Founded in 1920, the Eight and Forty was a organization dedicated to the health and welfare of World War I veterans. In 1922, a group of American Legion Auxiliary women organized a children's health and welfare division known as La Boutique des Huit Chapeau et Quarante Femmes and by 1927, was recognized as an official organization by the American Legion Auxiliary. The name Eight and Forty comes from the boxcar used to transport American troops in World War I in France.

In 1922, the Eight and Forty raised money for the care of orphaned children, but soon after changed its focus to the prevention, education, and control of children's diseases such at tuberculosis, diphtheria and other respiratory diseases, and later, cystic fibrosis. A year later, the Eight and Forty teamed up with the American Legion Auxiliary in order to combat childhood diseases and helped to fund research and other education programs. Eight and Forty organizations were founded all over the United States, including Hudson, Ohio.

Starting in 1955, the Eight and Forty created nursing scholarships and funded research into the eradication of children's diseases and nursing scholarships. In 2011 the Eight and Forty broke away from the American Legion Auxiliary.

The Summit County Salon (no. 165) was issued its charter in 1931. The Hudson branch of the Eight and Forty, was part of the American Legion, Lee Bishop Post No. 464 until 2011.