Service to the War Wounded

American Red Cross service to the military dates back to the Spanish-American War of 1898 when the organization first provided personnel and supplies to the military for care of the wounded. As part of this effort, local Red Cross societies in New York and on the West Coast introduced convalescent care for wounded and shell-shocked soldiers returning from the fronts in Cuba and the Philippines.

This 1921 poster calls on the public to support Red Cross programs for "the ex-service man and his family."

The first time the Red Cross dealt on a massive scale with the specific needs of persons with disabilities was during World War I. With the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, injured soldiers flooded into military hospitals and convalescent homes at home and abroad. The Red Cross initiated a number of programs in support of them. For one, the Red Cross recruited nurses to serve either as part of the military's nursing corps or within its own ranks for the care of the war-injured near combat zones and in evacuation and base hospitals overseas and at military and veterans hospitals at home. Such aid often extended well beyond immediate medical care to long-term convalescence and rehabilitation for men dealing with physical and mental conditions as the result of their war service.

In addition to nurses, the Red Cross provided medical, psychiatric, social and recreational workers to military hospitals throughout the United States during the war and for several years afterwards. Much of their work took place in 94 "convalescent houses" that the organization constructed on the grounds of these hospitals to provide veterans with recreational and entertainment opportunities to speed their recovery. The Red Cross opened an Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men in New York City in 1917 that is thought to be the first specialized trade school in the country to treat adults with disabilities. Its purpose was to rehabilitate men who acquired physical disabilities and provide them with the training to become economically self-sufficient. The Institute conducted studies, held public forums, and published a magazine, Carry On, focusing on issues of vocational rehabilitation. Red Cross services to persons who are blind also began as a result of World War I. In 1918, the U.S. military set up a facility for the rehabilitation of blinded ex-servicemen in Baltimore, Maryland, and turned its operation over to the Red Cross in 1919. The Red Cross ran it until the newly formed Veterans Bureau of the federal government took it over in 1922.

Red Cross workers accompany World War I veterans with disabilities to a White House garden party in 1924.

Local Red Cross chapters provided services to veterans under an "After-Care of Disabled Soldiers" program. The chapters coordinated with vocational training agencies in their communities to aid soldiers to become self-supporting. They provided employment information and took steps to encourage employers to hire veterans with disabilities. The Red Cross published a pamphlet in 1918 called "Home Service and the Disabled Soldier or Sailor," that provided a comprehensive review of government programs for the treatment and training of veterans in order for them to assume productive roles in society.

World War II called on the American Red Cross once again to meet the needs of the war-injured on a mammoth scale. Although its nursing role was limited to the recruitment of nurses to serve in the military, the organization introduced a social service program for hospital patients as an integral part of their treatment and rehabilitation, similar to that conducted during World War I. It consisted of mental health casework, general counseling, recreational activities, and the distribution of loans and grants based on need. In addition, the Red Cross assigned social and recreation workers to Army and Navy special treatment centers for those persons who recently became blind or deaf. Throughout the war and immediately afterward, maintaining a sufficient number of properly trained medical and psychiatric social workers was a persistent problem. In order to increase the number of workers available, the Red Cross offered scholarships to qualified students for graduate study in social work.

The Red Cross introduced two new programs to assist those with disabilities during World War II. An Arts and Skills Service, begun in 1942, provided men with the opportunity to perform creative and handicraft work under the direction of artists and craftsmen. The Red Cross introduced a convalescent swimming program as part of its First Aid, Water Safety, and Accident Prevention activities. Designed particularly for men with combat fatigue and amputated limbs, it later became known as "adapted swimming" and was made available to both military and civilian patients.

Local chapters once again provided veterans with counseling, referrals for aid, financial assistance, and other services within the scope of the Red Cross Home Service's functions to help service personnel and their families. The Red Cross eased the transition of men from hospitals into their home communities by having chapters inform families and communities about the men's conditions and their health care needs.

Serving Civilians with Disabilities

The Red Cross adopted many of the skills it learned in service to the war-wounded for use with the civilian population. One of the best-known national Red Cross programs for persons with disabilities was the Braille Corps begun in 1921 to transcribe written texts for readers who were blind. Run mostly by women, it continued until 1942, when technological and commercial developments reduced its need. Over its 21 years of existence, an average of 1,600 volunteers spent 87,000 hours a year transcribing words into Braille. In all, they transcribed an estimated six million pages for persons who were blind. The Red Cross also offered home nursing classes, first aid training, and adapted swimming classes for individuals who were blind. Today, local chapters continue to provide many of these services, including Braille transcription in a few instances.

In the post war years, some Red Cross chapters extended unique services to civilians with disabilities, such as providing plastic surgery to correct a physical disfigurement or orthopedics to help a person walk.

Since its beginning in 1909, Red Cross nursing included service to persons with disabilities as an integral part of its programs. This was especially true during the years that the Red Cross ran extensive public health, rural nursing, and home care training programs, most of which were eventually taken over by governmental public health programs.

Red Cross chapters have traditionally been encouraged to offer a variety of services to persons with disabilities in their communities. For instance, a service report in the 1930s stated, "The care of crippled children is a part of the regular program, to a varied degree, of all chapters doing home service, civilian home service, or emergency relief work." In a similar vein, the Red Cross passed a resolution in 1980 calling for in-service training for persons with disabilities that involved an expanded adapted swimming program and publication of a series of booklets on loss of hearing and sight, on amputations, and about helping veterans with disabilities.

The Junior Red Cross (begun in 1917 and renamed Red Cross Youth in 1964) conducted and funded many activities in support of persons with disabilities, particularly children. A 1935 summary of such activities included provision of shoes, orthopedic braces, a school bus, and food and entertainment to children with disabilities. For many years, the Junior Red Cross supported a National Children's Fund that included assistance to youth with disabilities and for a time the Junior Red Cross published a magazine in Braille for schools serving individuals who were blind.

Persons with Disabilities as Red Cross Volunteers

The Red Cross has a long tradition of welcoming persons with disabilities into its fold as both volunteers and staff workers. During the World War I era, American adults who were blind volunteered to knit garments and roll bandages for Red Cross distribution to civilian and military victims in Europe and held concerts and other public events to raise money for the Red Cross and its war relief efforts. Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls who were blind collected funds, rolled bandages, and hemmed towels as part of the wartime effort. Similar activities continued after World War I as well as during and following World War II. Persons with disabilities have fulfilled many roles as volunteers and staff with the Red Cross, including service as Gray Ladies, providing recreational and social support in hospitals, and as telephone operators, receptionists, and typists in chapter, blood region, and national headquarters offices.

Adams County Chapter, Quincy, Ill., sponsors an Adaptive Aquatics Program, where over 20 volunteers assist over 50 "water bugs" of all ages with water exercises, strength-building and stretching and movement activities.

The Red Cross Today

The Red Cross carries on its tradition of service to persons with disabilities through a variety of services. It partners with such organizations as Lifeline® (makers of emergency response systems and medical alarms) and Meals on Wheels. It conducts educational programs at adult care centers and makes visits to nursing homes and supervised care facilities. It provides training to caregivers and subsidizes employment and job training to persons with disabilities.

In 2001, National Headquarters established a National Disability Task Force, composed of volunteers and employees with and without disabilities, whose mission is to evaluate and develop programs for persons with disabilities. At the same time, the Red Cross issued the following Statement of Affirmation that aptly summarizes its position with regard to persons with disabilities:

We affirm that persons with disabilities add a richness to the American Red Cross as both service providers and service recipients. The American Red Cross is committed to providing programs, people, and services that are both sensitive to and accepting of a person's needs.

Foster Rhea Dulles, The American Red Cross. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950.
     A general history of the ARC from its beginnings to mid-century. Out of print but in most libraries.
Patrick F. Gilbo, The American Red Cross: The First Century. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.
     An illustrated history of the first century of the American Red Cross, 1881-1981. Out of print but in most libraries.

American Red Cross Websites:

http://www.redcross.org/services/volunteer/disabilities/

http://www.redcross.org/services/volunteer/disabilities/task.html

Top of Page