On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton, named the “Angel of the Battlefield” during the Civil War, founded the American Association of the Red Cross which she led until 1904.

During a visit to Europe in 1869, she discovered the Red Cross Movement in Switzerland and upon her return to the U.S. took steps to establish a U.S. organization. Incorporated as The American National Red Cross in 1893, the organization was given charters by Congress in 1900 and in 1905. The 1905 charter and its amendments provide the basis for today’s American Red Cross and the close working relationship between the organization and the federal government.