Tiffany Windows at the Board of Governors Hall, Washington D.C. Photo by Hector Emanuel
One of the legacies of the Art Deco movement in interior design and architecture is the use of stained glass in secular environments. Stained glass was used in libraries courthouses, colleges and universities, hospitals and government buildings. The themes depicted in these windows are largely historical or commemorative rather than simply decorative. In this article, second in a series of three, we take a look at the Tiffany Windows at the Red Cross National Headquarters building (NHQ) in Washington, D.C.
Tiffany and His Unique Glass
Favrile glass is a type of iridescentart glass developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He patented this process in 1894 and first produced the glass for manufacture in 1896 in Queens, New York. It differs from most iridescent glasses because the color is ingrained in the glass itself, as well as having a distinctive color pallet. Tiffany won a grand prize at the 1900 Paris Exposition for his Favrile glass innovation.
The Board of Governors room contains three Favrile windows by designer Louis Comfort Tiffany, the son of the famous New York jeweler. They are notable for being the largest suite of windows outside a religious building in the U.S. The costs of the windows were donated by two organizations of Civil War women: the Woman’s Relief Corps of the North, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. They were installed in 1917 and were designed to symbolize reconciliation and unity following the Civil War. Mabel Thorpe Boardman, successor to Clara Barton,wanted these windows, but the money was not in the budget. However, she she obtained donations from the above-mentioned organizations among others.
Windows That Tell a Story
The left window was donated by the Woman’s Relief Corps (representing the women of the North). This design is based on Henry Wadsworth Longellow’s poem “Santa Filomena”, honoring the work of Florence Nightingale, the founder of Nursing as a profession. The central figure represents St. Philomena, who was noted for her healing powers. She is surrounded by attendant maidens who symbolize love, compassion, hope, mercy, faith and charity.
The center window was donated by both North, and South. It portrays an army of knights in armor carrying spears and mounted on horses as they head into battle. The central figure carries a large flag with the Red Cross emblem in the center. Near the horse’s feet lies a fallen warrior receiving food and aid from a faithful comrade. This represents that even in the heat of battle, there is still time to help the wounded.
The right window was donated by the UDC. The central figure is Una from Edmund Spenser’s poem, “The Faerie Queene.” Una represents truth, and her attendants carry a cross and a lamp symbolizing wisdom. Also, there is a banner with a heart for love. A young woman kneels in front of Una holding a shield that bears the Red Cross emblem.
Next month, we’ll highlight Red Cross Museum at the national headquarters building.
American Red Cross National Headquarters Building at 430 17th St. NW, Washington D.C. Photo by Jeanette Ortiz-Osorio/American Red Cross
With its dramatic, white, neoclassical façade of a Greek or Roman temple topped by a giant red cross, the American Red Cross National Headquarters (NHQ) stands as a shining beacon of hope at 430 17th St. NW in Washington, D.C.
Built during 1915-1917 and designed by architects A. Breck Trowbridge and Goodhue Livingston, building features classical revival facades of white marble with front and side porticoes, Corinthian columns, a balustraded attic, a hipped roof and tall chimneys. This classical building style was very popular at the time for banks, hospitals and colleges and universities. It gave passersby and the general public reliability, sense of purpose and harmony with nearby government office buildings. The NHQ interior includes a monumental stair hall, assembly hall with Tiffany stained glass windows and a Red Cross Museum.
Building from the Ground Up
Like the American Red Cross itself, the NHQ building was born during the American Civil War. It began with the Union Civil War veteran James Scrymser, who aimed to construct a memorial to honor the sacrifices made by women during the Civil War . The original purpose was to honor northern women exclusively, but this focus changed in 1911 with an appropriation of federal money for the land and building. Upon the insistence of Mississippi Senator John Williams, the Red Cross building would honor the sacrifices of women of both sides of the Civil War. Another strong advocate for the building was Mabel Thorpe Boardman, Clara Barton’s successor as leader of the Red Cross. She provided leadership throughout the funding and construction phases of the building project, along with federal government assistance and private funding.
The NHQ location also includes two additional buildings: the north building built in 1928-1929 and the west building completed in 1931. Together, all three buildings honor the compassion of the women from both the North and South during the Civil War.
Today the Red Cross mission continues the battlefield legacy of alleviating human suffering and leading the way in diversity, equity and inclusion practices across all lines of service.
Over the next two months, we’ll highlight other features of the American Red Cross National Headquarters, including the Tiffany stained glass windows and the Red Cross Museum.
Adolphus Simeon Solomons was born on Oct. 26, 1826 in New York City. He studied at the University of the City of New York. In 1851, Secretary of State Daniel Webster appointed him Special Bearer of Dispatches to Berlin. While working abroad, he visited a Jewish ward in a Frankfurt hospital and became inspired to establish a similar institution in New York. Upon returning home, he became a member of a committee that held a ball to raise funds to establish such a hospital in New York. This hospital later became the Mt. Sinai Hospital.
In 1859, Solomons moved to Washington, D.C. and established the printing house of Phillip and Solomons, which held contracts for government printing and paper supply. Thus, when President Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address, the paper he read from was from Solomons’s firm. Solomon also took an active part in every inauguration, from Lincoln to Taft. He also established a photographic gallery of notable figures. His company added a book department, which became the literary headquarters of General Ulysses Grant and Chief Justice Salmon Portland Chase, among other leading public figures. Notably, Solomon’s also established the first training school for nurses in Washington.
Perhaps his most outstanding achievement was Solomon’s involvement as a co-founder of the American Red Cross. He hosted many of the organizational meetings of the Red Cross in his home in Washington. At the initial meeting in May of 1881, Clara Barton and Solomons drew up a constitution of the American Association of the Red Cross. Barton was elected president and Solomons vice president. With the help of Senator Conger from Ohio, Solomons also drafted a Senate Resolution endorsing the Geneva Conventions. Both he and Barton signed the constitution along with 49 others.
Solomons ran the Red Cross from his office in Washington while Barton was out of town. On March 1, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur announced his support for the Geneva Conventions; the Senate ratified the convention on March 16, and within days, Solomons joined in issuing the first American Red Cross appeal for funds, clothing, and supplies to help the victims of the Mississippi River floods. President Arthur appointed both Barton and Solomons to represent the United States at the first International Conference of the Red Cross in Geneva (September 1884), and Solomons was appointed by the convention as its vice president.
Solomons worked closely with Barton, using his extensive business, political, and journalism contacts to generate publicity and raise funds for the Red Cross. However, the two had a falling out when he opposed dealing with the czarist government and their treatment of the Russian Jews. He sent a dispatch to the Secretary of State, citing a dispatch from London talking of impending mass expulsions of Jews from Russia and asking the Secretary to protest on behalf of the U.S. Government. Barton insisted that the Red Cross pass its relief funds through official Russian channels, which soured their relationship. She and her supporters subsequently refused to nominate him for vice president of the Red Cross.
Ironically, it is likely that Barton’s ill-advised dismissal of Solomons led to her own forced withdrawal from Red Cross leadership in 1904 after her management of the organization was broadly condemned. This is when Mabel Thorpe Boardman stepped in to run the American Red Cross, which will be a future topic.
Hospital Hostess Service volunteers – AKA “Gray Ladies” – on the steps of the Red Cross Clubhouse in New York circa 1928. Photo from American Red Cross photo archives.
Like so many American Red Cross “firsts,” the Red Cross Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation Corps, known as the Gray Ladies, started in 1918 during World War I. These volunteers initially served at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Eventually they provided non-medical services in other health-care facilities and private homes during WWI, WWII and the Korean War. The Gray Ladies were easily recognized by their gray dresses and veil head-coverings, which served as their uniforms and distinguished them from white-clad nurses. Their “Gray Lady” designation was affectionately given to them by the folks whom they served.
The American Red Cross required that Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation Corps volunteers must be over 21, have a “well-balanced personality,” be an American citizen, and hold membership in the American Red Cross. After passing initial requirements, Gray Ladies received both Red Cross and hospital training. However, they only performed non-medical duties.
The Gray Ladies did many things for their patients — played cards, wrote letters home, ran errands, or just listened. They also often organized ward parties, set up art exhibits, and brought in theatrical performances to hospitals where the wounded were recovering. Sometimes they solicited local businesses to provide musical instruments, sports equipment, magazines and newspapers to keep patients occupied.
Most notably, the number of Grey Ladies within the American Red Cross reached a high of 50,000 during World War II.
Due to a changing world of work and women, the Grey Ladies were disbanded in the 1960s. They were absorbed into a more unified volunteer service program that now characterizes our American Red Cross.
Although Jane Delano was related to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she made a name for herself as a nurse and a leader. She held many leadership positions during her career. Some of these were President of the Board of Directors of the American Journal of Nursing, and the first chair of the National Committee of the Red Cross Nursing Service. She also served as the superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps.
In 1898, Jane became a member of the New York Chapter of the American Red Cross and served as the secretary for the enrollment of nurses. Among Jane’s accomplishments as chair of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, she created a nurse’s reserve in preparation for service with the military in wartime. She also established the Red Cross Town and Country Nursing Service. She co-wrote a textbook and created courses in elementary hygiene and home care of the sick. Starting in 1912, she worked full time for the Red Cross. Due to her active role, almost 8,000 nurses were ready to serve when the US entered WWI. She passed away in France in 1919 on a mission for the Red Cross.
A thank you to our Nurses of today, for carrying on in Jane’s memory. The Red Cross honors her memory through the Jane Delano Nursing Student Scholarship which promotes nursing as a career and encourages nurses to get involved with the Red Cross. Today nurses can earn 5.25 continuing education units for taking the basic Disaster Health Services courses.
Editor’s Note: This is the final post in a four-part history series that identifies all 51 signers of the American Association of the Red Cross constitution in 1881. Part 1 introduces the series and identifies signers 1-12; Part 2 identifies signers 13-26; and Part 3 identifies signers 27-38. Part 4 identifies the final 39-51 signers. The series is written by Bill Thawley and copy edited by Susan West. Included images are public domainunless otherwise noted.
1870. Strasbourg, France. Brassard worn by Clara Barton during her relief work at Strasbourg after the siege and fall of the city. Photo from Red Cross Archives.
American Association of the Red Cross constitution signers 39-51:
39. Olive Risley Seward The adopted daughter of the statesman William H. Seward (of Alaska Purchase fame), Olive Risley Seward was an accomplished writer in her own right and cofounded the Literary Society of Washington. A statue honoring her, by the American sculptor John Cavanaugh, stands in D.C.’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Her head is turned to the left as if gazing toward nearby Seward Square, named for her adoptive father.
40. Imogene Robinson Morrell A celebrated artist, Morrell was an active member of the D.C. arts community and a founding member of the National Academy of Fine Arts, serving as its director for 10 years. In 1876, the Boston Journal said of her paintings, “They are the result of long years of study and labor… and show great genius, inspired by patriotic enthusiasm.” She painted a portrait of President Garfield, who was instrumental in the founding of the American Red Cross. In 1896, some 200 of her paintings were destroyed by a warehouse fire, leaving her destitute.
41. Richard Josiah Hinton Hinton was a journalist, author, and abolitionist; he helped recruit African American troops for Civil War service and retired from the military as a colonel. Later he held many posts both here and abroad with federal agencies, including the U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau. Hinton’s legacy as an abolitionist endures: In 1900, he wrote, “I am glad also I was able…in a small way…to make the union secure and the whole of the state free from the curse of chattelism.”
42. Walter P. Phillips The Massachusetts-born Walter Polk Phillips (1846–1920) left school at age 12 to work on a farm. Despite his lack of formal education, however, he became an expert telegrapher and thrived as a journalist for the Associated Press and other outlets, earning praise as one of the nation’s leading news gatherers. He also created the Phillips Code, which introduced the acronyms POTUS and SCOTUS. Later he headed up the United Press (now UPI) and served as Red Cross general secretary. Clara Barton was quite dependent on Phillips, as evidenced by their extensive correspondence before and after the society’s founding.
43. F.C. Phillips A Massachusetts native, Francena Adelaide Capron Phillips (1847–1914) was the wife of Walter P. Phillips.
44. Albert C. Phillips Born in 1871, Albert Capron Phillips eventually became a reporter for the New York Sun and New York Times. But in 1881 when the Red Cross constitution was presented, Albert was 10 years old. What the heck, he signed too.
45. Emily Thornton Charles As a new widow at age 24 with two young children to support, Emily Thornton Charles knew she needed a career. So she began to write. Her first volume of poetry (published under the pseudonym Emily Hawthorne) was a literary and financial success, and she began a successful journalism career as a correspondent, reporter, and editor. She was named managing editor of the Washington World in 1881 and later founded the D.C. National Veteran. Charles was also a popular public speaker, addressing such large events as the National Women’s Suffrage Convention and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
46. Lizzie B. Walling Very few records exist for Elizabeth B. Walling. She was a magazine writer and lived for a while with her father, Henry F. Walling, a noted civil engineer and cartographer in Massachusetts. She is listed in the 1900 census as a resident of Washington, D.C. It’s possible she was related to Mary Cole Walling, and her association with Clara Barton is likely through her New England residency and her father’s government work.
47. Joseph E. Holmes Joseph Ellicott Holmes (1805–1893) graduated from Howard University as a civil engineer. City directories of this period list him as a draftsman, inventor, and engineer, and he was one of the principal engineers of the Erie Canal. Clara Barton often would stay with “Papa and Mama Holmes” when she was in Washington, and the family (which included daughter and son-in-law Fidelia and Fenner Taylor) often traveled back and forth between Dansville, New York, and Washington. Prior to and after the formation of the Red Cross, Clara Barton communicated closely with Holmes and the Taylors—who, along with William Merritt Ferguson, were among her closest friends.
48. Mrs. Fidelia H. Taylor The daughter of Joseph Holmes, Fidelia Holmes Taylor (1834–1889) was a member of Clara Barton’s inner circle, having spent time with her and the Holmes family in Europe in the 1870s. The Taylors were married in Massachusetts, lived in Ohio, and as of 1880 census resided with Joseph E. Holmes in Washington, D.C.
49. F.B. Taylor Fenner Baldwin Taylor (1824–1894), a draftsman, was the husband of Fidelia Holmes Taylor and son-in-law of Joseph E. Holmes. All three are buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
50. Mrs. Lillian L. Walker There is scant information on the final two signers and their relationship with Clara Barton, so we’re left with educated guesses. The book Clara Barton and Dansville notes that Lillian Walker had a desire to work with the Red Cross. She may have had a relationship with Jessie Gould, daughter of William Merritt Ferguson. But there was also a Lillian L. Walker living in Boston in 1890. Possibly relevant is the fact that Stephen Emory Barton’s second wife was Elizabeth Harriet Walker; however, a genealogy search yielded nothing to show a relation.
51. A.M. Smith For this final signer, the following two individuals might be possibilities. An Abraham Herr Smith served in Congress from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1885; however, the signatures on file for the Red Cross constitution and Dickinson College, from where Abraham graduated, do not match. The second possibility is Ada Helen Smith, a member of the Dansville group in which Clara Barton was a member. (Both middle initials are H, which could have been mistaken for an M.)
Editor’s Note: This is part three of a four-part history series that identifies all 51 signers of the American Association of the Red Cross constitution in 1881. Part 1 introduces the series and identifies signers 1-12, and Part 2 identifies signers 13-26. Part 3 identifies signers 27-38. The series is written by Bill Thawley and copy edited by Susan West. Included images are public domainunless otherwise noted.
September 22, 1892. Washington, DC. Invitation for Civil War Survivors to meet with Clara Barton. Photo from Red Cross Archives
American Association of the Red Cross constitution signers 27-38:
27. Mary Willard From a young age, social reformer Mary Thompson Hill Willard (1805–1892) was committed to educating herself and others. She taught public school at 15 years old (much like Clara Barton, who began at 17) and went on to study at Oberlin College. Later she embraced Methodism, a Protestant denomination that emphasizes social justice and service. Eventually the family moved to Illinois so that her daughters might be educated. Her oldest daughter, Frances Willard, gained international prominence as founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
28. Sarah H. Hatch Hatch was born in New Hampshire, lived in Massachusetts, and in 1880 resided with her brother-in-law, William Windom, a U.S. senator who resigned in 1881 to become President James Garfield’s treasury secretary. She was one of the 17 who voted for Clara Barton to be president of the new organization.
29. Rush R. Shippen Clergyman and author Rush Rhees Shippen served with the Unitarian Church in Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. His wife, Zoe Rodman Shippen, was an active abolitionist in that state. In March 1863, Shippen joined Frederick Douglass and others in the campaign to recruit soldiers for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment; it was the first regiment of African Americans from the North to serve in the Civil War. The couple lived in Washington, D.C. from 1880 to 1890.
30. Helen M. Boynton Helen Augusta Mason Boynton, a descendant of Samuel Adams, was born in Ohio and died in Washington, D.C. Clara Barton called her Nellie. Her husband, Henry Van Ness Boynton, was a brigadier general in the Civil War and Medal of Honor recipient; he returned to active duty when the Spanish-American War broke out. Helen was a cofounder of the National Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America, which in wartime was dedicated to securing supplies for military hospitals.
31. Delphine P. Baker Delphine Baker, a philanthropist, spent years before the Civil War advocating for women’s education. During the war she collected clothing and worked her extensive connections to acquire hospital supplies. She worked in hospitals in Chicago and St. Louis and urged others to do the same. In 1862 she launched the National Banner, a newspaper she hoped would generate profits to support army volunteers. Eventually she moved to New York City and began galvanizing support for the creation of a national home for disabled Civil War soldiers, an effort strongly endorsed by Clara Barton. The petition was presented to the Senate Committee on Military Affairs and passed on March 3, 1865 with no debate.
32. C.H.H. Cottrell The peripatetic Charles Homer Howe Cottrell was born in 1849 in Ohio. He held positions in telegraph offices all over the East Coast and Midwest before settling in New Orleans in 1871. He then worked for the Associated Press and United Press in London, D.C., and New York. In the late 1890s he traveled to Cuba as Red Cross treasurer, remaining until the war’s end and assisting Clara Barton, then in her late 70s, with closing up the organization’s war-related financial affairs.
33. Judson S. Brown Born in Massachusetts around 1819, Brown was a newspaper correspondent during the Civil War. Later, in Washington, he was active in politics while working for the Interior Department, Census Bureau, and U.S. Freedmen’s Bureau. He and Clara Barton corresponded often between 1878 and 1883, and he provided significant support to the campaign for creation of the U.S. Red Cross.
34. Mary Stacy Withington The Withingtons were a founding family of Dorchester, Massachusetts, now a part of Boston. Mary (1940–1924) eventually landed in Washington, D.C. as a Treasury Department clerk, and from about 1880 she was a prolific magazine writer. (Her brother, William Herbert Withington, was a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions at the Battle of Bull Run.) Mary’s grave can be found in D.C.’s Rock Creek Cemetery.
35. George Kennan Kennan was a widely traveled war correspondent, lecturer, and adventurer whose career took him to Siberia and other far-flung venues. He and Walter P. Phillips, another signer, were celebrated for their inspirational personal journalism. Kennan covered the Spanish-American War in Cuba alongside Clara Barton, and described her as “one of the bravest of the brave, always going where suffering humanity most needed her.” He served as the Red Cross’s first secretary and treasurer.
36. Emeline R.W. Kennan Emeline Rathborn Weld Kennan, wife of George Kennan, played a valuable supportive role in the formation of the American Red Cross.
37. P.V. DeGraw Peter Voorhees DeGraw was from New Jersey but lived in D.C. in the 1870s and 1880s. He was a journalist with the Associated Press and later an assistant postmaster general under President Taft. He served as the Red Cross’s corresponding secretary and was also a director.
38. E.L. DeGraw Emma L. DeGraw, wife of Peter DeGraw and aide to Clara Barton, coined the phrase “little band of 51 persons” to describe the constitution signers. (This factoid comes from Clara Barton, Humanitarian, by Cora Bacon-Foster.) At age 90, she attended the 1938 Red Cross convention as the only surviving founder; it was the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Convention of 1864.
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a four-part history series that identifies all 51 signers of the American Association of the Red Cross constitution in 1881. Part 1 introduces the series and identifies signers 1-12. Part 2 identifies signers 13-26. The series is written by Bill Thawley and copy-edited by Susan West. Included images are public domainunless otherwise noted.Catch up by reading part 1 here.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania Flood 1889 Red Cross Flag.This flag was the first to fly over an American Red Cross temporary shelter during the Johnstown flood of May 31, 1889. It was brought to the flooded city by Clara Barton and used during the months that she directed relief activities following the disaster.
American Association of the Red Cross constitution signers 13-26:
13. W.J. Curtis William Thomas Seaton Curtis was a Washington lawyer employed by the federal government. Many government employees, in fact, were in favor of adopting the Geneva Convention and forming a Red Cross in the United States. (What looks like a J in the signature was actually a T.)
14. William M. Ferguson Clara Barton would often stay at the Washington home of William Merritt Ferguson, a friend she called Merritt. Ferguson (1815–1895) was a minister in the Methodist Church and a clerk with the U.S. Treasury. He called on legislators in Congress to get the Geneva Convention passed. The meeting of May 21, 1881, where the Red Cross Constitution was presented and adopted, was held in his home.
15. J.E.F. Gould Jessie E. Ferguson Gould is mentioned several times in William Conklin’s book Clara Barton and Dansville. Like her father, William Ferguson, she was a clerk with the federal government. She was also a supporter and good friend of Clara Barton. It was in Dansville, a quiet village about 50 miles south of Rochester, New York, where the first local society of the American Red Cross was established on August 22, 1881.
16. Q.A. Bland Thomas Augustus Bland was a Red Cross advocate along with his wife, Cora Bland. During the Civil War, he was a physician and surgeon with the Union Army, and upon his discharge he served as editor and owner of several newspapers, including the weekly Indiana Home Visitor. After the couple relocated to the nation’s capital in 1878, they dedicated their lives to addressing the injustices done to indigenous Americans. (What looks like a Q on the signature is actually a T.)
17. M. Cora Bland Like her husband, Thomas, Cora Bland was a trained physician. She served as an assistant surgeon in the Civil War and, alongside her husband, was instrumental in the formation of the National Indian Defense Association.
18. William F. Sliney An officer in an Ohio artillery battery during the Civil War, William Francis Sliney was a first lieutenant at the time of his discharge. In 1867 he attended Western Reserve College in Cleveland and later served as a clerk in the U.S Treasury, as did many other signers. He was also a member of the Red Cross executive board.
19. S.W. Bogan Samuel William Bogan was a surgeon during the Civil War and spent 45 years practicing medicine in Washington, D.C. He was among many supporters of Clara Barton and an admirer of her Civil War work.
20. Alexander Y.P. Garnett Alexander Yelverton Peyton Garnett was a physician with the Confederate Army during the Civil War, as well as the personal physician of Robert E. Lee. He was also president of the American Medical Association, chair of the Columbia University clinical medicine department, and a frequent contributor to medical journals. He served as the first vice president of the Red Cross for the District of Columbia.
21. F.A. Prescott Francis Prescott served in the 5th Massachusetts Light Artillery during the Civil War. In 1870 he lived in Boston as a practicing lawyer, after which he moved to Washington D.C. and continued his law practice there.
22. Edward W. Whitaker Edward Washburn Whitaker was a brigadier general in the Civil War and a Medal of Honor winner. Clara Barton wrote to him in 1877 to ask for his assistance with the formation of a Red Cross society. His name comes up often in Clara Barton and Dansville. He had four sisters who went behind enemy lines and opened schools for newly freed African Americans.
23. R.D. Mussey As a colonel in the Union Army, Reuben Delevan Mussey was an important recruiter of African Americans for military service during the Civil War. He was also a well-connected Washington lawyer and a professor at Howard University. Musser often accompanied Clara Barton to speak with members of the House and Senate about the Red Cross, for which he served as legal counsel. His wife, Ellen Spencer Mussey, cofounded the Washington College of Law, the first U.S. law school established by and for women. At the request of Clara Barton, she became the Red Cross’s first staff attorney.
24. William W. Hibbard During the Civil War, William Whipple Hibbard served in a New York regiment and was wounded. In 1880 he was listed as a clerk in Washington. He was also a painter, bookkeeper, and an upholsterer.
25. Mrs. William W. Hibbard Julia W. Babcock Hibbard, wife of William, was born to a prominent family in Monroe County in upstate New York. She was possibly known by Clara Barton during Barton’s time in Dansville and from her many travels to visit Susan B. Anthony in Rochester.
26. Mrs. M.F. Walling When the Civil War broke out, Mary F. Cole Walling was living in Texas. Her husband had joined the Confederate Army, but because of her Union sentiments, she was banished from the state by the “vigilance committee.” After weeks of travel with her four children, she landed in Illinois and eventually went on to become a noted orator; in fact, Horace Greeley declared her “the greatest female speaker of the age.” On May 10, 1866, Walling addressed the U.S. Senate on universal suffrage; it was the first time a woman had been granted the privilege of speaking there.
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a four-part history series that identifies all 51 signers of the American Association of the Red Cross constitution in 1881. The series is copy-edited by Susan West. Included images are public domainunless otherwise noted.
Red Cross Flag. From Red Cross photo archives.
By Bill Thawley
What was the purpose of this oddly named group, and who were its members? On May 21, 1881, 51 “persons” signed the constitution of a new organization they called the American Association of the Red Cross. The group’s name came many years later from one of the signers, Emma DeGraw, and the story is told in the book Clara Barton, Humanitarian, by Cora Bacon-Foster.
These signers included journalists, authors, telegraphers, and government workers. There were Civil War heroes, physicians, clergy members, good friends of Barton, and a few from the U.S. Treasury. Most were from Massachusetts and Ohio. Some spoke up for the rights of women, Native Americans, and African Americans. All of these 51 were luminaries of their day, and yes, Clara Barton was one of them.
Research sources include ancestry.com, and Find a Grave, and Wikipedia; the contributions of Annie Werbitzky, historical programs and collections volunteer from Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Susan Watson, archivist, are gratefully acknowledged.
1. Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton needs no introduction. After her return from Europe, Barton spent many years shuttling between Dansville, NY, and Washington D.C., as she built a team to form a Red Cross society in the United States. She consulted with U.S. presidents, Congress members, senators, journalists, and others as part of her tireless campaign to launch the organization. In 1933, Barton was included among the 12 great women leaders chosen by readers of Ladies’ Home Journal and the Christian Science Monitor. Her contemporaries on the list included Susan B. Anthony, Frances E. Willard, Julia Ward Howe, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
2. Stephen Emory Barton Stephen was the son of Clara’s brother David Barton, but he was more like a son to her than a nephew. A talented telegrapher, Stephen served tirelessly in relief service during the Spanish American War. In 1895 he became the second vice president of the American Red Cross and eventually served as its chairman of the board.
3. A.S. Solomons A philanthropist, Adolphus Simeon Solomons was a cofounder of the Jewish Hospital in New York City, later known as Mount Sinai Hospital. Solomons moved to D.C. in 1859, where he established the publishing house Philip & Solomon; he became a charter member of the city’s Providence Hospital in 1861. Many of the organizational meetings for the Red Cross were held in his parlor. He was the first treasurer and a two-term vice president of the American Red Cross. In 1884, Solomons and Barton were appointed by President Chester Arthur to represent the U.S. at the International Congress of the Red Cross, in Geneva, where delegates from 37 nations elected him a vice president.
4. William Lawrence This Ohio judge, lawyer, and politician helped create the U.S. Department of Justice and played a crucial role in getting the Geneva Convention ratified by the United States. In addition to serving in Congress, Lawrence was a valuable ally to Barton in getting the American Red Cross up and running. He was the organization’s first vice president and continued in that role for several years.
5. Abby Brown Upton This signer was the wife of U.S. Representative Charles Horace Upton, who was later appointed consul to Switzerland in 1863 by President Lincoln. The couple lived in Geneva until his death in 1877. Her Massachusetts origins and familiarity with the Geneva Convention led to a strong interest in the Red Cross, which carried on to her family.
6. R.E. Throckmorton Roberta Ellen Throckmorton was the daughter of Charles and Abby Upton. Her husband, Hugh William Throckmorton, was a farmer in Falls Church, Virginia, but they both hailed from Massachusetts. Hugh William is listed as an employee of the federal government and a clerk in the war department.
7. E.N. Throckmorton Though the lettering is ambiguous, this is the signature of Ernest Upton Throckmorton, son of Roberta and Hugh William Throckmorton. He was born in Washington, D.C. and was about 20 years old in 1881 when the document was signed. He served as a U.S. Treasury clerk and later took on entrepreneurial endeavors as a cigar store owner and restaurateur in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
8. S.A. Martha Canfield Sarah Ann Martha Canfield was the wife of Lt. Col. Herman Canfield Jr., who was killed early in the Civil War. Throughout the war she acted as minister, nurse, and mother to many of the soldiers of the 72nd Ohio Regiment. According to regiment captain Orin England, “She did more good than all of the chaplains in the army. If we had one in every brigade, yes, one in every division, how much good they could do!” After the war she assisted at a hospital founded by her sons. She served as a member of the first executive board of the American Red Cross.
9. John Hitz Hitz succeeded his father as consul general to Switzerland and held that post until 1881. Clara Barton considered him a wise, trusted, and loyal adviser in the early days. He was helpful in getting the treaty of the Geneva Convention signed by the United States. During the 1884 Mississippi River floods, Hitz assisted with Barton’s relief effort on the riverboat Mattie Bell. In 1989, at the age of 70, he became blind and taught himself how to read Braille.
10. George Bailey Loring This Unitarian minister’s son was a schoolteacher, a Harvard-educated physician, and a Massachusetts legislator, among other titles. He served in the U.S. Congress from 1877 to 1881, after which he became U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture. He was a trustee of the American Red Cross along with Robert T. Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln. Loring’s wife, Mary Toppan Pickman, was also instrumental in the founding of the organization.
11. R.N. Tilton Rufus Newell Tilton and his wife both resided in Washington, D.C. He worked for the U.S. Treasury. His wife, Lydia, was the secretary of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, as well as a poet, correspondent, and schoolteacher.
12. F.H. Truesdell Frank Heath Truesdell was a private secretary for a U.S. Senator in 1880. He also worked for the Associated Press along with two other signers, Walter P. Phillips and George Kennan.
Red Cross graphic: Quote from Clara Barton – “Be generous and noble.”
The Tiffany Circle, founded in 2006, exists to engage and empower women philanthropists to support the American Red Cross and their Tiffany Circle chapters with their time, talent and treasure. It takes its name from the historic stained-glass windows in the Board of Governors Hall at national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Membership in The Tiffany Circle requires an annual donation of $10,000 or more to be active, and many of the members also volunteer their time.
Some Tiffany Circle members are current chairs of Red Cross Boards, locally and regionally, and others are former chairs. It was co-founded by Bonnie McElveen Hunter, chair of the American Red Cross Board of Governors, and Melanie Sabelhaus, former vice-chair of the Board of Governors. Elaine Lyerly, founding chair and current co-chair of the Tiffany Circle International Council, has provided much of the information for this article.
There are currently Tiffany Circles in seven countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and the United States. According to Elaine, Tiffany Circle members gather for an inspiring, engaging and educational summit every other year in Washington, D.C. Each Tiffany Circle chapter works with its Red Cross staff to provide budget-relieving programs, projects and activities. They have provided funding for vehicles and blood collection equipment; installed smoke alarms; supported veterans with comfort kits, donations, and visits to veterans hospitals; and much more. Many also donate blood.
According to Elaine, Tiffany Circle members across the globe represent women leading through philanthropy. In addition to donating their own personal financial gifts, the women of the Tiffany Circle are leaders in their communities and are influential in obtaining monetary gifts from others by sharing contacts, encouraging new donors to make financial contributions and opening doors for new relationships.
To learn more about the Tiffany Circle, visit their website or Facebook group.
