Local Red Cross
Organization Made Excellent Record in All Forms of Relief
Activities in Period After May, 1917. Had 25,000 Members.
Top row, left to right
-- Miss Ida Robbins; Miss Clara Smith, University Place; Mrs.
Harry Jones, Seward; Mrs. William A. Noble, Mrs. Voyle Rector,
Mrs. W. W. Whitfield, Mrs. Fanny Green, Mrs. W. E. Strauss,
Mrs. Sherman, Mrs. J. H. Avery, Mrs. Sam Wessel, all of
Lincoln.
Bottom row, left to right
-- Miss Fanny Dickinson, Waverly; Miss Helena Redford,
Lincoln; Miss Annetta Nesbitt, Lincoln; Miss Emily Cox, York;
Mrs. C. F. Ladd, Mrs. W. R. Clark, Lincoln; Mrs. W. F. Kelly,
Washington, D. C.; Mrs. T. E. Calvert, Mrs. S. H. Burnham,
Miss Jane Bishop, Mrs. Fred Williams, Mrs. L. W. Korsmeyer,
all from Lincoln.
This is one of the first
classes organized in Lincoln for Red Cross work from which the
Red Cross grew into hundreds of workers.
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May 1, 1917, a meeting was held at the Lincoln
Commercial club to talk over the plans for organizing a
local chapter of Red Cross. Out of it came the largest
Red Crocs chapter per capita of any city in the country.
Up until this time a chapter had not been formally
organized, although all of the civilian relief work was
done by what is now called the Red Cross organization.
Before the war H. H. Wilson was treasurer of this
Organization and was authorized to use funds for the
benefit of people who had been injured in tornadoes and
floods. Later in May of 1917 the Lincoln chapter of the
American Red Cross was organized.
W. E. Hardy was elected
president; Charles Mayer, vice-president; L. E. Hurtz,
secretary; and H. H. Wilson, treasurer. The organization
started without any capital and relied upon its members
for the work which was done, and also for contributions.
The first Red Cross drive took place in May, 1917, when
$65,700 was pledged to Washington. On Christmas of the
same year, a Christmas roll call, or Red Cross drive was
held and several members and dollars were pledged to the
American Red Cross. The fee was $1 for annual membership
or $2 for membership and the Red Cross magazine.
The first department to
be organized under the American Red Cross was the
canteen service with Charles Schwartz as chairman, the
next was civilian relief which had for its chairman Mr.
N. z. Snell. The com- fort kits were taken in charge by
Mrs. H. M. Bushnell, Mrs. W. E. Hardy was chairman of
the surgical dressing committee. E. R. Danielson acted
as field director. Miss Ida Robbins was chairman of the
garments committee. Mr. C. W. Little had charge of
headquarters which were located at Scottish Rite
temple.
JUNIOR RED CROSS
The Junior Red Cross was in charge of Superintendent
J. H. Newlon. Mrs. Fred Gardner was chairman of the
knitting committee. Dr. B. F. Bailey was chairman of the
nurse committee. Mr. L. M. Ward acted as purchasing
agent and J. R. Moyer had full charge of salvage
headquarters. The bureau of personnel was in charge of
Mrs. C. F. Ladd. The members of the executive committee
were Mrs. A. H. Armstrong, Dr. B. F. Bailey, Mrs. H. M.
Bushnell, Dr. I. G. Clapp, Mrs. Fred Gardner, Mrs. W. E.
Hardy, Mr. W. E. Hardy, L. E. Hurtz, Mrs. C. F.
Ladd, John J. Ludwig, Mrs. C. W. Little, Mrs. Lew
Marshall, Mrs. Charles Mayer, Mr. J. R. Moyer,
Superintendent J. H. Newlon, Miss Ida Robbins, Mrs. J.
C. Seacrest, Mr. N. Z. Snell, Mr. L. M. Ward, Mrs. W. So
Yates, Mr. H. H. Wilson, Mrs. E. R. Danielson and Mrs.
Martha Taylor.
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With
a very few exceptions there have been no changes on the
executive committee and the chairmen of the other
committees are the same now as. they were when the
chapter was first organize1. In September, 1917, the
first class in surgical dressings was organized and had
as its instructor Mrs. W. F . Kelley of Washington, D.
C. Fourteen ladies from Lincoln were present at this
first meeting, one from Waverly, one from University
Place, and one from York. Eight of the sixteen women
finished their course in surgical dressing and took an
examination in order to be able to teach.
These women were
appointed captains over the new members that registered
for surgical dressing work. From time to time new
members came in until finally several tables were filled
every day and all day at Red Cross headquarters. In the
same way that the surgical , dressing classes were
organized, so classes were formed for hospital garments.
The quota of these hospital garments, or as they are
more commonly called "military relief" quotas,
were sent from central division headquarters at Chicago.
They came ready to be cut with minute instructions for
the making.
GARMENTS TO FRANCE
Miss Ida Robbins, chairman of the hospital garments
committee, supervised the cutting out and distributing
of the garments. After they were completed they were
shipped back to headquarters and from there were sent on
their way to France. Besides the Lincoln chapter of the
Red Cross, twenty- eight branch chapters were organized
throughout the country.
Each branch had its own
chairman. who, in turn, reported to the chairman of the
Lincoln chapter. At the present time Lincoln chapter has
approximately 25,000 members. It has collected more.
than $321,000 dollars, over $20,000 of which has been
invested in securities in the name of the Lincoln Red
Cross. Up until March 1, $276,000 had been paid out in
expenditures, $23,000 of which was for military relief
supplies alone.
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(Reprint from the Lincoln
Daily Star, Sunday, March 23, 1919)
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