History of the American Red Cross

Henry Dunant
The force that drew many men and nation together in the Red Cross Movement was supplied by Henry Dunant of Geneva, Switzerland. He is often spoken of as the founder of the Red Cross and in one sense he was. He was not, however, an organizer or a public figure. He was a private citizen who accidentally became acquainted with the human wreckage caused by war.

The Battle
In 1859, Dunant was traveling in Northern Italy. He was a young businessman of 30, and he had only one object in view — to get the support of the Emperor of France for a business project in Algeria. The fact that the emperor was then leading the French army against the army of Austria did not deter the enthusiastic young promoter.

He did not meet the emperor, but he could not escape seeing the casualties left by the battle of Solferino, where the French victory over the Austrians left 40,000 dead and wounded on the battlefield. On the day of the battle, Dunant had arrived in the nearby town of Castiglione. He joined in the work of relief, sent his coach to bring supplies, and wrote to his friends in Switzerland for aid. He labored for three days at his unfamiliar task. Then he returned home, never again to be just like the young man who had set out to discuss a business deal with an emperor. Solferino changed Dunant.

The Book
If Dunant had merely helped the wounded, the world would probably never have heard of him; but he had to go further than that. What he had seen gave his conscience no rest. He resolved to write an appeal against the terrifying inhumanity he had witnessed, on the chance that he might move people to prevent or to reduce the suffering of soldiers. The result was A Memory of Solferino (Un Souvenir de Solferino), printed in Geneva in October 1862. This famous book, mailed by the author to influential people throughout Europe, excited them beyond all expectation.

Move Toward Organization
Dunant was not an "organization man," but one of the readers of his book was the head of a group engaged in local relief work. Gustav Moynier, a fellow townsman of Dunant's, was chairman of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare. He placed Dunant's proposals before this group on February 9, 1863, and became the chief force that would shape Dunant's vision into an organization.The Society approved the appointment of a committee of five men to continue work on Dunant's material.

This committee, which later at Moynier's suggestion called itself the "Permanent International Committee," decided to call an international conference in Geneva. The committee was chaired by General Dufour, Switzerland's leading soldier. The secretary was Dunant; the other members were Moynier and two physicians, Dr. Appia and Dr. Maunoir. These men laid the groundwork for an international humanitarian agreement, the Geneva Convention, and for the related system of national societies now known as Red Cross societies.

International Conference of 1863
The international conference met in Geneva on October 26, 1863. Thanks in large part to Dunant's preparatory work, it was attended by delegates favorably disposed toward the proposal of the committee. In all, 36 people attended, including representatives from 14 European countries.
The conference had two important results: It increased the influence of the organizing committee; secondly, it produced resolutions for consideration by governments and possible approval by a diplomatic conference. At its final session, the conference declared "that Monsieur Henry Dunant…and the Geneva Public Welfare Society…have deserved well of humanity and earned…universal thanks."

Diplomatic Conference of 1864
The diplomatic conference met in Geneva on August 8, 1864, with 24 delegates attending from 16 governments. The United States sent observers, who made their influence felt in favor of the proposed treaty through informal talks with the delegates. Drawing on the experience of the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, the American observer showed that a volunteer organization could work effectively with the government in accordance with the principles Dunant had proposed.
The conference agreed on the terms of the first Geneva Convention and agreed also that the symbol of the movement should be a red cross on a white background. Dr. Appia, of the founding committee, wore this symbol on his arm for the first time during the Prussian-Danish War of 1864. In time the whole movement became known as the Red Cross, and the organizing committee took the name of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Dunant's Influence
Dunant remains a mysterious person, despite the pages written about him. He could stir people to enthusiasm by his writing and private talks, although none of the projects in which he was interested turned into a permanent occupation.

In his early maturity, he worked with groups that sought to draw young men of all nations into a Christian union. He was influential in the founding of the International YMCA, which had its first meeting in Paris in 1855. At other periods he was interested in projects for the bringing together of Christians and Jews, for the founding of a Jewish settlement in Palestine, and for promoting international peace.
Dunant was brought up a Protestant and was early led toward piety and good works, in which the example of his mother was particularly strong. As a young man, he belonged to the Geneva League of Alms and worked to relieve poverty and illness. In his old age, he disclaimed membership in any particular church. "I am a disciple of Christ, as in the first century, simply that," he wrote.

Nothing in Dunant's early history, however, prepared him for the realities of war. The casualties of Solferino shook him to the depths and brought on the "craving" mentioned in the following passages from his great book: The moral sense of the importance of human life; the humane desire to lighten a little the torments of all these poor wretches; the furious and relentless activity which a man summons up at such moments: all these create a kind of energy which gives one a positive craving to help as many as one can.

The moral energy of Dunant made him the prophet of the Red Cross. His craving to bring relief to humanity in pain has made itself felt throughout the world.

Clara Barton, Heroic Woman
Clara Barton, born in North Oxford, Mass., and lived from Christmas Day 1821 to April 12, 1912. She was honored during her lifetime and is still revered as one of the great women of America. She was a true pioneer. Miss Barton began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men. She won the right to have a desk job in an office of the federal government in Washington, D.C.; previously, women had been required to carry their work home. Her greatest pioneering began when she was nearly 40 years old.

Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Miss Barton's eyes were opened to the needs of people in distress and to the ways in which she and other volunteers could help. This vision dominated the rest of her long life. By the force of her personal example, Miss Barton cleared the path to the new field of volunteer service to people in trouble. An intense devotion to the aim of serving others led her on to achievements to fill several ordinary lifetimes.

Civil War Service
Miss Barton was working in Washington, D.C. when the first units of federal troops poured into the city in 1861. She saw the need for immediate personal service to the men in uniform, for some were wounded, some hungry, and some without bedding or any clothing except what they had on their backs. She joined with other women who gave service on behalf of such groups as the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Miss Barton paid equal attention to the personal services that kept up the men's spirits: she read to them, wrote letters for them, listened to their personal problems and prayed with them.

The International Red Cross
When Miss Barton sailed for Europe in 1869, she found there an even wider field for service. Friends in Geneva, Switzerland introduced her to the Red Cross idea, and she read for the first time the famous book, A Memory of Solferino by Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross Movement. The first treaty embodying Dunant's idea had been drawn up in Geneva in 1864. (This was called variously the Geneva Treaty, the Red Cross Treaty, and the Geneva Convention.) Later Miss Barton fought hard and successfully for the signing of this treaty by the United States.

A more immediate call to action came to her with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Though not yet allied to the Red Cross, she knew the needs of war and went to the war zone with volunteers of the International Red Cross. To protect herself with the internationally accepted symbol, she used a red ribbon she was wearing and made a cross to pin on her coat. It was characteristic that the first Red Cross symbol she wore was one she made herself. She helped to distribute relief supplies to the destitute in the conquered city of Strasbourg and elsewhere in France.

Founding and Leading the American Red Cross
After she returned to the United States, Miss Barton corresponded with Red Cross officials in Switzerland. They looked on her as the natural leader for carrying the Red Cross Movement to this country and for influencing the United States government to sign the Geneva Treaty.

In 1877, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sent her a letter addressed to the President of the United States, asking her to present it. Although she presented the letter, the administration of President Hayes looked on the Geneva Treaty as a possible "entangling alliance." She was determined and kept her efforts until President Arthur signed and the Senate ratified the treaty in 1882.

In 1881, Miss Barton and a group of supporters formed the American Association of the Red Cross as a District of Columbia corporation. Reincorporated as the American National Red Cross in 1893, the organization was given a charter by Congress in 1900 and in 1905. The 1905 charter and its amendments provide a basis for today's American Red Cross and nurture close working relations between the federal government and the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross flag was flown officially for the first time in this country in 1881 when Miss Barton was appealing for funds and clothing in Dansville, N.Y. to aid victims of forest fires in Michigan. In 1884, she chartered steamers to take supplies down the Ohio and Mississippi to help flooded families. In 1889, she helped to relieve Johnstown, Penn. after its great flood. In 1892, she organized assistance for Russians suffering from famine, and in 1896, she directed disaster relief operations in Turkey and Armenia.
Miss Barton introduced the idea of Red Cross disaster relief to many other Red Cross national societies, and many foreign countries honored her with decorations. She was one of three United States delegates to the Third International Red Cross Conference in Geneva in 1884; she was the only woman delegate present. Her personality and prestige influenced the proceedings of other International Red Cross Conferences, such as the Sixth, in Vienna (1897), and the Seventh, in St. Petersburg (1902).

The most significant act of Miss Barton during her closing years as head of the American Red Cross was to take Red Cross supplies and services to Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Aid was given to the American forces, to prisoners of war and to Cuban refugees. This effort was the first step toward the broad programs of service to the armed forces and to civilians during wartime that have become traditional in the American Red Cross. On resigning as president of the organization in 1904, Miss Barton left a foundation of service to humanity on which others could build.