The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

The Williamson County Chapter of the American Red Cross, located in Franklin, Tennessee was chartered on May 9, 1917.  We have been serving the citizens of Williamson County, Tennessee for 85 years. And we are proud to serve the citizens of Hickman and Humphreys Counties as well.

Throughout the past 127 years, the American Red Cross has provided unwavering support to our nation and the world during times of incredible need. While it would require volumes to tell the full story, the following timeline provides a brief glimpse of key events in U.S. and world history in which the Red Cross contributed its resources and expertise.

May 21, 1881: American Red Cross is Established ––– After many years of campaigning on its behalf, the American Red Cross is founded by Clara Barton and a circle of associates. From inception, the organization's actions have been guided by its dedication to humanity and a desire to promote mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and a lasting peace.

September 4, 1881: Michigan Forest Fire ––– The Red Cross undertakes its first disaster relief mission aiding victims of the Michigan forest fire, which left 125 people dead and thousands more homeless. Clara Barton responded by sending Dr. Julian B. Hubbell to Michigan as the first American Red Cross field representative. Supplies and other assistance were contributed by the first local Red Cross society in Dansville, New York, and its counterparts in Rochester and Syracuse, New York.

May 31, 1889: Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Flood ––– More than 2,000 people died when a dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, burst. Clara Barton and 50 relief workers provided help to the flood victims, which proved to be a major test for the American Red Cross, challenging its ability to deal with a large-scale, man-made catastrophe. The Red Cross immediately set up feeding stations and provided unprecedented medical care. For the first time, the Red Cross set up mass shelters to house and feed the victims of a disaster.

September 8, 1900: Galveston, Texas, Hurricane and Tidal Waves ––– The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the hurricane and tidal waves that hit Galveston, Texas, left 6,000 people dead. The city burned fires for weeks on end as a means of clearing the debris that made the streets impassable. After the initial relief effort, the Red Cross embarked on an extensive rehabilitation project to rebuild the city.

1909: Red Cross Nursing Service Established ––– The organization took a major step in expanding its nursing services when it created a division called the "Red Cross Nursing Service," appointing Jane Delano as its director. Delano's first step was to create a Red Cross nurses' reserve in preparation for service with the military in case of warfare. She expanded nursing into areas of domestic life, initiating educational programs in home nursing and first aid for homemakers. The Rural Nursing Service was also created to reach medically underserved populations in remote areas and was later expanded to include city dwellers, becoming known as the "Town and Country Nursing Program." In 1918 the name was changed to the "Bureau of Public Health Nursing," emphasizing the leadership role the Red Cross played in establishing public health care in this country.

1910: First Aid Introduced as a National Red Cross Program --- Under the supervision of Major Charles Lynch, the Red Cross reestablished its First Aid Department and co-sponsored classes focusing on industrial safety, in an effort to reduce the number of accidents that crippled and killed America's workers. Dr. Mathew J. Shields, "the father of first aid" in the United States, was hired to assist. The courses were largely based on Dr. Shields' work with miners in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, birthplace of first aid instruction for the American public. The department received a donation of railroad cars from the Pullman Company and a traveling program was established to reach railroad yards, factories, and coal mines.

April 14, 1912: Sinking of the Titanic ––– The R.M.S. Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and sank within three hours, leaving more than 1,500 dead and many more in need of aid. New York Red Crossers met and assisted many of the survivors when the rescue ship, Carpathia, docked in lower Manhattan. Emergency relief was provided to the survivors, primarily through financial assistance.

1914: The Red Cross Life Saving Corps is Established ––– The "waterproofing of America" began when Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow developed the Learn-to-Swim Program, creating the National Red Cross Life Saving Corps. The first lifesaving station was built in Pablo Beach, Florida, and was quickly followed by others. These early water safety activities developed into a progression of training from "bathers toswimmers and swimmers to lifesavers."

1917-1919: Red Cross Production Corps Supports Wartime Activities ––– Production Corps origins trace backto 1916, when the Red Cross recruited women from across the nation to make surgical dressings, hospital garments, and refugee clothing for sister Red Cross societies and military hospitals in war-torn Europe. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the program was expanded to meet the needs of our own military. In local chapters across the country, members made more than 372 million relief articles – including bandages, knitted garments, and furniture – for U.S. and Allied troops, as well as civilians affected by the war. The Knit Your Bit campaign, a nationwide, volunteer-driven effort, supplied soldiers and civilians with arm clothing. Military patterns were designed to be compatible with soldiers' and sailors' uniforms and were required to be knitted in olive drab or navy blue.

April 21, 1927: Great Mississippi Flood ––– In response to the disaster, the Red Cross set up 154 refugee camps caring for more than 325,000 people in a reconstruction program that lasted until May 1928. Millions of dollars were spent on clothing, food, seed for planting, furniture, and vocational training, as well as for an immunization program that fought rampant smallpox, malaria, typhoid fever, and pellagra. More than five million acres of farmland were ruined. Because more than 53 percent of the flood victims were black, a Colored Advisory Commission was created under Dr. Robert R. Moton, president of Tuskegee Institute, an effort that was a model of interracial cooperation. In total, chapters raised more than $17 million to aid flood victims.

1930: The Year of the Great Drought ––– During the summer of 1930 and into 1931, a drought wrought great damage to millions of people living in 23 Southern, Midwestern and Northwestern states. The Red Cross offered relief to farmers and eventually gave 2,750,000 people food, clothing, medical aid, shelter, and other assistance. There were never fewer than 70,000 persons receiving aid and at the peak of the relief work in March 1930 more than 2,000,000 were helped. In all, chapters distributed more than $11 million worth of aid, making the relief effort the greatest task ever undertaken by the Red Cross as a peacetime activity.

December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor ––– Within minutes of the first attack, Red Cross first aid teams and nurses were on the scene using techniques they had learned months before during war drills, providing invaluable help in the wake of the attack. Bombing victims were given dried plasma and sulfa drugs to keep them alive as they waited to be treated by physicians. Within 24 hours, American Red Cross headquarters marshaled 1,000 trained personnel, supported by 1.7 million chapter volunteers throughout the United States, to provide service to American armed forces wherever they were stationed.

1941: Red Cross Blood Donor Project ––– In January, the American Red Cross blood donor project was organized at the request of the Surgeons General of the Army and Navy. During a four-year period, 6.6 million Americans donated blood, most giving twice on average with nearly 1.5 million volunteers giving at least three times. A total of 13.3 million units of blood were donated during the second world war.

January 12, 1948 : Nationwide Civilian Blood Program Begins --- The first blood center operating under the new blood program opened on January 12, in Rochester, New York. Within 18 months, centers were spread across a 20 - state area. The program quickly grew to supply nearly half the nation’s blood needs. In addition to blood collection, the Red Cross began a bloodrelated research and development program in the 1950s and established a rare blood donor registry in 1967.

August 5, 1953: Operation Big Switch ––– On July 27, 1953, the armistice ending the Korean War was signed, and on August 5, 1953, Operation Big Switch, the large - scale prisoner exchange, began. During the six weeks it took to complete the exchange, representatives from the American and Korean Red Cross organizations ensured the smooth transfer of prisoners. Nearly 12,000 prisoners were returned by the Communists in exchange for the 75,000 prisoners held by UN forces.

1962-1973: Vietnam War ––– In 1962, the Red Cross sent its first paid field staff to Vietnam to assist the growing number of servicemen at various bases and hospitals. At the height of its involvement in 1968, 480 field directors, hospital personnel, and recreation assistants served throughout Southeast Asia. Red Cross workers provided 1.9 million services to U.S. military personnel and shared in the hardships of war. Five Red Cross staff members gave their lives and many others were injured as they helped servicemen resolve personal problems or get home when emergency leave was granted.

1974: CPR Introduced as a Red Cross Program ––– Working closely with the National Academy of Sciences and the American Heart Association, the Red Cross developed standards to teach Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). In 1974, chapters began teaching the technique as a course, which is considered the most effective way to revive, or maintain the breathing and blood flow, of a person in cardiac arrest until emergency medical care is available.

April 3 – 4, 1974: Tornado Outbreak of '74 ––– Residents in 13 states were reeling after the worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history. In the span of 16 hours, 148 twisters carved a path of destruction more than 2,500 miles long. When the dust finally settled, tens of thousands were homeless, 6,142 people were injured, and 330 were dead. The Red Cross was there to provide much needed assistance after the devastating tragedy.

May 18, 1980: Mount St. Helens Volcanic Eruption ––– Red Cross relief teams descended upon the Pacific Northwest to provide aid following the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, which killed 57 people and coated towns 250 miles away with ash. It was the first volcanic eruption in the continental United States since 1917.

1993: Mississippi & Missouri Rivers Flood ––– Torrential rain hit the Midwest in June and July of 1993 causing the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to rise, ultimately defying the efforts of volunteers who had placed sandbags in front of the relentless waters. During the floods, the Red Cross provided shelter to more than 14,500 people at 148 emergency shelters in nine states. In all, some 47,000 families were affected, and more than 15,000 Red Cross paid and volunteer staff poured into the area to assist the victims. Volunteer relief workers, some of whom were flood victims themselves, served meals, provided financial assistance, distributed in-kind donations and clean-up kits, and replaced tools to help people pull their lives back together. By September 1993, the cost of the American Red Cross Midwest Flood Relief was more than $31 million.

April 19, 1995: Bombing of Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City ––– This horrific tragedy, which stunned the nation and claimed 168 lives, triggered an extraordinary response. Red Cross first aid and relief workers were on the scene within minutes; 9,000 local volunteers were joined by others from across the nation, providing food for families and rescue workers and arranging housing for 483 people whose homes were damaged. An around-the-clock national telephone hotline was established to help answer questions and ease the fears of parents and children across the country.September 11, 2001: Terrorist Plane Crashes in NYC, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. ––– Terrorist plane crashes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and rural Pennsylvania spurred the largest disaster response in the history of the American Red Cross. The organizationprovided financial assistance to 25,000 families, contacted more than 3,300 families who lost loved ones and supplied more than ten million meals and snacks to families, police officers, fire fighters, recovery personnel, rescue workers, and investigators. Red Cross mental health workers provided emotional support for more than 144,000 people. In total, more than 51,000 Red Cross volunteers reached out to those affected by the tragedy.

2004: Hurricane Outbreak of '04 ––– Fall of 2004 proved to be one of the most active hurricane seasons in U.S. history with the onset of hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. From August through October, the Red Cross opened more than 1,800 shelters and evacuation centers, provided shelter to more than 425,000 evacuees, served more than eleven million meals and snacks to victims and emergency responders, and started casework with more than 59,000 families. Overall, the combined hurricane relief effort resulted in one of the largest sheltering operations in the history of the American Red Cross.

December 26, 2004: Southeast Asian Tsunami ––– The American Red Cross responded to the largest international natural disaster in history after an earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia struck, triggering a number of tsunami waves that caused massive flooding and severe damage. Disaster relief experts were dispatched to assist with rehabilitation, family reunification, counseling, and training. More than 17,576 tents were provided to shelter 87,880 people. In addition, 100,000 hygiene kits and 60,000 mosquito nets were distributed to protect survivors from disease. Relief efforts continue today, using the more than $450 million dollars donated by generous Americans.