Woman's Relief Corps Records

Collection

Identifier: RG 31-006-018

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Central to the records are nine journals, 1887-1944, which contain minutes of meetings and annual reports. The journal covering the first two years is missing, and thus documentation explaining the precise purpose and scope of the group is lacking. Most of the other records are financial, including ledgers, 1885-1924 (3 vols.), and cashbooks, 1892-1928 (4 vols.), detailing how moneys were received and expended. Included in these files are the names of the many members and persons served. A printed, spiral-bound booklet titled "The American Guidebook," which was sold to raise funds during World War II, contains a "Roll of Honors section that lists the names of over 700 Oberlinians in military service as of November 9,1944.

Dates

Creation: 1885-1944
Other: Date acquired: 12/31/1980

Creator

Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted

Administrative History

Henry Lincoln Woman's Relief Corps No. 92, Department of Ohio, was organized in August 1885 with assistance from the Wellington Woman's Relief Corps. The Woman's Relief Corps was a national group auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), and the local group was an auxiliary to the GAR's Henry Lincoln Post. Like the GAR, the Woman's Relief Corps was organized along military lines and used military terminology. Members of the corps provided aid to veterans, their widows, and other members of their families. Boxes of clothing, food, and reading matter were sent to the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Sandusky, Ohio. Aid went to the sick; clothing, food, fuel (loads of wood), and money to the needy; comfort to the afflicted and lonely; and burial expenses to the deceased. Flowers were sent to the ill or the grieving. In addition, the corps furnished American flags to local public buildings (including schools) and parks. Members of the relief corps themselves also were aided. One early entry indicates help had been given to send three children from the "slums" to an orphan's home at Xenia, Ohio.

To fund their relief work, the women raised money and collected goods in a variety of ways. They hosted socials, sponsored concerts, and other events. The corps also sponsored observances of patriotic occasions. The corps combined Christianity with a strong sense of patriotism - meetings began with the Lord's Prayer and ended with a salute to the American flag. Voting by members present at the meetings determined the admittance of new members and the recipients of relief aid. Dues were one of the sources of funds that supported the works of the corps. Notable presidents of the local corps include: Alice Holton (1919, 1920, 1926, 1927); Lydiah Pfaff (1925); Lillian Belinke (1943, 1944); and Lillian Rudekoff (1943, 1944). The corps followed directives set down by the National Woman's Relief Corps in regard to methods of handling finances and of keeping financial records. The last recorded local corps meeting was November 21, 1944, at which time the number of members present was eighteen.

Note written by Kira Robertson.

Extent

1.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The records of the Woman's Relief Corps were received from Mary Cowles in two installments in 1980 and 1981. They were assigned accession numbers 1980/35 and 1981/8, respectively. Apparently, the original body of the records came to the Oberlin College Library in 1911-12, as part of the appeal made by librarian Azariah Smith Root to acquire the records of every organization of whatever sort found within the limits of the village. (Annual Report of the Librarian, in Annual Report of the President, 1911-1912, pp. 266-67.)