Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

 

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (US Army), Union Navy (US Navy), Marines and the US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois by Dr Benjamin F Stephenson, with the first GAR Post established in Decatur, Illinois. It grew to include hundreds of "posts" across the nation, predominantly in the North, with a few in the South and West. It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota.

 

Women's Relief Corps (WRC)

 

Women's Relief Corps (WRC) is the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, recognized in 1883. The WRC is one of the many women's organizations that were founded after the American Civil War. The numbers of state and territory departments and posts changed regularly from year to year. In 1892 the WRC was made up of 45 departments, provisional departments, and detached corps of various territories and states. There was a combined total of 2,797 chapters across the country, and 98,209 members.