Women's History Month 2024: WWI Groups and Organizations

War means that everyone needs to pitch in. This is especially true when we look at World Wars I and II. Women were asked to help, and they answered the call. We find records of their involvement in the organizations they belonged to in archives and published histories. 

Look in the histories and directories of your ancestor's hometown and see if these groups were part of her community. Maybe she was a member?

• Society of Colonial Dames
• Navy Comforts Committee
• Young Women's Christian Association
• Centennial Club
• Housewives League
• Federation of Women's Clubs
• Army Comfort League
• American Red Cross
• National League for Women's Service
• Girls' Patriotic League (National League for Women's Service)
• Women's Committee, Council of National Defense
• Kiwanis Club
• Fatherless Children of France Society
• Liberty Loan Campaign
• Daughters of the American Revolution
• United Daughters of the Confederacy
• Council of Jewish Women
• The Ladies' Heritage Association
• Salvation Army
• Equal Suffrage Association
• Council of Catholic Women
• Circle of King's Daughters
• Independent Daughters of  Confederacy
• Women's Christian Temperance Union
• American Legion Auxiliary

What groups were your female ancestors a member of?

Consider that multiple generations of women may have belonged to the same group.

What home sources (photos, correspondence, ephemera, memorabilia, jewelry) suggest membership in a group or organization?

Original Source:

Women's History Month 2017: Groups and Organizations

Women's History Month 2024: Fates and Traitors Revisited

Historical fiction can help give us ideas about telling our own female ancestor's story. The following is one of my favorites.

Title: Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth and the Women Who Loved Him.

Author: Jennifer Chiaverini

Publisher: Dutton

Synopsis: "The subject of more than a century of scholarship, speculation, and even obsession, Booth is often portrayed as a shadowy figure, a violent loner whose single murderous act made him the most hated man in America. Lost to history until now is the story of the four women whom he loved and who loved him in return: Mary Ann, the steadfast matriarch of the Booth family; Asia, his loyal sister and confidante; Lucy Lambert Hale, the senator’s daughter who adored Booth yet tragically misunderstood the intensity of his wrath; and Mary Surratt, the Confederate widow entrusted with the secrets of his vengeful plot." (author's website)

Why You Need This Book: I like the idea of telling the story of John Wilkes Booth through the women around him (mother, sister, girlfriend, and co-conspirator). Thinking about genealogy, consider how to write a narrative about a female ancestor through the lives of those around them. I think this is a unique way to tell a story and could also work for genealogy. OR you could write the story of your ancestors as a historical fiction piece and explore the time period they lived in. 

Women's History Month 2022: Fates and Traitors