For family historians, dates on the calendar often open doors into deeper stories, and 8 May is no exception.
World Red Cross Day commemorates the birth of Henry Dunant, whose response to the suffering he witnessed at the Battle of Solferino in 1859 led to the founding of what is now the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. From those beginnings grew an organisation whose records, activities, and people give a picture of wars, migrations, disasters, and everyday acts of care across generations.
Here in Australia, the Australian Red Cross offers a particularly rich field of resources. Established in 1914, it quickly became part of the fabric of wartime life. For researchers, Red Cross records can provide remarkable insights, eg wounded and missing files, prisoner of war records. The records often contain personal details not found elsewhere: letters, witness statements, and glimpses of individuals caught up in global events.
But the story is not only one of war. Red Cross branches in towns and suburbs across the country brought people together: organising fundraisers, sewing circles, blood drives, and community support. You may find an ancestor listed in a branch minute book, a photograph of volunteers rolling bandages in a library collection, or mentioned in a local newspaper report.
World Red Cross Day is a prompt to look (again) at these connections. Have you searched for Red Cross records in your research? Could an ancestor’s wartime story be added to from these collections? Formal archives, books, journal articles, family papers, letters, certificates, and badges may all hold clues to a story of service.
The GSV library has a large collection of resources related to the Red Cross and its services. Searching our catalogue using the term “Red Cross” will yield a treasure trove of journal articles as well as a couple of books and webcasts. Search our GIN index and find journalists, nurses, presidents and more.
https://www.gsv.org.au/our-collection
There are also some great digitised records available on the Australian War Memorial website:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1414585
And don’t forget the The Heritage Archives Collection of the Australian Red Cross:
https://www.redcross.org.au/about/history-and-heritage/