Document signed by Abraham Lincoln and the members of his cabinet for the Soldiers’ Aid Society in 1864.
Aid Societies were private organizations formed in cities across the northern United States to provide needed supplies for enlisted men, including food, blankets, clothing, and bandages. Organized and managed by women, these organizations worked to collect funds and supplies that were channeled to the military through the United States Sanitary Commission. By the end of the war, it is estimated that as many as 20,000 aid organizations were established in the northern states.
In addition to Lincoln, the document also includes the signatures of Secretary of State William H. Seward, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Interior John Palmer Usher, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, and Attorney General Edward Bates.