The Long Beach Earthquake Eighty years ago, in April 1933, Southern California was recovering from a major earthquake that struck March 10. The quake hit at 5:54 p.m. and a series of aftershocks ensued. The epicenter of the quake was located about three miles off the coast of Newport Beach, but the greatest destruction occurred [...]

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Since Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881, women have played an important part in advancing the organization’s programs and services. As we close out Women’s History month, our last installment features images of women in Red Cross paintings. The Red Cross collection contains paintings by well-known illustrators dating from the early to [...]

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It’s Women’s History Month! And to commemorate it, throughout the month the archives will feature images from the collection portraying women and their diverse roles in the organization. Since the founding of the American Red Cross by Clara Barton in 1881, women have played an important part in advancing the organization’s programs and services. For [...]

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MARCH is RED CROSS MONTH  The tradition of March is Red Cross month started in 1943 during World War II. Prior to that, the Red Cross ran Roll Call campaigns. Begun during World War I, these fundraising campaigns were done in the fall. When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the [...]

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American Red Cross has a long history of responding to weather-related disasters, including this blizzard that hit the Blue Ridge Mountains of  North Carolina in 1960. West Jefferson, NC, March 12, 1960 — Red Cross volunteers who “knew their mountains” acted as spotters aboard the Army helicopters that flew over the snow-locked area, aiding the [...]

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Supporting the Troops: Red Cross and the Spanish American War February 15 marks 115 years since the USS Maine exploded in Cuba’s Havana Harbor. The explosion resulted in more than 200 deaths and served as a catalyst for the Spanish American War of 1898. It was also the first time the American Red Cross responded [...]

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January is National Blood Donor Month! In honor of the occasion we’d like to share a little history of our blood donor program. In 1936, the Red Cross, obtained permission to organize blood transfusions on an experimental basis. The Augusta, Ga., chapter inaugurated the first Red Cross volunteer blood donor service in August 1937.  Some [...]

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In the early twentieth century, the American Red Cross played a role in the fight against tuberculosis with Christmas seals. Before the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, tuberculosis or TB was one of the deadliest killers. No one was immune from the disease. The only treatments known to work were rest, proper nutrition and [...]

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A Day Long Remembered… Hurricanes hitting the Northeast may seem like the exception, but over the years that region has seen its fair share of destructive storms. On September 21, 1938, a hurricane initially expected to hit the coast of Florida shifted course and moved northwest impacting Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and [...]

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Norman Rockwell and the American Red Cross Well known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, Rockwell’s images of idealized American life hold an enduring place in the country’s iconographic landscape. The American Red Cross benefited from Rockwell’s talent through the illustrations and paintings he completed for the organization. Two of his works are displayed at [...]

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