Anna L. Clapp

Anna L. Clapp (1814–1889) was the only president of the St. Louis Ladies' Union Aid Society and helped supply for those wounded during the American Civil War. She advocated for women to step outside of their homes and join the efforts to help during the war. She made medical supplies available for injured soldiers and provided shelter for refugees of all color as well. Even when the war was over, she continued to make a difference by creating homes for women and orphans. She was president of the Western Female Guardian Home and the director of the St. Louis Protestant Orphan Asylum. She was born in Cambridge, New York and is of Dutch descent. At the age of twenty four, she married Alfred Clapp who was an enterprising merchant. The organization was the largest and most active female aid group in St. Louis during this time. The society worked closely with the Western Sanitary Commission to help Union soldiers. Many children were left without family to care for them during the epidemic. The orphan asylum has transformed into what is now known as Great Circle and still provides services to those struggling. Anna L. Clapp died on December 3, 1889, in Lee Center, Illinois.