Evening history. In the 1950s, both the Raleigh and Durham local chapters of the IAFF had ladies auxiliary organizations, formed by wives of the member firefighters. Here’s a bit of history about each.

Raleigh Ladies Auxiliary

Left is a scrapbook page from the Raleigh auxiliary in 1951, when Ladies Auxiliary 548 received its charter. There were forty-three original members. Their mission was to extend aid and sympathy to all firemen and their families. The Auxiliary performed many activities during the 1950s and 1960s, from charity projects to providing canteen service at major fires. They remained active into the late 1970s.

See page 32 of this centennial history document (PDF) for a bit more about the group, 

See also these digitized scrapbooks of the auxiliary, via DigitalNC. 

Durham Ladies Auxiliary

Right are a pair of articles about the Durham auxiliary, which was organized as early as May 1949. It was called the Ladies Auxiliary of the Durham Fire Fighter’s Association, as the Durham Sun on May 23, 1949, noted in an announcement of a meeting at the home of Mrs. Ruth Copley, 207 Hammond Street.

The group was active through at least February 1957, as shown in newspaper articles. They held monthly meetings at the homes of members, as well as special events such as Dutch suppers at a place called Little Acorn [?] and annual Christmas parties at fire stations.

It appears that they received their national character around June 1952, as the top right photo depicts. Shown is Mrs. H. S. Stephenson, vice president of the Raleigh chapter, presenting the charter to Mrs. J. A. Daniel and Mrs. A. L. Bryant, the vice president and president of the Durham chapter.

Bottom right is a photo of the new officers installed in January 1955, from a Durham Morning Herald story on January 31. Among the group’s accomplishments during the prior year were monthly charitable projects of personal or community service.

The year’s highlight was a clothing drive that they launched to help burned out families in the Durham area, with barrels [!] placed in all city fire stations to collection clothing dropped off by citizens. See comments for a larger view of the article that’s more readable.