When the French and Austrian armies squared off in the 1859 Battle of Solferino, they fought with modern firearms and artillery. The casualties were horrific. Jean-Henri Dunant was stunned by the misery of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield without care.
Determined to prevent such suffering from happening again, Dunant began a campaign. His efforts bore fruit when, on this day in 1864, the First Geneva Convention approved the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field.
The proposal required that wounded soldiers receive care regardless of nationality. It also guaranteed the neutrality of medical personnel and adopted the symbol of a red cross on a white background to clearly identify those providing aid and protect them from attack.
And so, the International Red Cross was born.
The American Civil War was just as horrific but on a much larger scale. Clara Barton was moved to provide care to the wounded. She became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield." After the war, she traveled to Switzerland, where she learned about the Red Cross. When she returned to the U.S., she founded the American Red Cross and served as its president for 23 years.
Today, the Red Cross continues to support military servicemen and women but its mission has grown.
The Minnesota and Dakotas Red Cross region includes seven community chapters and five blood donation centers. It serves over 7.3 million people across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
The organization provides educational resources on natural disasters like tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and floods. It also offers training in CPR, First Aid, Babysitting, Water Safety, and more.
Blood donation centers collect blood for emergencies. Volunteers from the region are even deployed to help other areas hit by disasters. Recently, some were sent to assist thousands of Canadians forced to flee wildfires.
When she began caring for Union soldiers during the Civil War, Clara Barton said: “You must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.”
She would no doubt be proud of how North Dakotans continue to support and care for their neighbors through the organization she founded more than a century ago.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- The Archive. “The Geneva Convention, 1864.” https://the-afs-archive.org/documents/article/d_00130 Accessed 7/23/2025.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross. “Our History.” https://www.icrc.org/en/our-history Accessed 7/23/2025.
- American Red Cross. “Our History.” https://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history.html Accessed 7/22/2025.
- Minnesota and Dakotas Region Red Cross. “About Us.” https://www.redcross.org/local/mn-nd-sd.html Accessed 7/23/2025.
