{"value"=>"<p>Creator history</p> <p>Reverend Henry W. Bellows (1814-1882), minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York, was a founder and the president of the United States Sanitary Commission. In addition to serving as USSC president, Bellows was a member of the Standing Committee, and was vice-president and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Woman’s Central Association of Relief. He was instrumental in shaping USSC policies, its role in the war, its relationship with the federal government, and its public image.</p> <p>Bellows was particularly active in mobilizing interest in the Commission’s efforts abroad and in western U.S. states and territories. He communicated regularly with USSC affiliates in Europe and with aid societies in California and in the West, especially the California Branch and its precursor the Soldiers’ Relief Fund Committee. He traveled to California in April 1864 following the death of his friend and protégé the Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King, spending several months promoting the USSC around the state. California became the Commission’s largest financial contributor during the course of the war.</p> <p>His postwar philanthropic work included organizing and serving as president of the American Association for the Relief of the Misery of Battle Fields, the U.S. branch of the Comité Internationale de Secours aux Militaires Blessés (later known as the Red Cross). Bellows continued to be active with the USSC until the final Standing Committee meeting in June 1878 and subsequent disposition of records to the Astor Library.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Scope and content note</p> <p>The Henry W. Bellows papers consist of primarily of his correspondence, 1861-1866. The letters received are from USSC personnel, as well as government and military officials, concerning USSC operations and personnel matters, and its reputation, promotion, and relationship with the Army and the government. Numerous letters come from Commission agents in western branches and soldiers’ aid societies, especially in California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) regarding financial contributions to the USSC, and local fundraising efforts. There are also several letters received from prominent cabinet members, clergymen, and writers, including William Cullen Bryant, Henry Ward Beecher, Fanny Kemble, Samuel F.B. Morse, William H. Seward, and Edwin Stanton. His USSC correspondents include Frederick Law Olmsted, Frederick N. Knapp, Elisha Harris, Alfred J. Bloor, John S. Newberry, Alexander D. Bache, Joseph Parrish, J. Foster Jenkins, Lewis Steiner, Charles J. Stillé, George T. Strong, William N. Van Buren and other USSC personnel. There are a number of letters from Surgeon General William Hammond.</p> <p>Also included are copies and drafts of Bellows’ outgoing letters, including some removed from letterpress copybooks. The letters are to USSC personnel including Olmsted, Newberry, Jenkins, and Agnew, and to various branches and soldier’ aid societies, especially on the West Coast (Teschemacher, King) and in the USSC’s Western Department. The letters are also addressed to government and army officials and personnel including Lincoln, Seward, Stanton, Chase, McClellan, Halleck, Hammond, and Grant. The letters concern Surgeon General Hammond and the reform of the Army Medical Bureau; USSC personnel and agents; the supply and transport system, hospitals and hospital ships; financial contributions, especially from California; USSC organization and promotion; medical issues and diseases in the army; and sanitary fairs.</p> <p>Additional materials include some of Bellows’ writing and speeches, subject files of printed material, notes, meeting minutes, and reports.</p>"}