The following is a guest post by Jonathan Eaker, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division.
On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton founded the American National Red Cross to provide relief services during times of war and disaster. In honor of its Founder’s Day, I would like to highlight some newly digitized images from our American National Red Cross Collection, which documents Red Cross activities during the late 1910s through the early 1920s in both the U.S. and abroad. The Prints & Photographs Division recently scanned nearly 19,000 American National Red Cross glass negatives, which are now available in our online catalog.
The majority of the collection focuses on the Red Cross’ work during and after the First World War. The American National Red Cross not only cared for injured combatants, but they also helped refugees, took care of orphans, and sent aid to areas hit by famine. There is extensive coverage of their wartime actions in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Balkans, Eastern Russia (including Siberia) and the Middle East. The collection also includes photos of their work at training camps and military hospitals in the U.S.