- unitid
-
{"value"=>"18579", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 18579", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1861-1865", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1861/1865"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1861
- date_inclusive_end
-
1865
- keydate
-
1861
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"United States Sanitary Commission records. New England Women's Auxiliary Association archives"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"5.04 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"12 boxes, 1 volume", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"MSS", "value"=>"Manuscripts and Archives Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The New England Women’s Auxiliary Association (NEWAA) was established on November 28, 1861 in Boston, Massachusetts as an auxiliary branch of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC). The New England Women’s Auxiliary Association Archives, 1861-1865, consist of the extant records of its Executive Committee. Included are correspondence, packing lists, record books, and index volumes documenting its efforts to collect and distribute supplies for the USSC, and to spread information about the Commission’s work throughout New England, particularly in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>United States Sanitary Commission records. New England Women's Auxiliary Association archives, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"United States Sanitary Commission", "type"=>"corpname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The New England Women’s Auxiliary Association (NEWAA) was established on November 28, 1861 in Boston, Massachusetts as an auxiliary branch of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC). NEWAA worked throughout New England to solicit contributions and supplies for Union forces, and to forward those supplies to Union camps and hospitals, and to USSC supply depots, departments and relief stations that the USSC deemed most in need. In addition, NEWAA endeavored to raise public awareness of the USSC and its mission.</p> <p>NEWAA’s business was conducted by four officers, initially John Ware as president, Samuel G. Howe as vice-president, Rufus Ellis as secretary, and George Higginson as treasurer, as well as three standing committees and a group of associate managers from towns throughout New England. The three standing committees were the Executive Committee, the Industrial Committee, and the Finance Committee. NEWAA's premises were located at 22 Summer Street, Boston, until the spring of 1864, when it moved to 18 West Street. At that time, the Industrial Committee took separate space at a savings bank on Temple Place.</p> <p>The Executive Committee was responsible for the general management of NEWAA’s affairs, including all goods and supplies sent to the Association. The Executive Committee maintained records of all the supplies received and forwarded each day, and communicated regularly with the general and assistant secretaries of the Commission in Washington, DC, in order to determine which supplies were most needed and where to forward them. They also worked with the Executive Committee of Boston Associates from its inception in April 1863, providing supplies for their special relief services to local soldiers; Henry B. Rogers of that Committee also served as President of NEWAA from 1864-1865. Abby W. May (1829-1888), a well-known Boston philanthropist associated with NEWAA from its founding, served as chairman of NEWAA’s Executive Committee from February 1862 until the Association was dissolved in the spring of 1866.</p> <p>The Industrial Committee, chaired by Mrs. Frank W. Andrews, oversaw the making of clothing and bedding for soldiers and hospitals. It provided patterns and fabric for distribution to sewing circles and soldiers aid societies throughout New England, and to women in need whose work was paid for by benefactors. The Finance Committee worked to solicit and obtain subscriptions to the Bulletin and donations for the use of the Commission.</p> <p>In addition to these three committees, women in communities throughout New England were invited by the Executive Committee to become associate managers. Associate managers were asked to determine where sewing circles and soldiers aid societies existed within their districts, to encourage them to associate with the USSC, and to organize societies if none existed. The managers corresponded regularly with members of the Executive Committee and submitted monthly reports on the state of affairs in their district. Isa E. Gray handled much of this work until early 1864; eventually individual Committee members were assigned to correspond with managers of a particular state.</p> <p>In 1862, NEWAA narrowed its field of operations to Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Connecticut and Rhode Island contributors sent their supplies to the USSC’s Woman’s Central Association of Relief (WCAR) in New York, since it was more efficient geographically for these states to ship to New York rather than Boston for supplies destined to go south or west. However, Katharine P. Wormeley of Newport, Rhode Island and Mrs. S.J. Cowen of Hartford, Connecticut served as associate managers for NEWAA.</p> <p>The USSC was not alone in seeking individual and community support to reach its goals. Various relief organizations, such as the U.S. Christian Commission, were often canvassing in the same localities. In October 1864, NEWAA began a series of lectures throughout New England in an effort to gain more support and promote awareness about USSC activities, asking those who had worked in the field for the Sanitary Commission to speak to the general public of their experiences. NEWAA offered over 200 lectures throughout New England during the final months of the war.</p> <p>When NEWAA’s supply work ended in July 1865, it shifted its efforts to meet the needs of discharged soldiers and their families by distributing clothing, food, and fuel, and assisting with rent, employment, and transportation. Abby May encouraged NEWAA’s members to circulate information about the USSC’s claim agencies, and to support efforts to employ disabled discharged soldiers. The work of the Association came to a close on April 1, 1866.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The New England Women’s Auxiliary Association Archives, 1861-1865, consist of the extant records of its Executive Committee. Included are correspondence, packing lists, record books, and index volumes documenting its efforts to collect and distribute supplies for the USSC, and to spread information about the Commission’s work throughout New England, particularly in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.</p> <p>The Committee’s incoming correspondence, 1861 Dec-1865 Oct, is comprised of letters received chiefly from associate managers and representatives from soldier aid societies in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Associate managers were asked to report monthly to the corresponding Executive Committee member describing the activities and progress in their district. There are acknowledgments of the receipt of materials (e.g. pamphlets, reports, circulars, and sewing patterns) from NEWAA's Boston office, and requests for advice on how to generate support for NEWAA and the USSC. Letters also include packing lists of supplies sent to NEWAA for distribution, and acceptances and regrets to invitations from the Executive Committee to attend annual meetings or to become associate managers or committee members. Outgoing correspondence, 1861 Dec-1865 Oct, consists of a single letterpress copybook of letters sent primarily to the USSC’s Washington office, and a record book of telegrams sent by Abby W. May. Also present are two correspondence registers, 1862-1865 Aug.</p> <p>NEWAA’s efforts in 1863-1865 to increase support for the USSC by holding public lectures throughout New England are reflected in a record book providing details about individual lectures, and a related index of lectures by town.</p> <p>Supply records, 1861 Dec-1865 Oct, consist of registers of the supplies collected and forwarded by NEWAA, as well as inventories and tabulations. Supplies included clothing, bedding, foodstuffs, alcohol, books, and medical items such as bandages and crutches. Shipments were sent to various USSC supply depots, offices, lodges, and locations in the field, as well as Army camps, regiments, and hospitals. Receiving locations frequently included Baltimore; Philadelphia; New Bern, North Carolina; New York; and Washington, DC.</p> <p>Indexes, 1862-1865, identify individuals, aid societies, associate managers and localities that cooperated with NEWAA in its endeavor to support the USSC. Also present is an index of soldiers who received individual relief, such as items of clothing, from NEWAA.</p> <p>During the USSC’s 1878 arrangement, a large amount of numbered letters and other documents were identified as destroyed. A limited number of financial records from the early months of this organization can be found in the USSC Accounts and Vouchers record group.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The United States Sanitary Commission records. New England Women's Auxiliary Association archives are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/18579#c674805'>I. Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1862 Nov-1865 Sep</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/18579#c674841'>II. Lectures</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1863-1865</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/18579#c674844'>III. Supplies</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1861 Dec-1865 Oct</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/18579#c674861'>IV. Indexes</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1862-1865, and undated</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by the United States Sanitary Commission to the Astor Library, 1879</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Elizabeth Delmage</span>, <span class=\"date\">2013</span></p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Revised December 2013</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"archref\">New England Women’s Auxiliary Association records, 1861-1887. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts..</span>"}
- note
-
{"type"=>"sponsor", "value"=>"The conservation, arrangement, and description of the collection was made possible by generous funding from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust."}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"The conservation, arrangement, and description of the collection was made possible by generous funding from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust."}
- extent_statement
-
5.04 linear feet (12 boxes, 1 volume)
- date_start
-
1861
- date_end
-
1865