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Ladies' aid societies or soldiers' aid societies were organizations of women formed during the American Civil War that were dedicated to providing supplies to soldiers on the battlefield and caring for sick and wounded soldiers. Over the course of the war, between 7,000 and 20,000 ladies' aid societies were established. The work these women did in providing sanitary supplies and blankets to soldiers helped lessen the spread of diseases during the Civil War. In the North, their work was helped to be more efficient and organized by support from the U.S. Sanitary Commission. At the end of the war, many ladies' aid societies in the South transformed into memorial associations. Free black women often formed their own Ladies Aid Societies, like the Colored Ladies Soldiers' Aid Society of St. Louis, Missouri, headed by Mary Meachum, which tended to black Union soldiers at the local hospital.