Women's Relief Corps

WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPs (WRC) - The Woman's Relief Corps (W.R.C.) is the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, recognized in 1883.  The W.R.C. is one of the many women's organizations that were founded after the American Civil War.   In 1879 a group of Massachusetts women found a "secret" organization and its members were to be women who were loyal to the North during the Civil War.  From 1879, the Woman's Relief Corps held as the primary means to identify women who were eligible to become members was remaining loyal to the Union.  It didn't matter where the applicants lived during the Civil War as long as they could prove loyal to the Union.  While it might be easy to assume that this organization was only for white women, there were many Posts across the country that had African American women as members.   The only challenge identifying these women is that the Woman's Relief Corps records do not specify the races of its members very often. The organization was designed to assist the GAR, promote and help run Memorial Day (alongside the GAR), petition the federal government for nurses pensions, and promote patriotic education.  The motto of the WRC stands for "Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty."

The Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Woman's Relief Corps stipulated three main objectives. The third of these objectives was to "maintain true allegiance to the United States of America" and teach patriotism and "love of country."