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Beginnings of the American Red Cross
An American Red Cross poster titled “In the Service of Those Who Suffer,” ca. 1919.

An American Red Cross poster titled “In the Service of Those Who Suffer,” ca. 1919.

Before the official involvement of the US in World War I, most American Red Cross (ARC) posters included depictions of nurses to encourage the public to donate to the war effort in Europe. The nurse figure in early posters was typically not very feminine; she represented both the neutrality of the US and the Red Cross. However, after the US entered the war, the US Division of Pictorial Publicity (DPP) took over ARC poster production. The DPP used a more feminized nurse to catch attention and raise money.

Citation Information
American National Red Cross, “American Red Cross In the service of those who suffer,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/fccad01ec570d49af2bf7a3a80555d1e.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of Watertown Free Public Library via Digital Commonwealth.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 8 of 14 in the Primary Source Set Beginnings of the American Red Cross

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A letter by Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross, to May Wright Sewall, president of the National Council of Women, 1888.
An open letter to Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross, from members of the Club Federico de la Torre, 1897.
A 1918 photograph of American Red Cross volunteers preparing surgical dressings.
An excerpt from “The American Red Cross: Organization and Activities,” an informational booklet published in 1917.
A poster titled “Help Your American Red Cross,” ca. 1918.
An American Red Cross fundraising poster, distributed during World War I, ca. 1917.
A 1918 photograph of members of the Toussaint L’Ouverture chapter of the American Red Cross, Savannah, Georgia.
An American Red Cross poster titled “In the Service of Those Who Suffer,” ca. 1919.
A bulletin issued by the War Council of the American Red Cross in 1918.
A 1919 American Red Cross press release about an award given to African American volunteer Rev. R. H. Windsor.
An excerpt from a 1919 report of the New Orleans Chapter of the American Red Cross.
A patriotic World War I poster for the American Red Cross, ca. 1920.
A 1923 memo from African American activist Walter F. White to W. E. B. Du Bois.
A 1979 interview with Susan Hicks about her work with the Red Cross in Charlotte, North Carolina during and after World War I.

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