Archives West Finding Aid

The Whatcom County Chapter of the American National Red Cross records comprise approximately five linear feet of materials, spanning the period 1917 to 1999. These records document the establishment, goals and activities of this chapter based in Bellingham, Washington. The collection includes administrative and financial records, correspondence, publications, chapter event and property records, photographs and scrapbooks.

Administrative records document the founding, organizational structure and major programs of the Whatcom County Chapter. These include executive committee meeting minutes dating from the chapter’s founding in 1917, as well as minutes generated by various different service divisions including the Gray Ladies volunteers. Minutes are supplemented by meeting agendas, membership records and a large number of annual reports, the latter spanning the years from 1946 to 1997. Strategic plans and program records detail some of the long-term objectives of the chapter, and include a Whatcom County Emergency Services Operations Plan from 1973.

The collection contains a small number of financial records, including ledgers detailing chapter accounts since the founding of the chapter in 1917 through the 1970s. Correspondence arranged chronologically documents a variety of subjects and activities including the chapter's associations with the national-level American Red Cross, legal and business affairs, business, and communications about the new chapter building. The collection also includes a few personal letters sent by chapter affiliates during their travels abroad.

Publications include local chapter newsletters and bulletins documenting chapter events and programs from 1918 onwards. The collection also contains publications produced by the national American Red Cross, including informational and instructional materials produced during the war years, training manuals and annual meeting publications from the 1980s and 1990s. Some older publications include the Veterans’ Claims: Guide for Home Service Workers, dated 1952 and Your Red Cross Carries On, dated 1947.

Chapter event materials document annual dinners between 1941 and 1963, information on the Christmas Bags for Men of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps Ill in Hospitals Abroad and Stationed on the Most Remote Posts (1936) and miscellaneous other event materials.

Legal and property records pertain largely to the construction of a new chapter building in 1961. These include contracts and order records. The property materials also contain documentation of the acquisition of a property left to the chapter in the last will and testament of Delilah A. Mitchell in 1953.

Histories include local chapter histories including a 40-year history and a 75-year history of the Bellingham and Whatcom County Chapters. Also included are some national history overviews.

Photographs document the members and activities of the Bellingham Chapter, the Whatcom County Chapter, the Junior Red Cross, Nursing Services, and the Whatcom Leadership Training Center.

Certificates and Awards contain recognition of chapter achievements and services throughout its presence in Whatcom County. Most of these come from the national American Red Cross.

A large number of newspaper clippings are included in this collection covering a wide range of Red Cross activities between 1949 and 1999. These include documentation of many Bellingham and Whatcom County Chapter events, as well as chapter achievements. Clippings are from local newspapers but do include some national advertisements.

There are several scrapbooks included in this collection documenting many local chapter events, achievements, and services between 1941 and 1969. The two Junior Red Cross scrapbooks document the services and achievements of the Whatcom County chapter of the Junior Red Cross. The scrapbooks also document fund drives and additional newspaper clippings as well as some photographs and correspondence.