World War One Widows, Rochester, New York, Chapter 4 Records

World War One Widows, Inc. was founded in 1946 as a national organization representing the interests of widows of World War I soldiers. As an organization it focused on the needs of widows who were frequently unemployable, sometimes disabled, and often not covered by Social Security. As this collection represents only part of the organization’s history, earlier history has been reconstructed within the limits of available newspaper records. As best as can be determined, the organization’s Rochester branch was founded in 1946, and merged with the local organization, Forgotten Women of World War One in 1953. Monthly meetings were held at the Community War Memorial. During this time, the organization focused on lobbying for improved Federal benefits for widows.

The materials in the collection show that, by the mid-1960s, the organization was also involved in the annual Memorial Day parade and kept records of its involvement in supporting hospitals (not just hospitalized members), along with continued advocacy for the needs of the widows themselves. This included advocating for equal pensions to those of male veterans, as their expenses were the same. It is unclear when the Rochester chapter dissolved; the last mention in the newspaper was in 1970, predating the most recent material in the collection.