Sarah D. Winans

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Sarah D. Winans (born Sarah Darst; May 14, 1841 – June 4, 1915) was an American charity leader who served as the 21st National President of the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC). For about 50 years, she worked to help Civil War soldiers, widows, and orphans and to promote patriotism and relief.

She was born in Lostcreek Township, Miami County, Ohio. Her father was Rev. John Darst, a German Dunkard, and her mother was Mary Darst. She had four older siblings and studied at Lindon Hall Academy and the Girls’ Seminary in Indianapolis.

During the Civil War, Winans promoted the U.S. Sanitary Commission and helped care for soldiers in hospitals, on the battlefield, and in camps. She organized Ohio’s first aid group under the U.S. Christian Commission, called the Woman’s Central Association for Relief (also known as Woman’s Aid).

In 1866, she married John Cory Winans, a Civil War veteran. She joined the A. H. Colman Corps in Troy, and in 1886 served two terms as its president. She was elected president of the Ohio Department of the WRC in 1889. In 1903, at the WRC’s convention in San Francisco, she was elected National President without opposition.

As National President, she placed a large silk flag at National Headquarters and presented a flag to the University of Tennessee. The WRC’s National Order was created during her term, signed by leaders including Clara Barton.

After leaving the presidency, Winans served on the Andersonville Prison Park Board for six years and helped maintain the park’s memorials. In 1911, she helped dedicate a monument to the park’s memory. She was also active on the Andersonville Prison Improvement Association for many years.

Winans gave a notable speech on peace and arbitration in 1904 at the National Council of Women. She served as a regent of the Memorial University in Mason City, Iowa, and was a member of the Board of the National Order of Patriotic Workers of America—the only woman on that board.

She and John Winans lived in Toledo, Ohio, and had two sons, Harry and Frank. After two strokes, she died at home in Toledo on June 4, 1915, at age 74.