Ladies' Aid, Benevolent, Relief, and Missionary Societies of the Nineteenth Century

This season, we’ll be delving into the organizations that have served women throughout the fight for equality and equal rights. We’ll also discuss the organizations that serve us today in efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and other national and international legislation with the final aim of equal and equitable existence for all genders. This season begins with American organizations and will branch out into organizations around the world as we go. Come along for this journey and see the power of women united for a cause.

Today, Season Two, episode 1 is about Ladies’ Aid, Relief, and Missionary societies from the mid to late 1800s.  

You might wonder why we’re spending an entire season on women’s organizations? Why are they so important? In this and the coming episodes, you’ll begin to see the importance as we delve into the power of women when they unite, but to me, why these organizations are so central to women’s history is that they gave women a place outside of the home. They gave women something to do, a way to impact their own communities and the world at large. They gave women power to effect change that had previously been reserved for men and a handful of independently wealthy women who defied odds and social norms. Just for fun, maybe we’ll talk about one of those.