Woman’s Relief Corps, National, is the oldest woman’s patriotic organization in the United States. In July 1883, it was voted the official auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of veterans of the Union Army in the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Grand Army of the Republic operated until 1956. The Woman’s Relief Corps has thousands of members. Members do not have to be descendants of Civil War veterans.
The Woman’s Relief Corps was formed to aid and memorialize the Grand Army of the Republic and to perpetuate the memory of its dead. Today, the organization also works to assist veterans of later U.S. wars. Members promote patriotism and take part in child welfare work.
See also Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) ; Veterans’ organizations .
