On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton and her followers founded the American Red Cross. While traveling in Europe after the Civil War, she heard of the International Red Cross Movement. When she arrived back in the United States she tried to start an American Red Cross, as well as pushing to ratify the Geneva Convention, which was ratified in 1882

In 1900 and 1905, the Red Cross received two charters. They articulate the purposes of the foundation which are “giving relief to and serving as a medium of communication between members of the American armed forces and their families and providing national and international disaster relief and mitigation.” ¹

During World War I, the Red Cross grew tremendously. In 1914, there were 107 local chapters, and in 1918, there were 3,864. Also the number of members went from 17,000 to over 20 million adults and 11 million Junior Red Cross Members. $400 million was raised and 20,000 nurses werer registered for the war.

During World War II, the Red Cross was called on again. Over 104,000 nurses were sent into the military, 27 million packages were prepared for the soldiers, and over 300,000 tons of supplies were shipped overseas. A national blood drive was also instigated at the request of the military.

After the war, the Red Cross initiated a national blood program for all civilians. It has continued to modernize its technologies and now supplies almost fifty percent of all blood that is used in hospitals across the country.

Recently, changes were made in the governance of the Red Cross. The president of the United states is the honorary chairman, and also selects the chairman of the board. The members of the Board of Governors, must choose who will be the president of the Red Cross.

¹ http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/brief.asp