A Guide to the Women's Overseas Service League Records, 1910-2019

Historical Note

The Women's Overseas Service League (WOSL) was founded in 1921 by women who had served in World War I. The group initially existed as local units, but soon became a national organization and began publishing the quarterly magazine Carry On. An annual convention was also established in 1921 and has been held every year except during the World War II years of 1942-1945. WOSL was the first women's organization to contribute to UNICEF and was one of the first organizations to be an accredited observer at the United Nations.

In 1946 WOSL membership was extended to women who had served in World War II, and later to veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Membership further expanded in 1992 to include women who had served in Grenada, Panama, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. The League played a major role in securing proper government benefits and military status for women veterans. Over the years, WOSL has continued its commitment to patriotic service through a variety of programs. WOSL has been involved in the building program and the Youth Awards program of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. A Scholarships for Women program that attracts applicants nationwide was initiated in 1994. Through this program, dozens of scholarships have been awarded to women matriculated in colleges and universities in courses of study leading to careers in the military and other public service occupations. In addition, the League has contributed to the Bell Tower Memorial dedicated to service women at Cathedral of the Pines in Ridge, New Hampshire; supported the Hospitalized Veterans Writing program in V.A. hospitals and provided much assistance to Native American children in cooperation with Save the Children Federation. The League has also worked to Create an extensive oral history project in San Antonio, Texas.

As a note, the organizational structure in terms of the number of units and areas of WOSL changed over the history of the organization. For specific details on organization structure during a certain period, refer to an issue of Carry On, the official publication of WOSL, for the time period in question.

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Scope and Content Note

The records of the Women's Overseas Service League span 1910-2018 and document the everyday business and functions of the organization. The records include correspondence, minutes, reports, photographs, scrapbooks and printed materials. Insight into the organization is offered from a national and local perspective. The collection exposes the fundamental operations that were carried out by the members of WOSL. The majority of these duties concern planning local and area conferences, as well as the annual national convention. Also shown is the organization's commitment to public and patriotic service, evidenced by the amount of volunteer work accomplished by members on a local and national scale. In addition, the records document the organization's traditional role of advocating and protecting veteran's rights and benefits. Examples of this work include the fight for benefits of veteran telephone operators who served in WWI, as well as attempts through political contact to gain funding for memorials honoring women veterans. The collection is separated into three series: National, Areas, and Units.

The Women’s Overseas Service League collection is divided into series by the particular unit or area represented. A unit consists of local members in a particular city, while the areas include several units within a certain region of the country. National is the largest series, and contains those records that were produced by the organizations on a national level. The majority of the series includes correspondence, reports, minutes and various printed materials. Most of the correspondence dates from the 1970s to 2006. Minutes and transcripts of national conventions from the 1920s to 2015, as well as periodic reports submitted by the organization’s officers strongly document the annual gatherings. Also included are membership application files that span approximately eighty years, and contain the military service history of each applicant. A large portion of the printed materials are comprised of newsletters, articles, pamphlets and programs, showing the everyday function of the organization on a national scale. Of particular interest is a complete run from 1922-2015 of Carry On, the national publication of WOSL.

Areas consist of the materials produced by the regional areas of the organization. These areas are made up of several individual units that function in similar fashion to the national and unit divisions of the organization. Materials take the same basic form found in the first two series, and includes correspondence, reports, minutes and printed materials. The largest amount of materials is found in the records of the 6th and 10th areas. Three scrapbooks in the series range in date from the 1932 to 1981. Much of the correspondence found in this series concerns the planning of future area conferences. Also present are agendas, minutes and reports regarding details of the conferences. Most of the conference materials cover 1962 through 2003.

Units include the records of WOSL local chapters from individual cities. The materials in this series are similar in structure to those in the National, only differing by their scope, which is on a local scale. Included among the materials are correspondence, reports, minutes, printed materials and scrapbooks. These records offer a glimpse of the operating relationship between the local units and the national sector of the organization. All duplication of national records was removed from the materials. All of the units are represented by varying amounts of material. Units containing larger amounts of records include Los Angeles, Oakland-East Bay, Omaha, Orange County, San Antonio, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Tampa and Washington. Most of these units also include several scrapbooks covering unit events and history from 1919 to 2005. Scrapbooks include clippings, photographs and ephemera. Dates for correspondence, minutes and newsletters included in all units range from the 1920s to 2017. Of particular interest in the Washington unit is correspondence with higher forms of government concerning legislation pertaining to women veterans.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Original audiovisual materials cannot be handled directly by patrons. Please contact Special Collections to request access to these materials, which may require the creation of digital copies.

This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the Collections Request Form.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Women's Overseas Service League, MS 22, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Materials in this collection were donated by the Women's Overseas Service League. Regular donations were received during all years from 1997-2018.

Processing Information

Processed by: Dale Sauter, Processing Archivist, February 2001; Eva Sankey, Collections Assistant, July 2006; Nikki Lynn Thomas, Manuscripts Archivist, October 2007; Melissa Gohlke, Library Assistant, July 2012.

Note to Researchers: Previously, the Women's Overseas Service League Records comprised two collections, MS 22 and MS 143. All Women's Overseas Service League material can now be found in MS 22 and should be cited as such.

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Detailed Description of the Records

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