Women's Aid of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Women's Aid of the Pennsylvania Railroad was an independent charitable organization composed of the wives of officers and employees of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

The organization traces its beginnings to the Pennsylvania Railroad Women's Division for War Relief, which was established in November 1917 for the purpose of providing aid to the families of employees who had entered the service and of tending wounded soldiers in transit. It was organized in several independent numbered departments which roughly corresponded to the railroad's own departmental structure and headed by Mrs. Elisha Lee, the wife of the company's General Manager. The organization advanced money to the families of servicemen, found temporary homes for motherless children of drafted employees, and sewed clothing for both servicemen and their families at home.

After the Armistice it was decided to retain the organization, first to tend to the returning wounded and then to provide relief in the postwar recession. When there were few or no PRR families in need, the organization did sewing for local hospitals and gave aid during the influenza epidemic.

In 1920 the organization was placed on a permanent basis and renamed the Women's Aid of the Pennsylvania System. It was also given a more formal structure, paralleling that of the railroad company. The President's wife automatically became the Director, while the wives of line officers headed the Women's Aid in their respective regions and divisions. The wives of the staff officers assisted those of the line officers. The Women's Aid in the 1920s was primarily a vehicle for welfare work, making visits and giving financial and other aid to the families of all sick, injured or deceased employees. It was renamed the Women's Aid of the Pennsylvania Railroad in October 1925.

The Depression caused the organization to be revitalized. It now focused its efforts on the families of furloughed PRR's employees, making cash donations and gifts of clothing and fabric, as well as seeds, so that families could grow their own food. Because of the growing case load, aid was restricted to a nine-month period beginnning in 1932, after which families were turned over to local relief organizations.

World War II brought further changes, as the need for poor relief slackened. Even before Pearl Harbor, the Women's Aid had begun to do Red Cross Work, mostly sewing clothing from fabric provided by the Red Cross. During the war, the Women's Aid operated lounges for servicemen in some cities, made surgical dressings, and donated time and money to the USO. As in World War I, they also offered assistance to the families of employees in the service. The same sorts of services were provided during the Korean War, but by the mid-1950s the role of the Women's Aid was being filled by other institutions, including government agencies and the unions, as well as the railroad's own Pennsy Family Clubs, and many women had less time for charity sewing. With the corporate reorganization of November 1, 1955, the traditional activities of the Women's Aid ended, but a skeletal organization continued, offering scholarships to the children of railroad employees into the Penn Central era.

From the description of Records, 1917-1955. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122355323