James A Roosevelt (1825-1898) Papers
James Alfred Roosevelt (1825-1898) was instrumental in organizing civilian support for the Union’s cause during the American Civil War. His efforts on behalf of the United States Sanitary Commission and the Western Sanitary Commission raised funds to provide humanitarian aid—especially clothing and medical care—to Union soldiers in the field. His correspondence with his colleague James Yeatman, his brother Theodore Senior, and family friend Oliver Matthews reveals both the growing urgency of the appeals for aid as the war grew bloodier and crueler, as well as the rapid and effective response that Roosevelt and his family mounted in order to answer those appeals.