The United States Sanitary Commission was an official agency of the United States government, created by legislation signed by President of the United States Abraham Lincoln on June 18, 1861, to coordinate the volunteer efforts of women who wanted to contribute to the war effort of the Union states during the American Civil War.

Arising from a meeting in New York City of the Women's Central Relief Association of New York [Stille, 1866], the organization was also inspired by the British Sanitary Commission of the Crimean War. The volunteers raised money ($25 million), collected donations, worked as nurses, ran kitchens in the Army camps, administered hospital ships, made uniforms, and organized Sanitary Fairs to support the Federal army with funds and supplies.

The USSC worked with Union Veterans after the war to secure their bounties, back pay, and apply for pensions, until it was finally disbanded in May 1866.

Henry Whitney Bellows, a Massachusetts clergyman, planned the USSC and served as its only president. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Its first executive secretary was Frederick Law Olmsted, the famed landscape architect who designed New York's Central Park."^[1] George Templeton Strong, New York lawyer and diarist, helped found the commission and served as treasurer and member of the executive committee.^[2]

See also

• List of Sanitary Commission Hospital Ships
• Hospital Ships of the Sanitary Commission

Notes

External links

• NYPL, USSC Civil War Soldiers Inquiry Database

References

1. ↑ Dugan, Ianthe Jeanne, "Civil War Letters Shed Light on Pain Of Troop's Families," Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2007; Page A1, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118245751055343871.html
2. ↑ Nevins, Allan and Thomas, Milton Halsey, editors, "The Diary of George Templeton Strong: Young Man in New York, 1835-1849" Vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan Company, 1952), pages v-xli, at America's Civil War: George Templeton Strong