Sanitary fairs were fund-raising events held in various cities on behalf of the
United States Sanitary Commission
The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the American Civil W ...
to raise funds and supplies for the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Established in 1863, the last major event was held in 1865 in Chicago.
From the outset of the USSC, many local groups sponsored
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
events to benefit the Commission. As the civil war progressed, these became larger and more elaborate. Organizing these Sanitary Fairs offered ways for local communities to participate directly in supporting the war effort of the nation.
The USSC leadership sometimes did not approve of the excitement and lavishness of the fairs. They wanted to encourage sacrifice as a component of membership in a nation. Although the fairs were one way to create a national identity which might motivate citizens to perform their duties, the commission leadership did not want the fairs to become the focus of USSC work.
The name "Sanitary Fair" was coined after the success of the big bazaars that took place in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and shortly after in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
during the winter of 1863-1864.
Lowell, Massachusetts, 1863
In February 1863, the women of
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
, organized a two-day "Mammoth Fair" occupying two exhibition halls and netting over four thousand dollars for the cause. Groups in other cities soon adopted this plan.
Chicago, 1863
The largest Sanitary Fair during the war was held in Chicago from October 27 to November 7, 1863. Called the Northwestern Soldiers' Fair, it raised almost $100,000 for the war effort. It included a six-mile-long parade of militiamen, bands, political leaders, delegations from various local organizations, and a contingent of farmers, who presented carts full of their crops. Chicago's Northwestern Soldiers' Fair included a "Curiosity Shop" of war souvenirs and Americana. Its organizers intended its displays of weapons, slavery artifacts and other items to illustrate for Union visitors the contrast between the "barbaric" Southern enemy and the "civilized" North. The fairs generally involved large-scale exhibitions, including displays of art, mechanical technology, and period rooms. These sorts of displays called upon ideas of the American past, a history that local communities held in common. Often, different communities competed with each other over their donations to the national cause. People in various cities and towns across the North contributed to the same war effort because they identified as having shared fortunes in their common nation.
[Lawson, Melinda. ''Patriot Fires: Forging a New American Nationalism in the Civil War North'', Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2002.]
New York City, 1864
The
Metropolitan Fair was held in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in April 1864. It raised over a million dollars for the Union cause.
The Brooklyn and Long Island Fair in February and March had raised $400,000.
Philadelphia, 1864
The
Great Central Fair
The Great Central Fair was a Sanitary Fair that happened in June 1864. It took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a fundraiser for the United States Sanitary Commission.
History
The Great Central Fair took place from June 7 until June 2 ...
occurred in June 1864 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It raised over $1 million. Visitors included
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and his family.
Indianapolis, 1864
A "Sanitary
Bazaar
A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...
" was held in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
as part of the
Indiana State Fair
The Indiana State Fair is an annual state fair that spans 18 days in July and August in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The Indiana State Fair debuted in 1852 at Military Park in Indianapolis and is the sixth oldest state fair in the U.S. It is the ...
in October 1864.
Upon the announcement of the fair, Lucinda Burbank Morton (wife of Indiana's
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
,
Oliver P. Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877), commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th governor (the first native-born) of Indiana during the Amer ...
) published an appeal, calling for "patriotic" women in Indiana to contribute money and items to the fair.
The Bazaar was held in a large building where items such as captured
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
flags and items that once belonged to
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
(such as clothing and a sword) were displayed.
The building also featured an auditorium where local entertainers played, including a theater troupe that put on a well-received production of
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...
's
''Money''. A
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
also played for the benefit of the fair.
Vanderburgh County
Vanderburgh County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 179,703. The county seat is in Evansville. While Vanderburgh County was the seventh-largest county in 2010 population with 179,703 people, it is also the ...
and
Union County were awarded banners for their notably large contributions to the fair.
Chicago, 1865
Chicago held a second sanitary fair, the
Great Northwestern Sanitary Fair, from April 27, 1865 to June 21, 1865. The women organizers published a newspaper entitled ''
Voice of the Fair'' that was distributed at the event.
Martia L. Davis Berry raised supplies for the Northwestern Sanitary Fair (Chicago, 1865), receiving medal No. 15 for her services
[ ] The last of the great Sanitary Fairs was held in Chicago in June 1865 and
John Carbutt
John Carbutt (1832–1905) was a photographic pioneer, stereo card publisher, and photographic entrepreneur. He came to be the first to use celluloid for photographic film and to market dry-plate glass negatives.
He was born in Sheffield, Engl ...
was there to photograph the interior and exterior of the second ''Northwestern Soldiers Fair''. The Illinois soldiers' homes at Chicago and Cairo, Illinois required continued funding, and the fair helped cover other continuing expenses of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission.
["John Carbutt on the Frontiers of Photography", Brey, William (1985)]
Notable people
*
Austin Adams, Sanitary Fair,
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...
, 1864
*
George Bancroft
George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...
, Soldiers' and Sailors' Sanitary Fair,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
*
William Tilden Blodgett, Metropolitan Fair, New York City 1864
*
Sarah Broadhead, Sanitary Fairs in the Pennsylvania area
*
Thomas Barbour Bryan
Thomas Barbour Bryan (December 22, 1828 – January 26, 1906) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician.
Born in Virginia, a member of the prestigious Barbour family on his mother's side, Bryan largely made a name for himself in Chi ...
, Northwestern Sanitary Fair, Chicago, 1865
*
Simon G. Elliott, Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia, 1864
*
Rebecca Naylor Hazard
Rebecca Ann Naylor Hazard (née Rebecca Ann Naylor; November 10, 1826 – March 1, 1912) was a 19th-century American philanthropist, suffragist, reformer, and writer from the U.S. state of Ohio. With a few other women, she formed the Woman Suffrage ...
, Great Western Sanitary Fair, St. Louis, 1864
*
Martha J. Lamb, Sanitary Fair, Chicago, 1863
*
Edward A. Lambert, Metropolitan Fair, New York City 1864
*
Sara Jane Lippincott
Sara Jane Lippincott (pseudonym Grace Greenwood) (née Clarke; September 23, 1823 – April 20, 1904) was an American author, poet, correspondent, lecturer, and newspaper founder. One of the first women to gain access into the Congressional p ...
, Metropolitan Fair, New York City 1864
*
Mary Livermore
Mary Livermore (born Mary Ashton Rice; December 19, 1820May 23, 1905) was an American journalist, abolitionist, and advocate of women's rights. Her printed volumes included: ''Thirty Years Too Late,'' first published in 1847 as a prize temperance ...
, North Western Sanitary Fair, 1863
*
Fitz Hugh Ludlow
Fitz Hugh Ludlow, sometimes seen as Fitzhugh Ludlow (September 11, 1836 – September 12, 1870), was an American author, journalist, and explorer; best known for his autobiographical book ''The Hasheesh Eater'' (1857).
Ludlow also wrote about hi ...
, Metropolitan Fair, New York City 1864
*
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
, Metropolitan Fair, New York City, 1864
*
William Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was t ...
, Cincinnati Sanitary Fair, 1863
*
J.T. Wamelink, composer, Sanitary Fair Grand March, 1864
*
John Welsh, Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia, 1864
Gallery
File:Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn Sanitary Fair - overall.jpg, Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
Sanitary Fair, 1864
File:Buildings of the Great Central Fair, in aid of the U. S. Sanitary Commission Logan Square, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, June 1864. (4586154149).jpg, Great Central Fair, Philadelphia, 1864
File:Harper's weekly (1864) (14598154880).jpg, Great Western Sanitary Fair, Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio, 1864
File:Long-view of women seated at a booth at the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair.jpg, Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri, 1864
File:Report of the Dutchess county & Poughkeepsie sanitary fair, held at Sanitary hall, in the city of Poughkeepsie, from March 15 to March 19, 1864 (IA reportofdutchess00poug).pdf, Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
Sanitary Fair, 1864
File:Sanitary Fair gazette (IA sanitaryfairgaze11864unit).pdf, Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair, Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, 1864
References
{{reflist, 30em
Further reading
* ''History of the Great Western Sanitary Fair'', Cincinnati, 1864
Text
* ''The New-York Sanitary Fair grand march'', New York City, 1864
Score
External links
Brooklyn and Long Island Sanitary Fair of 1864
Fairs in the United States
United States Sanitary Commission
1860s in the United States
Social history of the American Civil War
Fundraising events
1863 establishments in the United States
1865 disestablishments in the United States