American Red Cross

Brief History:

In the Beginning...

Clara Barton and a circle of acquaintances founded the Red Cross in Washington D.C. on May 21, 1881.  Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired international Red Cross movement while visiting Europe following the Civil War.  Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross Society and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.

Finally...

The Red Cross received it's first congressional charter in 1900 and a second in 1905, the year after Barton resigned from the organization.  This charter - which remains in effect today - sets forth the purposes of the organization that include 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.