Red Cross

American Red Cross

A nonprofit humanitarian organization, the American National Red Cross offers emergency aid, disaster relief, and education on disaster preparedness across the country. It is the United States movement to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as the official US affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.


On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in Dansville, New York, and served as the group's first president. On May 12 of that year, she arranged a meeting at Senator Omar D. Conger's (R, MI) home. Conger and Representative William Lawrence (R, OH), who went on to become the first vice president, met with fifteen persons in attendance to talk about the founding of the American Red Cross. The English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dansville hosted the founding meeting of the first local chapter in 1881.


Barton learned about the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, and went on to form the American chapter. She traveled to Europe in 1869 and got engaged in the Franco-Prussian War efforts of the International Red Cross. Her goal was to take the organization to the United States.


American Red Cross founder Clara Barton In May 1881, Barton was elected President of the American National Red Cross, the society's American chapter located in Washington. She had contacts in upstate New York, where the first few chapters were set. A national headquarters near the White House was made possible by financial contributions from John D. Rockefeller and four other donors. Barton's friend and abolitionist Frederick Douglass provided guidance and encouragement as she worked to create the American chapter.