Creation and Authority.--The National Academy of Sciences was established by an act of Congress approved by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 806). The act of incorporation specified that ". . . the Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experiments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States."
The National Research Council was organized in 1916, by the National Academy of Sciences under the Congressional Charter of the Academy. Its organization was requested by President Wilson as a measure of national preparedness. The National Research Council was perpetuated by the National Academy of Sciences on April 29, 1919, in response to President Wilson's further request, as expressed in Executive Order 2859, dated May 11, 1918, with duties as described in the order.
International Conferences.--The Pan American Union arranges the dates and programs for the international conferences of the American States, which are called Pan American Conferences. All records of the conferences are kept in custody of the Union.
Director, Civilian Relief Philip E. Ryan Director, Relief to Prisoners of War Maurice Pate Vice Chairman in charge of the American Junior Red Cross and of Personnel Relations James T. Nicholson Director, American Junior Red Cross Livingston L. Blair Director, College Units Margaret Hargrove Director, Personnel Service Harry A. Wann Vice Chairman in charge of Public Relations Howard Bonham, Acting Director of Publicity Lewis H. Bowen Director, Fund Raising Robert J. Smythe Vice Chairman in charge of Domestic Service DeWitt Smith Assistant to the Vice Chairman and Administrator, General Services Laurence M. Mitchell Assistant to the Vice Chairman Thomas DeC. Ruth Assistant Administrators, General Services Edward H. Cavin
Assistant Administrator, Publications and Statistics and Research Everett Dix Assistant Administrator, Office Management E.P. Krick Assistant Administrator, Budgets and Finance S.M. Nichols
Vice Chairman in charge of Domestic Services--Continued Deputy Administrator, Disaster Relief and Civilian War Aid Colin Herrle Administrator, First Aid, Water Safety, and Accident Prevention Harold F. Enlows Director, Nursing Service Virginia M. Dunbar Medical Director G. Foard McGinnes, M.D. Director, Blood Donor Service G. Canby Robinson, M.D. Director, Nutrition Service Melva B. Bakkie Director, Volunteer Special Services Mrs. Richard M. Bissell General Supply Officer George C. Smith Administrator, Services to the Armed Forces Robert E. Bondy Deputy Administrator, Services to the Armed Forces Don C. Smith Assistant Administrator and Director of Military and Naval Welfare Service William S. Hepner Assistant Administrator and Director of Home Service Charlotte Johnson Assistant Administrator, Services to Veterans Roy Johnson Director, Camp and Hospital Council Service Mrs. Archibald MacLeish Vice Chairman in charge of Area Offices and Chapter Services Fred A. Winfrey Administrator, Area Offices and Chapter Service William Carl Hunt Assistant to the Vice Chairman Harold B. Nearman Manager, North Atlantic Area E. Roland Harriman Manager, Eastern Area Ramone Eaton Manager, Southeastern Area John C. Wilson Manager, Midwestern Area H.F. Keisker Manager, Pacific Area Verne Simmons
Creation and Authority.--The American National Red Cross is chartered under the act of Congress approved January 5, 1905 (33 Stat. 599; 36 U.S.C. 1), as amended by the act approved February 27, 1917 (39 Stat. 946; 36 U.S.C. 6).
Purpose.--The purposes of the American National Red Cross are to furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of armies in time of war, to perform all duties with which the national society of each nation acceding to the Treaty of Geneva is charged, to act in matters of voluntary relief, and to serve, in accord with military and naval authorities, as a medium of communication between the people of the United States and their Army and Navy. It is further charged with providing a system of national and international relief to mitigate the suffering caused by pestilence, famine, fire, flood, and other great national calamities, and to devise measures for their prevention.
The Central Committee consists of 18 members, 6 appointed by the President of the United States, 6 elected by the incorporators, and 6 elected by the delegates of the chapters. Elected members serve for 3 years. The congressional charter vests in the Central Committee the entire control, management, and administration of the affairs of the American National Red Cross. The Central Committee appoints a 9-member executive committee, 5 members of which constitute a quorum. The Executive Committee may exercise all powers of the Central Committee when that body is not in session. One chairman serves both committees and, under the advice and direction of the Central Committee, is executive head of the corporation. Under the chairman are a vice chairman at large and 6 vice chairmen in charge of finance, the American Junior Red Cross and personnel relations, insular and foreign operations, public relations, domestic service, and area offices and chapter service.
The chapter, usually covering a single county, is the local unit of the American National Red Cross and is responsible for all Red Cross activities and services within its territory, subject to the policies and regulations of the national organization.
Services to the Armed Forces and to Veterans.--Under its congressional charter and under Army and Navy regulations, the American Red Cross acts in matters of voluntary relief and as a medium of communication between the people of the United States and their Army and Navy, which includes servicemen and women. In keeping with its policy, the Red Cross also extends its help to various civilian groups who are exposed to the hazards and dislocations of war. These groups include members of the United States Merchant Marine when under contract for a specified cruise or trip or on authorized shore leave, civilian pilots of the Army Air Transport, and members of the Army Water Division when they are merchant seamen or are shore-based personnel stationed outside the United States.
Services to the Armed Forces and to Veterans coordinate American Red Cross activities which relate to the welfare of men and women in uniform and their families and veterans and their families. These activities include services in camps and hospitals, those given through chapters in communities, and related functions.
Field directors, stationed at domestic Army and Navy stations and hospitals and with troops and hospitalized service personnel overseas, working in cooperation with the 3,757 chapters throughout the United States and its possessions, link the servicemen and women with their home communities in a constant two-way flow of service. The American Red Cross contributes to the morale of servicemen and women by a program of social service including financial assistance for able-bodied service personnel and their families and by a program of medical social service and recreation for the sick and injured in Army and Navy hospitals. Field directors in Veterans Administration offices and chapter workers assist veterans and their families in obtaining benefits from the Government. Chapters provide financial assistance pending the receipt of governmental benefits.
Most large army cantonments and many other military reservations have Red Cross headquarters buildings. Both the Army and Navy allocate space in hospitals for the use of the Red Cross staff in carrying on activities for patients, and furnishings for these quarters are supplied by the Red Cross. Volunteers are recruited and trained by the Red Cross to take part in service to patients.
Overseas American Red Cross representatives provide welfare and recreation services for able-bodied personnel of the United States armed forces. Red Cross hospital workers provide social service and medically approved recreation programs for patients in evacuation hospitals, in general hospitals, and on hospital ships. Club facilities which provide food, lodging, and entertainment are established in metropolitan and leave areas in all overseas war theaters. Aeroclubs, clubmobiles, and on-post service clubs are also staffed and operated by the Red Cross according to indicated need and request for such service by the military authorities.
Camp and hospital councils provide emergency and supplementary supplies and services for men and women at military and naval installations and veterans facilities by channeling community resources to the installations and facilities through field directors and their staffs.
Camp and hospital committees, made up of American Red Cross representatives and other leaders representing community organizations, are organized in chapters which lie adjacent to military installations. Delegates of the committees comprise a camp and hospital council. To these councils field directors present requests from commanding officers. The council delegates relay the needs to the participating organizations, which then undertake to supply the articles or services requested.
Disaster Relief.--As the disaster relief agency of the Nation and the community the Red Cross assumes responsibility for direction and coordination of disaster preparedness and relief measures. The Red Cross provides emergency relief and rehabilitation aid for families and individuals suffering from the effects of natural disasters, aids in rescue work, shelters the homeless, and supplements available medical and hospital care. Rehabilitation is on the basis of need--not loss--and includes medical and nursing aid; rebuilding or repairing homes; replacing furniture and household goods, farm supplies, livestock, and equipment; and furnishing occupational training equipment and supplies. Red Cross responsibility in natural disasters remains the same in war as in peace.
Civilian War Aid.--An agreement jointly signed by the American Red Cross and the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services1 charges Red Cross chapters with the responsibility of providing "food, clothing, and temporary shelter" during the period of emergency following enemy action. Under an agreement between the American Red Cross and the Office of Civilian Defense, the personnel and services furnished by the Red Cross will operate in conjunction with the Emergency Medical Service to meet needs arising from injuries to
civilians through enemy action. The Red Cross recruits and trains volunteer nurse's aides, trains persons in first aid, provides dressings, bandages, and supplementary equipment, after consultation with the Chief of the Emergency medical Service; equips and operates emergency ambulances; and provides supplementary transportation for the walking injured and the Emergency Medical Service personnel.
Nursing Service.--The Red Cross recruits and maintains a reserve of qualified nurses for the Army and the Navy for service in time of war, and a reserve for routine Red Cross duties, including disaster relief. It also conducts a program in public health nursing and instruction in home nursing for lay women. This course is based on the textbook, Red Cross Home Nursing, which teaches the principles of personal, home, and community health, and the procedures necessary in caring for the sick at home. It has special value today when doctors and nurses are needed for military service, and the homemaker must depend largely on her own resources.
First Aid, Water Safety, and Accident Prevention.--Red Cross first-aid training provides for the emergency care of injured persons in the absence of immediate medical attention. Water-safety training has to do with the skills and procedures essential to security in and about the water and for the rescue of those in danger of drowning. Functional swimming and water safety is a special course for the training of persons in the armed forces and for those approaching military age in the type of aquatic skill most useful in warfare. Accident prevention courses taught by the Red Cross deal especially with the problems of common accidents which occur in homes and on farms, as well as those which occur in the day-by-day activities of boys and girls.
Personnel is trained in the emergency care of the victims of highway accidents and highway first-aid stations are designated throughout the Nation; drivers of trucks, automobiles, and the like, are similarly trained, and their equipment designated as mobile first-aid units. Red Cross first-aid detachments are organized in mills, factories, department stores, apartment houses, schools, and other places where many persons are drawn together and where the hazard of exposure to mass accidents may be high.
Close cooperation is maintained with governmental departments and agencies in the training of their personnel through the courses offered by the Red Cross. At the request of those in authority, the same service is provided extensively to the armed forces.
Volunteer Special Services.--In addition to the Administration Corps there are nine Volunteer Special Service Corps composed of trained workers who serve in Staff Assistance Corps, Production Corps, Canteen Corps, Volunteer Dietitian's Aide, Corps, Motor Corps, Home Service Corps, Hospital and Recreation Corps, Arts and Skills Corps, and Nurse's Aide Corps. The volunteers in Special Services also aid in carrying out many other phases of the Red Cross program.
Blood Donor Service.--At the request of the Surgeons General of the Army and Navy, the American Red Cross is collecting volunteer blood donations to be processed into dried plasma and to be flown overseas for whole blood transfusions. Blood donor centers are operated in 31 cities where blood is collected and shipped to laboratories for
processing or flown overseas. Mobile units also visit nearby towns. Dried plasma makes it possible for Army and Navy doctors to vive emergency transfusions on the scene of battle. Already on record are many cases in which the substances derived from the blood collected by the Red Cross have saved the lives of soldiers and sailors.
Nutrition.--The program of the Red Cross Nutrition Service is an educational program designed to accomplish the following goals: (1) to disseminate sound nutrition information and give helpful aids in applying it to varying food and socio-economic situations; (2) to train Red Cross nutrition aides to assist in the Red Cross chapter nutrition program and in other community nutrition activities; (3) to train Red Cross volunteer canteen workers to assist in emergency mass feeding necessitated by a natural disaster or enemy action, and in community projects such as school lunches and day care centers; (4) to train in mass feeding groups such as food service staffs of schools and other lunchrooms or cafeterias, boarding houses, child-caring institutions, and homes for the aged; (5) to train Red Cross volunteer dietician's aides to assist in hospital dietary departments.
The Red Cross nutrition program is coordinated with the Government's national nutrition program.
American Junior Red Cross.--Eighteen million members in public, private, and parochial schools engage in a program of activities planned to develop social consciousness and international understanding. Activities of the Junior Red Cross include classes in first aid, home nursing, accident prevention, swimming, lifesaving, nutrition, canteen, and staff assistance; junior first-aid detachments, disaster relief corps, bicycle corps, victory gardens; and a Nation-wide salvage program. Members make recreational and comfort articles for service men, produce garments for war victims, contribute to child war relief through the National Children's Fund, and fill gift boxes for children overseas. They also participate in international and intersectional programs of school correspondence. Local service projects designed to meet community needs are also part of the program.
Insular and Foreign.--Insular and foreign operations of the American Red Cross include activities in the nine chapters in insular possession,s services to the American military forces outside the continental limits of the United States, relief to prisoners of war, foreign disaster and war relief operations, and relationships with the foreign Red Cross societies and with the two international Red Cross organizations--the International Red Cross Committee and the League of Red Cross Societies.
The International Red Cross comprises: (1) the International Red Cross Committee, an independent body whose essential characteristic is its absolute neutrality, and which is entrusted with the maintenance of fundamental Red Cross principles; (2) the League of Red Cross Societies, a federation of all the national societies banded together for purposes of practical cooperation and mutual assistance; and 93) the national Red Cross societies. The supreme deliberative authority of the International Red Cross is the International Conference. The American Red Cross was incorporated by act of Congress on June 6, 10900, and reincorporated on January 5, 1906, "to carry out the purposes of the Treaty of Geneva." Important financial assistance is
given by the American Red Cross to both the International Red Cross Committee and the League of Red Cross Societies.
The American Red Cross, at the request of the Army and Navy, is providing recreation and welfare facilities for our armed forces in many foreign countries and islands. There are Red Cross medical social workers and recreation workers in the overseas hospitals. Other workers are stationed in the camps and with the troops wherever they may be. There are Red Cross clubs and clubmobiles which provide accommodations and entertainment for the men on leave.
The American Red Cross endeavors to provide regular shipments of food parcels, toilet and comfort articles, clothing, and medical supplies for distribution to men in the armed forces who have been captured to Americans held as civilian internees. The International Red Cross Committee maintains a central agency for prisoners of war at Geneva.
The foreign relief of the American Red Cross made necessary by World War II has been undertaken in over 41 different countries. This work has been carried on in close cooperation with the United States Government and the Red Cross society of each country receiving aid.