American National Red Cross

At the beginning of the World War I, the American Red Cross was a small organization still in the process of developing its identity and programs. Within weeks of the outbreak of the war it dispatched The Mercy Ship, which brought surgeons, nurses, and medical supplies to Europe. When the United States declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917, the organization began a period of extraordinary growth. By the time the war ended in November 1918, the Red Cross had become a major national humanitarian organization and had made a major contribution to aid the wounded during World War I. This section contains two data visualizations produced by the Red Cross and published in 1918. You can find more data visualizations on the Library of Congress website by using the search terms "Red Cross charts."