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The American Red Cross (also known as the American National Red Cross) is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States, as part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. more...

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Today, in addition to domestic disaster relief, the American Red Cross offers compassionate services in five other areas: community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs.

Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of more than 800 chapters and Blood Services regions, now broken up into divisions, dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. More than a million Red Cross volunteers and 30,000 employees annually mobilize relief to families affected by more than 67,000 disasters, train almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills and exchange more than a million emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. The Red Cross is also the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts at locations worldwide.

The American Red Cross is headquartered in Washington, D.C. In April 2007, Mark W. Everson was named Chief Executive. This followed US legislation that clarified the role of the American Red Cross' Board and senior management, and a year with an interim Chief Executive in the wake of difficulties after Hurricane Katrina.

Founders

The American Red Cross was established on May 21, 1881 by Clara Barton, in Dansville, New York who became the first president of the organization. Barton first organized a meeting on May 12 of that year at the home of Sen. Omar D. Conger (R, MI) Fifteen were present at this first meeting, including Barton, Conger, and Rep. William Lawrence (R, OH) (who became the first vice-president ).

Jane Delano (1862-1919) was the founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service.

Clara Barton

Clara Barton (1821-1912) had already had a career as a teacher and federal bureaucrat when the American Civil War broke out. (She started teaching around the age of 15 or 16.) After working tirelessly on humanitarian work during and after the conflict, on advice of her doctors, in 1869, she went to Europe for a restful vacation. There, she saw and became involved in the work of the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War, and determined to bring the organization home with her to America.

Read more at Wikipedia.org