Description
Book SynopsisIn dark skirts and bloodied boots, Clara Barton fearlessly ventured on to Civil War battlefields to tend to wounded soldiers. She later founded and ran the American Red Cross. This book tells the story of this charitable organization from its start in 1881, through its humanitarian aid during wars, to its relief efforts of the 1930s.
Trade ReviewTraces the organization's history from its founding in 1881 to the 1930s. The Chronicle Review A cogent review of the complicated evolution of the American Red Cross... Jones skillfully dissects the origins, principles, and practices shaping the contemporary ARC... The book is especially strong in explaining how national and international situations enhanced the ARC's possibilities and constrained its potential. -- Rima D. Apple, Ph.D. Journal of the History of Medicine Jones has, therefore, written a significant book that should challenge historians to consider anew the intertwined development of national disaster responses and social welfare policies, and to better understand the inherent complexity of humanitarian aid -- Branden Little H-SHGAPE, H-Net Reviews Jones's book is a valuable narrative and reference for scholars of humanitarianism, disaster, and volunteerism. -- Jacob A. C. Remes Journal of American History A cogent review of the complicated evolution of the American Red Cross... Jones skillfully dissects the origins, principles, and practices shaping the contemporary ARC. -- Rima D. Apple Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences While specialists will welcome The American Red Cross as a well-researched and analytical treatment of the principal U.S. humanitarian organization, the book should also appeal to popular audiences. Jones tells a fascinating and approachable story. -- Julia F. Irwin Bulletin of the History of Medicine This book provides a carefully researched examination of the particular path taken by the American Red Cross up to the Second World War. This is less a history of American exceptionalism than an illustration of the diversity of projects that operated under the banner of the Red Cross in this period. -- Rebecca Gill Social History of Medicine Well-researched and accessible in its writing, Jones's history of the ARC offers the reader - both inside and outside academia - a thorough and up-to-date examination of one of the most important voluntary associations in the history of the United States. -- Brendan M. Goff Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chronology
Part I: The Barton Era
1. Miss Barton Goes to Washington
2. Transatlantic Transplant
3. National Calamities
4. The Misfortunes of Other Nations
5. Cuba and Controversy
Part II: The Boardman
6. Barton versus Boardman
7. Shifting Ground
8. Establishment
9. Fighting on Two Fronts
Part III: Between the Wars
10. Triage for Terror
11. Baptism in Mud
12. Scorched Earth
13. A New Deal for Disasters
Epilogue: Blood and Grit
Acknowledgments
Notes
List of Archival Sources
Index
