American Legion Auxiliary

History

After the formation of The American Legion in 1919, a number of women's organizations wanted to become the official affiliation of The American Legion. The women who had provided service and support to the soldiers fighting in World War One wanted to continue to do so. After careful consideration, the committee agreed that a new organization should be made up of the women most closely associated with the men of the Legion, and that these women would serve with the Legion, in peace as they had in war.

The committee decided to build a new organization from the ground up, so the Auxiliary could then carry forward the phases of Legion activities more suitably performed by women. Edith Irwin Hobart served as the Auxiliary's first president. In less than one year, 1,342 local units of the Women’s Auxiliary to The American Legion had been organized in more than 45 states.

Eligibility

In 2019, the American Legion's National Convention voted to replace the word "wife" with "spouse" in the organization's constitution and bylaws section regarding eligibility to be a member of the American Legion Auxiliary; since then, male and female spouses of U.S. veterans have been eligible. Previously, only female spouses of U.S. veterans were.

Programs

The American Legion Auxiliary's mission outreach committees are Americanism, Children and Youth, Community Service, Education, ALA Girls Nation, Junior Activities, Legislative, National Security, Poppy, and Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation.

ALA members who work these programs help provide scholarships to military children; bring veterans to classrooms; give young women leaders an opportunity to learn how the federal government works; allow girls to develop leadership skills through volunteer experiences and other activities; advocate for veterans by supporting legislative priorities that benefit them; promote the poppy to raise awareness and respect for veterans who have died; and host stand downs and other events to improve the lives of veterans in the community.

In 1954, the American Legion Auxiliary organized "Operation Book Swap" in which hardcover books were handed out to children in exchange for turning in ten comic books. This was largely a response to the publication and publicity of Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent. The collected comics were then publicly burned or destroyed.

Notable Members

• Julia McGehee Alexander
• Cora M. Beach
• Othilia Carroll Beals
• Edith Irwin Hobart
• Edith Bolte MacCracken
• Sara E. Morse
• Isabel Neill
• M. Elizabeth Shellabarger
• Rachel Applegate Solomon
• Zatae Leola Longsdorff Straw
• May Erwin Talmadge
• Vera Blanche Thomas

References

References

1. "History – American Legion Auxiliary".
2. "Membership in the American Legion Auxiliary now open to male spouses of U.S. veterans and servicemembers".
3. (2008). "The ten-cent plague : the great comic-book scare and how it changed America". Blackstone Audiobooks.
4. Dudley, Harold J.. (1979). "Alexander, Julia McGehee".
5. (1928). "Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America".