The Red Cross as "Greatest Mother" was introduced by artist A. E. Foringer in this 1918 wartime poster.

Historical Summary

Within weeks of the outbreak of war, the American Red Cross dispatched a ship to Europe loaded with medical personnel and supplies. Named the SS Red Cross, it was better known as "the Mercy Ship." It carried 170 surgeons and nurses who were being sent to Europe to provide medical relief to combat casualties on both sides of the war. This was consistent with the articles of the Geneva Conventions and the principles of the Red Cross Movement that called for strict observation of neutrality and impartiality. Additional personnel and supplies followed but the Red Cross ended this effort after little more than a year, primarily because of lack of sufficient funding.

When the United States declared war against Germany, the American Red Cross found itself embarking on the adventure that would transform it almost overnight into the large and important organization it is today. As the public's patriotism rose to a fever pitch in the early days of the war, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, as honorary chairman of the Red Cross, urged his fellow citizens to turn their energies into help for the organization that needed their voluntary support in order to meet the needs of the thousands of young men joining the Allied forces on the battlefields of Europe.

In those early days, Red Cross national headquarters reeled under the demands of the national war effort. Communities flooded the headquarters with requests to establish local chapters. Needs grew much faster than the infrastructures to support them and the situation was described as "chaotic." In May 1917, President Wilson appointed a War Council to direct the Red Cross under these circumstances and selected Henry P. Davison, a successful New York banker, as the Council's volunteer chairman.

Under Davison's leadership, the Red Cross accomplished the growth necessary to meet the challenges of a world war. Prominent volunteers from the banking and business communities took up key leadership positions, including Jesse H. Jones of Houston, Texas. The organization mobilized some 8 million volunteers who were assigned to service corps at the chapter level (see list below). By the war's end, nearly one-third of the U.S. population was either a contributing member of the Red Cross or a serving volunteer. In all, 20 million adults and 11 million youth claimed membership in the American Red Cross and more than 8 million adults served as volunteer workers.

The Red Cross created a complex organizational structure to fulfill its mission, consisting of boards, committees, offices, departments, and bureaus. In terms of the war effort, however, its functions fell into four categories.

1. Service to the American armed forces.
2. Service to Allied military forces, particularly the French.
3. Limited service to American and Allied prisoners of war.
4. Service to civilian victims of war, with an emphasis on the children of Europe.

While the major concentration of effort was on the war, the Red Cross also provided services to civilians at home. Mostly this took the form of nursing activities and emergency response to natural disasters. In late 1918, however, the Red Cross met a major challenge on the home front. Fostered by wartime conditions, an influenza pandemic hit the United States and most of the rest of the world. It claimed between 20 and 40 million lives worldwide and U.S. deaths were estimated at 500,000. The Red Cross worked as an active auxiliary of the United States Public Health Service providing nurses and motor corps members, in particular, to assist the sick and dying until the pandemic died out in 1919.

Four months after the armistice was signed on March 1, 1919, the War Council disbanded and leadership of the Red Cross reverted to its Central Committee which had run the organization since it received its congressional charter in 1905. Chairman Henry Davison moved on to become the prime mover behind the formation of the League of Red Cross Societies, the umbrella organization of individual national societies now known as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

By the early 1920s, the Red Cross had completed most of its work overseas and withdrew its commissions and most of its workers from foreign service. It also closed American Red Cross overseas chapters formed by Americans living abroad. The American Junior Red Cross, however, continued to support educational and recreational programs for European youth through the Children's Fund it had initiated right after the war. At home, the Red Cross continued to provide hospital, recreational, and rehabilitative services to veterans for many years. As the result of their wartime activities, 400 American Red Cross workers lost their lives from 1914-1921, including 296 nurses.

Red Cross Military Service Corps

Among the most prominent services the Red Cross provided to the military during the war were the following.

Camp Service (established in 1917). Field directors and their assistants provided supplementary supplies, such as clothing and comfort items, and recreational and welfare services, everything from movies and refreshments to communications and financial aid to military personnel. At home, Camp Service operated in 400 military camps, hospitals and other installations. It maintained 250 buildings of its own, including convalescent houses, nurses' houses, headquarters, warehouses, and garages. Overseas the Camp Service operated in 25 countries providing services to American and Allied servicemen. Through its Camp Service, the Red Cross helped practically every solider, sailor, and marine in the service of the United States.

Canteen Service (1917). The Red Cross provided food and snacks as well as leisure articles, to troops primarily when they were in transit at railroad stations and ports of embarkation and debarkation. By the end of the war, 55,000 canteen workers operated 700 canteens in the United States that served nearly 40 million refreshments. Overseas, the American Red Cross operated 130 canteens in France alone that served some 15 million American and Allied soldiers.

Home Service (1917). Through its chapter-based Home Service, the Red Cross provided aid to the families of service personnel. This included financial assistance, communication between troops and home, and information and guidance regarding such things as government programs and military regulations. By the end of the war, the Red Cross estimated that 50,000 volunteers in 3,620 chapters serving 10,000 American communities had assisted 500,000 dependent families.

Production Corps (1917). This chapter-based service was responsible for the production of garments, surgical dressings and other medical supplies, comfort kits, and additional items for the benefit of American and Allied soldiers and sailors and destitute civilians in war-torn countries. Eight million volunteers, with help from Junior Red Cross members, produced over 372 million relief articles during the war years with a value of nearly $94 million. For additional information, see American Red Cross Production Corps.

Nursing Service (1909). Already established as an important branch of the Red Cross before the war, the Nursing Service greatly expanded with the coming of hostilities. Its principal task became to provide trained nurses for the U.S. Army and Navy. The Service enrolled 23,822 Red Cross nurses during the war. Of these, 19,931 were assigned to active duty with the Army, Navy, U.S. Public Health Service, and the Red Cross overseas. The Red Cross also enrolled and trained nurses' aides to help make up for the shortage of nurses on the homefront due to the war effort. Both Red Cross nurses and nurses' aides were also enlisted in the battle against the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918. For additional information, see Jane Delano (1862-1919) Founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service and American Red Cross Nursing.

Hospital Service (1916). The Red Cross recruited almost 24,000 nurses and well over 2,000 nurse's aides, physicians, and dietitians to meet the military's needs. It also secured trained medical and psychiatric social workers to help veterans make the readjustment back to civilian life that many found difficult to do.

Hospital and Recreation Corps (1918). This Corps began at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. where women volunteers acted as hostesses and provided recreational services to patients, most of whom were war veterans. The women wore gray dresses and veils as uniforms and the soldiers affectionately called them "the gray ladies," the name by which they became officially known after World War II. During World War I, the service quickly spread beyond Walter Reed to both military and civilian hospitals.

Motor Service (1917). The Red Cross Motor Service provided transportation support to canteens, military hospitals, and camps, and was involved in the campaign against the Spanish influenza outbreak of 1918. The Service consisted almost entirely of women volunteers, most of whom used their own cars. Many enrolled in auto mechanics classes in order to be able to make repairs whenever needed. By war's end, there were over 12,000 Motor Corps workers who had clocked a total of more than 3.5 million miles of service on America's roads.

Red Cross World War I Statistics at a Glance

1914

1918

Number of chapters	107	3,864
Number of adult members	16,708	20,390,173
Number of Junior Red Cross members	n/a	11,418,385
Number of volunteer workers	n/a	8,100,000
Number of paid staff	25	12,300
Total contributions received (money and materials)		$400,000,000
Number of Red Cross nurses enrolled for service with military		23,822
Number of service personnel receiving Red Cross aid		4,735,000
Families aided by the Home Service		500,000
Tons of relief supplies shipped overseas		101,000
Number of foreign countries in which Red Cross operated		25
American Red Cross war casualties-male		70
American Red Cross war casualties-female		330

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