World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 each year to mark the birthday of Henry Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 for his work.
Dunant co-founded the original Red Cross in his home country of Switzerland in 1863. Various other Red Cross societies began forming (including the American Red Cross in 1881), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was founded in 1919 as a way to consolidate them all.
In honor of Dunant's birthday, here are 20 vintage photos of Red Cross nurses doing what they do best: tending to those affected by war and disasters around the world.
The Red Cross is still a vital resource for people in need across the world.
British Red Cross nurses carrying gifts from the US in 1941.
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Today, the American Red Cross provides about 40% of the blood supply in the US, according to the organization, teaches safety courses, and helps in the aftermath of disasters.
They continue to offer training and support during the coronavirus outbreak, as well as refuge to people in need.
In hospital wards, Red Cross nurses dressed soldiers' wounds.
Wounded British soldiers and their nurses in a hospital ward circa 1916.
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Nurses also worked in temporary medical centers such as auxiliary hospitals. There were 3,000 auxiliary hospitals in the UK during World War I.
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Nurses from the British Red Cross Society were honored by Queen Alexandra in 1913.
Nurses receiving war badges in 1913.
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The nurses received war badges for their work in the Balkan War.
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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was founded in 1919 in Paris after World War I.
A temporary installation of the Red Cross in Paris around 1910.
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The five founding countries of the IFRC were Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the US. Their first order of business was to help people in countries affected by World War I recover.
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During World War I, nurses aided soldiers in the trenches.
Red Cross nurses during World War I.
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Red Cross nurses tended to wounded Serbian soldiers on the Macedonian front during World War I.
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The organization received its first federal charter from Congress in 1900.
Junior Red Cross nurses circa 1900.
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While it's not a government entity, the American Red Cross is considered a "federal instrumentality" with responsibilities given to them by the government.
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In its early years, the Red Cross helped support soldiers in battle and communities in disasters.
A Red Cross nurse at a military parade circa 1900.
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Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881.
Clara Barton, under President Abraham Lincoln's charge for sending supplies to civil war soldiers, holds a pair of gloves next to a table and clock.
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During the Civil War, Barton became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her work with the wounded. She founded the American Red Cross after encountering Henry Dunant's International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Switzerland on a trip to Europe.
Barton served as president of the American Red Cross for 23 years.
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