American Red Cross Beginnings
The American Red Cross is known as a humanitarian organization that provides aid to victims of war and natural disasters in the United States and around the world together with other country’s Red Cross societies. The American Red Cross work is similar to the International Red Cross. Contributions of time, blood, tissue, and money from the public support these services and programs.
One cannot talk about the American Red Cross without also paying homage to the woman who started it all. A nurse named Clara Barton and some colleagues established the organization in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881 after seeing the need for an organization that would assist those going through hard times due to war or natural disasters. When Clara visited Europe after the American Civil War was over, she …show more content…
As an adult, she became a nurse and treated wounded sick soldiers in the Civil War. She earned the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield” for her efforts in helping the soldiers in need. Abraham Lincoln later commissioned her to search for missing soldiers and prisoners of war for thousands of families. She had records on so many soldiers that had been treated throughout the war that she and her assistants were able to identify over 22,000 Union soldiers who had been at the Andersonville Prison, a prisoner of war camp in Georgia. This was the beginning of the tracing service that is still offered by the Red Cross today (Greenspan, J., 2013).
In 1870, Clara Barton was in Europe and became involved with the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian war. She crossed the German border lines to once again assist with treating the soldiers. She returned to the United States in 1873 and began the American Chapter of the International Red Cross in 1877. The American Red Cross received its first US federal charter in 1900 and again in 1905. This charter remains in effect today (American Red Cross,
The American Red Cross is known as a humanitarian organization that provides aid to victims of war and natural disasters in the United States and around the world together with other country’s Red Cross societies. The American Red Cross work is similar to the International Red Cross. Contributions of time, blood, tissue, and money from the public support these services and programs.
One cannot talk about the American Red Cross without also paying homage to the woman who started it all. A nurse named Clara Barton and some colleagues established the organization in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881 after seeing the need for an organization that would assist those going through hard times due to war or natural disasters. When Clara visited Europe after the American Civil War was over, she …show more content…
As an adult, she became a nurse and treated wounded sick soldiers in the Civil War. She earned the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield” for her efforts in helping the soldiers in need. Abraham Lincoln later commissioned her to search for missing soldiers and prisoners of war for thousands of families. She had records on so many soldiers that had been treated throughout the war that she and her assistants were able to identify over 22,000 Union soldiers who had been at the Andersonville Prison, a prisoner of war camp in Georgia. This was the beginning of the tracing service that is still offered by the Red Cross today (Greenspan, J., 2013).
In 1870, Clara Barton was in Europe and became involved with the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian war. She crossed the German border lines to once again assist with treating the soldiers. She returned to the United States in 1873 and began the American Chapter of the International Red Cross in 1877. The American Red Cross received its first US federal charter in 1900 and again in 1905. This charter remains in effect today (American Red Cross,