Annie Wittenmeyer

Biography

Annie Wittenmeyer was a pioneering social reformer whose efforts before and during the Civil War broadened the nation’s awareness of suffering at home and on the battlefield. She organized soldiers’ relief and later headed the United States Sanitary Commission, ensuring that thousands of troops received food, clothing, and the comfort of letters from home.

After the war, Wittenmeyer continued to champion temperance and the care of women and children, believing that a compassionate society could rise only when its most vulnerable members were supported. Edgewood remembered her as an advocate who never grew weary of asking others to do the right thing.