Item #7128 Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Circular. St. Louis…; [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Magnificent Premiums for the Best Shirts… [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Opening Day, May 17, 1864; [Lot of three circulars for the Mississippi Sanitary Fair]. The Mississippi Sanitary Fair.
Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Circular. St. Louis…; [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Magnificent Premiums for the Best Shirts… [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Opening Day, May 17, 1864; [Lot of three circulars for the Mississippi Sanitary Fair].
Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Circular. St. Louis…; [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Magnificent Premiums for the Best Shirts… [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Opening Day, May 17, 1864; [Lot of three circulars for the Mississippi Sanitary Fair].

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The Mississippi Sanitary Fair.

Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Circular. St. Louis…; [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Magnificent Premiums for the Best Shirts… [with] Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Opening Day, May 17, 1864; [Lot of three circulars for the Mississippi Sanitary Fair].

Mississippi Sanitary Fair, 5 Feb.; 29 Feb.; 17 May 1864. 3 circulars (8” x 10”), a total of 6 pp.: 1 3 pp. circular; 2 pp. listing of prizes, etc.; 1 p. announcement of the fair, illustrated. CONDITION: Very good, one circular with tiny separations along old folds, another circular with 1.5” and .5” tears along old fold.

A group of three scarce circulars issued to promote a St. Louis Sanitary Fair in 1864.

The Western Sanitary Commission's biggest fund-raising event was the Grand Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. The Commission was a private agency devoted to aiding the Union Army’s sick and wounded soldiers. Led by abolitionists and also focused on the needs of Freedmen, it provided clothing and places to stay for freedmen and refugees, and set up schools for African American children. The Western Sanitary Commission handled all sanitary affairs west of the Mississippi. The Grand Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair opened on 17 May 1864 and ran through 18 June. Women did most of the work. The fair raised some $550,000.

The first circular concerns a fair to be held in St. Louis on 17 May 1864. The stated object of the fair was to raise a sufficient fund for the sanitary uses of the armies in the Mississippi Valley, and for relief of their sick and wounded. It is noted that while its sphere of action is geographically limited to the states west of the mountains, the Commission treats all soldiers alike, and so far as in its power, permits no one to suffer or be neglected. Pages two and three list the Commission’s President, Vice-President, and staff. A note at the end of the circular requests that all goods and packages, of whatever kind to be “distinctly marked with the name of the donor and place from which sent, and directed [to] James E. Yeatman… Donations of money are specially solicited.”

The second circular, reproducing two letters between Mrs. Chuncey I. Filley (President of the Ladies’s Executive Committee of the fair) and Warne Cheever & Co., concerns the same fair to be held in St. Louis on 17 May 1864, which is described here as presenting an opportunity to every lady in the U.S. to show in one way or another, her sympathy for the sick and wounded soldiers of our army. In view of encouraging a “pleasant spirit of rivalry” among the ladies that will ensure success of the fair, the circular proposes two valuable prizes, which will be sold to benefit the Sanitary Commission, to be awarded to the lady who contributed to the fair the best and second best gentlemen’s shirt. The first prize was an elegant silver plated tea set, while second prize was a complete set of superior quality table cutlery. Provided are directions for making gentlemen’s shirts.

The third circular, published at the time of the 17 May 1864 fair, notes that the Ladies’s Grand Fancy Court accepted all donated articles, including any of the following items: embroideries, worsted work, wardrobe furnishing goods for ladies, perfumes, books, stationary, jewelry, tunks, china, and glass. The public is exhorted to contribute to the exhibition “all that a generous, patriotic heart may suggest and willing hands prepare,” and to contribute to the fair’s Children’s Department “whatever gives pleasure to your little ones, or incites them to ennobling efforts.” “All the children who visit or contribute to this department will feel that they are adding their mite to alleviate the suffering of the brave soldiers of the Union—that they are adding a ray of sunshine to the desolate homes of those tender orphans whom the war has left fatherless—and that these sacrifices are made only to preserve our national honor, and make smooth the path of future generations.” Listed are the members of the Executive Committee of Ladies.

OCLC records only five copies of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Circular (5 Feb.); two copies of Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Magnificent Premiums for the Best Shirts… (at New York Historical Society and AAS); and two copies of Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. Opening Day, May 17, 1864 (at New York Historical Society and AAS).

REFERENCES: O’Neil, Tim. “A Look Back : Fair held here in 1864 raised $550,000 to aid Union troops.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (17 May 2021) at St. Louis Today online.

Item #7128

Price: $475.00

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