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On December 1, 1924, just five years after the National American Legion Auxiliary was established, and only four years after the passage of 19th Amendment, one dozen politically active women in Oxford, NY, applied for an Auxiliary charter.
These women were the original charter members of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit, of Fort Hill Post 376, of Chenango County. This original document hangs in the dining hall of Post 376 in Oxford, NY. [* Bertha Burchard, was made a Lifetime ALA unit member in 1973, by then president Sally Finch.] On December 11, 1924, the charter was
given by the hand and seal of the (fourth) ALA Mrs. Oliphant, from Trenton, NJ, presided and toured the nation for
one year (1924-25). Additionally, she was the first Dept. of NJ president, the
chairman of the first Women's Patriotic Conference on National Defense,
and was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal ribbon --among
several honors. The audacious president was noted for starting the
wreath laying tradition with poppies on the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier, in Arlington, VA. We do not have a photo showing Unit 376's charter members. Instead, here is the 1924 American Legion Auxiliary Executive Officers in St. Paul, MN. Claire Oliphant is center-front row.
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National
President, Mrs. O.D. "Claire" Oliphant [photo right], and duly attested by the
National Secretary at Headquarters in Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Claire was a politically active woman of the Progressive Era. “Progressive” women were the feminists of their day… gutsy, strong, and outspoken. 
