Solitary Fair War Research Paper

The Sanitary Commission was a known profit organization that was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 1861 to help provide supplies and aid to the medical corps. It was not the first organization of its kind but it was the first to have a major and lasting effect on the army. The Sanitary Commission aided soldiers, supplied hospitals with the necessary supplies and provided an efficient means for smaller local aid societies to distribute their supplies. They also created many of the guidelines that helped to shape todays modern medical care and began the project of organizing and recording patients’ needs and recovery times. However, such a large organization that was maintained primarily by volunteers couldn’t buy all the supplies it needed by itself. They of course had the help of those other smaller aid societies scattered across the north and mid-west but they could only supply so much. The Commission needed a way to help encourage more people to give. Especially during the more trying and difficult times of the war when morale was lowest among citizens. So they created what they called Sanitary Fair’s to help raise money to pay for medical supplies, transportation and other essential materials that they would use in both battlefield and camp hospitals.
The Sanitary Commission was originally much like other aid groups during the
It helped the common people, especially women feel like they were doing something for the soldiers since they themselves couldn’t go out and fight. In an age where the battle field was closer to home, in telegrams, letters, and pictures, the fairs were a way for people to relax and know that they could be helping. Many probably felt useless when reading the daily papers with the news of more and more soldiers