American Legion. Auxiliary. Dept. of Texas.

In 1919, the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) was established as a civilian association for women to support the American Legion, a U.S. military veterans organization founded by men who served during World War I. The Auxiliary’s constitution set forth its goals: to help veterans and American youth, to defend the U.S. Constitution and democracy, to promote nationalism and community involvement, and to support peace and justice. In 1921, the official memorial flower of the Auxiliary became the Poppy of Flanders Field, and the ALA began its well-known poppy program with each department distributing crepe paper poppies in exchange for donations to assist disabled veterans. Four years later, the ALA moved the national headquarters to Indianapolis, Indiana, where the American Legion’s headquarters already resided, and it also joined the Fédération Interalliée des Anciens Combattants (Federation of Interallied ex-Service men), or FIDAC.

On December 20, 1920, the Department of Texas held its first meeting in San Antonio, later establishing its headquarters in Austin. The first president, Mrs. E. C. Murray, served two terms from 1920 to 1922, with the first secretary, Ada Mae Maddox, serving until 1930. The department increased from 23 Units and 400 members its first year to nearly 100 units and over 4,000 members in its second year. By 1949, over 500 units and over 22,000 members composed the Department of Texas, and as of 2010 that membership total still holds.

Numerous programs were established in the Department of Texas’s early years. Immediately following its first convention in Houston, the Department set up the hospital funding program in its second year, and in the 1923-1924 year, the Rehabilitation and Child Welfare Committees were organized. The first national convention in Texas came to San Antonio in 1928, and the next year brought the first issue of the Lone Star News. The Texas Bluebonnet Girls State was instituted in 1940, six years after the national junior membership program and three years after the national Girls State program.

Sources:

American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas Records, 1920-2009, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

American Legion Auxiliary. American Legion Auxiliary. http://www.legion-aux.org/ (accessed July 22, 2010).

American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas. American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas. http://www.alatexas.org/ (accessed July 22, 2010).