Brooklyn and Long Island Fair in Aid of the United States Sanitary Commission (1864)

At the outset of the Civil War, the Red Cross did not exist, there was no draft, the nursing profession was nascent, and there existed no formal welfare relief for wounded soldiers and families of deceased soldiers. Private institutions, state and local governments, and individuals mobilized in order to meet the great demands of the war. Volunteer military regiments were formed through the efforts of state and local recruitment agencies, and relief was provided through existing channels of philanthropy, such as church groups and local welfare agencies, as well as newly-established ones created specifically to assist the war effort.

Women were especially active in these relief efforts, not only as a result of their long-standing involvement in philanthropy, but also as the moving force behind the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC), which was established early in the war in order to assist the government in supplying the needs of soldiers and providing advice and assistance to improve the medical and sanitary conditions of the army. Women's auxiliary chapters of the USSC were established throughout northern states. Cities that promoted the work of the Commission served as "depots" for the vast quantities of goods and other supplies that were collected for soldiers, and organized fund-raising events for the USSC, including concerts and fairs.

Private and public relief and recruitment activities in Brooklyn began at the beginning of the Civil War through institutions, women's organizations, and state-run channels. It quickly became apparent that the resources of the city could better be mobilized on behalf of the war effort by creating a large central committee. Accordingly, the "War Fund Committee of the City of Brooklyn and the County of Kings" was established in the summer of 1862, with headquarters at 15 Court Street in the Hamilton Building. J.S.T. Stranahan was elected chairman of the Committee and Isaac Frothingham served as its Treasurer. Stranahan, a local businessman and president of the Atlantic Docks, had been a Whig Member of Congress and a Republican presidential elector in 1860.

The Committee's literature named objectives: adding members, promoting the goals of the Sanitary Commission, performing services on behalf of the sick and wounded, aiding discharged soldiers and the families of deceased soldiers, assisting the Allotment Committee in their philanthropic work. The Committee created organizations such as the "Home Trust of the Volunteers" to aid soldiers and their families in procuring pensions and financial assistance. It also undertook to raise funds for the United States Sanitary Commission by means of appeals through churches, and raised $6,000 in May, 1863. The War Fund Committee later raised money to erect a statue in honor of assassinated President Lincoln, later erected in Grand Army Plaza at the entrance to Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

The Women's Relief Association of Brooklyn (WRA), a local auxiliary of the USSC headed by Mrs. J.S.T. Stranahan, appealed through churches to raise $50,000 for the Sanitary Commission in the fall of 1863. The WRA and the War Fund afterward sought other fundraising venues for the USSC while continuing to conduct appeals through church activities. The War Fund asked the WRA to organize a Sanitary Fair for Brooklyn, but at that time plans were already underway for the WRA's participation in New York City's Grand Metropolitan Fair on behalf of the USSC, originally scheduled to open on Feb. 22, 1864. Plans for a separate "Brooklyn and Long Island Fair" proceeded in earnest after New York City's fair was postponed to April, and opened on February 22, to run for two weeks.

The WRA and the War Fund Committee jointly sponsored the event, and members from both organizations served as the fair's executive officers. Numerous committees were formed, subscriptions solicited, and donations of goods received from all over Brooklyn and Long Island. The officers selected the Brooklyn Academy of Music, then located on Montague Street, as the principal site and two temporary structures and several private ones were afterward needed to accommodate the exhibits and other activities. The plans included publication of the first daily newspaper for any contemporary fair, Drum Beat . According to historical accounts of the fair, this newspaper averaged a daily circulation of 6,000. At the fair's closing, Treasurer James Frothingham announced that $400,000 had been raised for the Sanitary Commission, more than twice the amount of the most optimistic predictions, and well in excess of what had been raised in any city to date.

Sources for further information at BHS include: Harriet Stryker-Rodda's Brooklyn and Long Island Sanitary Fair (call E631.B76.S77) and History of the Brooklyn and Long Island Fair published by the Fair's Executive Committee (call E631.B76.H57).

From the guide to the Collection of Brooklyn, N.Y., Civil War relief associations records, ephemera and other material, Bulk, 1861-1866, circa 1798 to 1964, (Brooklyn Historical Society)