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Although the Relief and Aid Society's work far surpassed that of any other agency,
several other charities participated in the relief. They were more traditional organizations, devoted to certain
portions of the population (like the German Relief Society) and far less bureaucratic, not to
mention less interested in detecting "imposition" and in using their charity to control the
behavior of the recipients of their alms. This letter, from February of 1872, is in behalf of
a widow with two children who lost her home in the fire and, after receiving rent support,
now wishes to get lumber to build a shanty.
There were certain tensions between the different agencies, as well as several complaints
about the red tape and resulting delays of the Relief and Aid Society in
dispensing aid. Aurelia King, whose husband Henry was president of the Society, told a
friend and potential donor in a letter, "In so large a work as the present Chicago Relief there
must of course be some donations misapplied. Mr. King feels this, and I thought perhaps
it might please your Society to send their supplies where they would reach some of the
sufferers directly."
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The Relief and Aid Society 