized by E. Florence Barker, national president of the Corps, at a meeting in La Crosse in June 1884 of the seven local Wisconsin groups. By 1900 there were 140 corps in the state with a membership of over 5500. A high point in membership was reached shortly after the turn of the century, with 264 posts and 14,000 members.

Like the national organization, the Wisconsin corps were largely concerned with relief activities in behalf of Civil War veterans, widows, and orphans. Gradually their concerns expanded to include Civil War nurses and later to include veterans of all wars. A large part of their efforts went to benefit the Grand Army Home at King, although they also devoted themselves to child welfare, patriotic education, the USO, and anti-drug education. As one of the earliest national organizations for women, the corps also played a role in teaching women about organizational operation and procedure.

As their charitable concerns were assumed by governmental agencies, the Woman's Relief Corps increasingly turned to social activities. By the middle of the twentieth century, the Corps had difficulty in attracting young women, and as the average age of corps members increased many local Wisconsin corps declined and were disbanded.

Additional information concerning the corps and its officers may be found in several unpublished histories included in the collection's materials in paper form (in SC 174).

The records of the Wisconsin Department of the Woman's Relief Corps consist of records of local Wisconsin corps and a small quantity of documentation pertaining to the departmental level of the organization. In addition to this collection, which was processed and microfilmed in 1988, the Society holds the records of several disbanded corps that presented their files to the Historical Society individually. These records had been catalogued as separate collections prior to 1988 and housed at various area research centers. As a result, they were not added to this microfilm collection.

LOCAL CORPS RECORDS primarily consist of minute books returned to the departmental headquarters when local corps disbanded due to declining membership during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. For a few local organizations, there are also financial records (sometimes interspersed within the minutes), correspondence, and scrapbooks.

The majority of the local corps are documented only during their last years, but there are long runs for several groups such as Columbus (134, Brown), Delavan (59, Thomas), Evansville (28, Sutphen), Fond du Lac (35, Brown), Monticello (83, Ross), Neenah (101, Lewis), and Omro (94, Sawyer). Also notable, although less extensive are files containing records of the organization's early days such as the records of the Colwell Corps #2 of La Crosse, which was one of the seven founding Wisconsin corps, and the records of the organization in Hillsboro.

DEPARTMENTAL RECORDS consist of several histories of the organization, sample forms, and copies of the published circular letters and general orders which pertained to Wisconsin. Published reports, convention proceedings, and rosters of the Wisconsin department are held by the Society Library.

Printed reports and convention proceedings are available in the Historical Society Library.

Acquisition Information

Portions presented by Cora Harris, Evansville, Wis., 1958; Mrs. Iva Benson, Evansville, Wis., 1964-1968; Mrs. Nelson C. Hall, Whitefish Bay, Wis., June 12, 1962; Marjorie Holmes, Madison, Wis., April 6, 1967; Mrs. Archie Daggett, Omro, Wis., April 30, 1965; Violet Thiele, Milwaukee, Wis., April 18, 1974; and Earl Monday, April 25, 1986. Accession Number: M64-134, M68-092, M67-136, M65-153, M74-171, M86-169

	Series: Department Records
SC 174 Folder   1	Circular letters and general orders
Folder   2	Histories, 1974
Folder   3	Sample forms
PH 3805	Photographs and ephemera
Micro 1151 Reel   1 Frame   1	Charters Note: See also PH 3805.
Reel   1 Frame   54	Scrapbook for Dept. President Lucille Fink, 1942
Reel   1 Frame   147	District convention minutes: Districts No. 13, 15, 20-22, 1905-1942
	Series: Local Corps Records	⇧
	Post 2, La Crosse (Colwell)
Reel   1 Frame   218	Letters, 1883-1890
Reel   1 Frame   286	Minutes, 1894-1899; 1966-1975
Reel   1 Frame   561	Scrapbook, circa 1936-1948
Reel   1 Frame   574	Post 8, Mauston (Northrop): Minutes, 1959-1973
	Post 11, Sheboygan (Wintermeyer)
Reel   2 Frame   1	Minutes, 1928-1936; 1978-1982
Reel   2 Frame   242	History, undated
	Post 16, Milwaukee (Wolcott)
Reel   2 Frame   248	Minutes, 1966-1968
Reel   2 Frame   273	Book, 1892
PH 3806	Original volume
Micro 1151 Reel   2 Frame   284	Post 23, Milwaukee (Chivas): Minutes, 1898-1902
	Post 28, Evansville (Sutphen)
	Minutes
Reel   2 Frame   382	1885-1889; 1896-1903
Reel   3 Frame   1	1907-1939
Reel   4 Frame   1	1939-1969
Reel   4 Frame   519	Relief Corps News, 1910
Reel   5 Frame   1	Post 29, Racine (Harvey): Minutes, 1946-1964
	Post 35, Fond du Lac (Brown): Minutes
Reel   5 Frame   70	1891-1895; 1913-1931; 1940-1942
Reel   6 Frame   1	1943-1955
Reel   6 Frame   305	Post 36, Baraboo (Hooker): Minutes, 1939-1943; 1963-1972
Reel   6 Frame   490	Post 37, Madison (Fairchild): Minutes, 1973-1978
Reel   6 Frame   552	Post 41, Kenosha (Lovell): Minutes, 1961-1976
	Post 59, Delavan (Thomas): Minutes
Reel   7 Frame   1	1887-1920
Reel   8 Frame   1	1921-1933
Reel   9 Frame   1	1934-1938
Reel   10 Frame   1	1939-1951; 1964-1984
Reel   10 Frame   380	Post 61, Menasha (Shepard): Minutes, 1951-1953
Reel   10 Frame   484	Post 66, Milwaukee (Drake): Minutes, 1960-1966
Reel   11 Frame   1	Post 67, Rockbridge (McCarthy): Minutes, 1964-1968
Reel   11 Frame   39	Post 68, Hillsboro (Didiot): Minutes, 1888-1923
Reel   12 Frame   1	Post 80, Augusta (Perkins): Minutes, 1929-1938
Reel   12 Frame   202	Post 82, New London (Turner): Minutes, 1973-1982
	Post 83, Monticello (Ross): Minutes
Reel   12 Frame   238	1904; 1911-1924
Reel   13 Frame   1	1925-1953; 1969-1984
Reel   14 Frame   1	Post 86, Clinton (Tallman): Minutes, 1928-1932; 1942-1948
Reel   14 Frame   167	Post 93, Waupaca (Garfield): Minutes, 1889-1894; 1966-1968
	Post 94, Omro (Sawyer)
	Minutes
Reel   14 Frame   293	1913-1926
Reel   15 Frame   1	1926-1935; 1973-1976
Reel   15 Frame   239	Reports, 1895-1935
Reel   15 Frame   362	Cashbooks, 1924-1932
Reel   15 Frame   ???	Post 100, Watertown (Pease): Minutes, 1962-1976
	Post 101, Neenah (Lewis)
	Minutes
Reel   16 Frame   1	1893-1913; 1915-1924
Reel   17 Frame   1	1925-1943
Reel   18 Frame   1	1944-1955
Reel   19 Frame   1	1955-1964
Reel   20 Frame   1	1970-1976
Reel   20 Frame   195	1983-1985
Reel   20 Frame   102	Cashbook, 1971-1985
Reel   20 Frame   229	Post 108, La Crosse (McKinley): Minutes, 1975-1981
Reel   20 Frame   ???	Post 109, Rice Lake (Heller): Minutes, 1971-1975
Reel   20 Frame   278	Post 128, Milwaukee (Mueller): Minutes, 1971-1975
	Post 134, Columbus (Brown): Minutes
Reel   20 Frame   315	1901-1924
Reel   21 Frame   1	1924-1934
Reel   21 Frame   197	Post 144, Bloomington (Hickok): Minutes, 1966-1970
Reel   21 Frame   266	Post 145, Grand Rapids (Wood County): Minutes, 1963-1972