The records of the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross span the years from 1916 to 1975 and document the history of the first fifty years of the Red Cross in Washtenaw County. One may trace the growth of this organization from the early meetings at the home of Dr. Louis P. Hall on Hill Street in Ann Arbor in 1917 through the war efforts to the successful building campaign and the fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1967. Best documented are the administrative activities and the Home Service efforts of the county chapter. This record group is divided into five series: History, Administration, Activities, Informational, and Scrapbooks.
Red Cross activity existed in Washtenaw County on an informal basis in the communities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Chelsea, Manchester, Milan, and Saline before 1917. The Ann Arbor Chapter, as it was originally titled, sought and received national recognition in February 1917. Red Cross efforts in Ypsilanti achieved similar recognition in March 1917.
Formal organization of the Red Cross continued as the United States entered World War I. In May 1917, the commissioner of the Red Cross in Michigan reported to the chapters the growing preference for administrative control on the county level. A charter for the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross was issued soon after in June 1917. The community chapters were thereafter called branches.
Early activities of the Washtenaw County Chapter included sewing, knitting, and preparing surgical dressings. A Civilian Relief Committee was organized in October 1917 to assist families of servicemen. These efforts led to the formation of the Home Service Committee in 1918. Following World War I, this committee worked to assist returning servicemen seeking employment, financial security, and government allowances.
During the Depression years, the Washtenaw County Chapter distributed clothing, government grain, and other relief supplies. Family casework and the rehabilitation of servicemen were priorities at this time.
The years of World War II saw both the continued success of established programs and the introduction of new efforts. The Junior Red Cross, which began in 1919 and was active throughout the Depression years, worked to collect articles for servicemen in the 1940s. Demands upon the Home Service department remained strong throughout the Korean War. Also, first aid training, in 1917, increased after Pearl Harbor, as the general safety program grew.
Activities which commenced during the War years included the blood program, which began in 1940 when the American Red Cross promoted the separation of blood plasma from red and white blood cells on a large scale. Other programs germinating during these years were the Motor Service (1940), which assisted in the transport of volunteers and the delivery of materials; the Canteen (1942), which served coffee and donuts to draftees and blood donors, and the Arts and Skills Corps (1945), which assisted in the rehabilitation of disabled veterans.
During the 1950s, major concerns were Hungarian relief and the polio epidemic. Also during the 1950s, the Washtenaw County Chapter began to consider the necessity of new headquarters, as the organization's location in Nickels Arcade was cramped and poorly ventilated. A campaign was launched to raise funds to cover projected construction costs. On October 8, 1963, the new headquarters on 2729 Packard Road was dedicated.
A second significant celebration occurred four years later, when, on June 29, 1967, the Washtenaw County Chapter celebrated its 50th anniversary. Activities which remained strong throughout the 1960s and early 1970s included the instruction of first aid techniques, the Water Safety Program, and the Blood Drive.
