American National Red Cross is founded, May 21, 1881

On this day in 1881, Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the American National Red Cross, a charitable body with links to the U.S. military that provides humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters.

Barton had convened a meeting on May 12 to discuss her plans at the home of Sen. Omar D. Conger (R-Mich.). Fifteen people were present, including Rep. William Lawrence (R-Ohio), who became the organization’s first vice president.


Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Barton helped wounded soldiers during the Civil War. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned her to search for missing prisoners of war. Barton headed the Red Cross into her 80s and died in 1912.

The American Red Cross received its first U.S. federal charter in 1900. Although not a branch of the government, the organization, under a second charter issued by Congress in 1905, continues to this day to provide services to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and to the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as to state and local relief units coping with natural disasters.

In World War I, the Red Cross staffed hospitals and ambulance companies and recruited 20,000 registered nurses to serve the U.S. military’s needs. During World War II, the Red Cross enrolled some 104,000 nurses for military service, prepared 27 million packages for American and Allied prisoners of war and shipped more than 300,000 tons of supplies overseas. It also initiated a national blood program that collected 13.3 million pints of blood for use by the armed forces.

After the war, the Red Cross created the first nationwide civilian blood bank program. It currently supplies more than 40 percent of the blood and blood products in the U.S.

The Red Cross is not involved with prisoners of war. These serves are provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

SOURCE: WWW.REDCROSS.ORG

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