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Who founded the Red
Cross?
The Red Cross idea was born in
1859, when Henry Dunant, a young Swiss man, came upon
the scene of a bloody battle in Solferino, Italy,
between the armies of imperial Austria and the
Franco-Sardinian alliance. Some 40,000 men lay dead or
dying on the battlefield and the wounded were lacking
medical attention. Dunant organized local people to bind
the soldiers' wounds and to feed and comfort them. On
his return, he called for the creation of national
relief societies to assist those wounded in war, and
pointed the way to the future Geneva Conventions.
In October 1863, The International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was created in
Geneva, Switzerland, to provide nonpartisan care to the
wounded and sick in times of war. The Red Cross emblem
was adopted at this first International Conference as a
symbol of neutrality and was to be used by national
relief societies. In August 1864, the representatives of
12 governments signed the Geneva Convention Treaty. The
extraordinary efforts of Henry Dunant led to the
eventual establishment of the International Red Cross.
Today, the Red Cross Movement incorporates the
Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies (the International Federation),
as well as National Societies in 175 countries,
including the American Red Cross of the United States.
Who founded the American Red
Cross?
Clara Barton (1821-1912) dominates the
early history of the American Red Cross, which was
modeled after the International Red Cross. She did not
originate the Red Cross idea, but she was the first
person to establish a lasting Red Cross Society in
America. She successfully organized the American
Association of the Red Cross in Washington, D.C., on May
21, 1881. Created to serve America in peace and in war,
during times of disaster and national calamity, Barton's
organization took its service beyond that of the
International Red Cross Movement by adding disaster
relief to battlefield assistance. She served as the
organization's volunteer president until 1904.
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