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Register of the American Red Cross. San Joaquin County (Calif.) Chapter Records, 1898-
Mss291
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Title: American Red Cross. San Joaquin County (Calif.) Chapter Records,
Date (inclusive): 1898-
Collection number: Mss291
Creator:
Extent: 23 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], American Red Cross. San Joaquin County (Calif.) Chapter
Records, Mss291, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the
Pacific Library
American Red Cross. San Joaquin County (Calif.) Chapter -Records and correspondence
Emergency managment -California -San Joaquin County
Red Cross -California -San Joaquin County
Disaster relief -California -San Joaquin County
Disaster relief -United States
Blood donors -California -San Joaquin County
Red Cross -Public relations
Blood banks -California -San Joaquin County
The San Joaquin County Chapter of the American Red Cross was founded as a service
organization during the Spanish-American War (1898). Early activities included making
surgical dressings and collecting funds to aid in the war effort in the Philippines. The
Chapter again became active to aid victims of the San Francisco Earthquake (1906),
raising money and collecting supplies to send to the Bay Area. First Aid and Lifesaving
courses were also integral to the Chapter early in the century. World War I saw the
Chapter raise funds and serve other needs in relief efforts. During these years the
Junior Red Cross, involving thousands of local youths, was created. Later the Red Cross
established a municipal summer camp for boys and girls at Silver Lake (1935). With the
onset of World War II the Red Cross organized War Fund Campaigns and a plethora of other
programs, local, national, and international in scope. Following the war the Red Cross
emphasized the collection of donated blood and the San Joaquin Chapter opened its
Regional Blood Bank, complete with mobil service visits to local communities (1948). Fund
Campaigns continued throughout the 1940's and early 1950's, collecting hundreds of
thousands of dollars for the American Red Cross. During the 1960s and 1970s the Chapter
provided thousands of dollars in relief, in both minor and major disasters at local,
national, and international levels. The San Joaquin County Red Cross Chapter built a new
facility in Stockton in 1987.
The San Joaquin County Chapter of the American Red Cross Collection contains: histories;
minutes (1898-); correspondence (1905-) and other materials, notably those relating to
Fund Drives (1940-1953) and Blood Campaigns. The largest component of the collection is
the Chapter's forty scrapbooks which document Chapter activities through newspaper
clippings and other small documents. Many of these were created by Stella S. Swenson, who
served as Chairman of the Publicity Committee for several years. Papers for the period
between 1953 and the mid-1980's are relatively scarce, but many exist from 1993 to the
present. The photographic portion of the collection boasts almost 500 images of local,
national and international relief efforts. The collection also contains numerous books,
periodicals and manuals on first aid, disaster relief and volunteer service arms of the
organization published by the American Red Cross.