DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, when people talk about the Storm of 1900 — and in Galveston, you don't need to say which storm, there's only one that counts — they mostly talk about the destruction. The numbers.
The grief. What they don't always talk about is who showed up in the days right after. Within days of that devastating storm, Clara Barton arrived in Galveston.
The founder of the American Red Cross herself, coming in with personnel, supplies, and relief funds. Think about what Galveston looked like in those days after, and then picture a woman of that stature stepping off a boat into the middle of it. She didn't send a telegram.
She came. And she wasn't alone in the work. A group of Galveston women rose up alongside that relief effort, formed a Red Cross auxiliary, and ran distribution centers across Galveston Island and into several mainland counties.
Nobody waited to be organized. They organized themselves. Now, that auxiliary spirit took root.
And in 1916, the Galveston County American Red Cross Chapter was formally established — given its name, its structure, its official standing. Almost immediately, history handed it something to do. The chapter built branch organizations throughout the area to support servicemen and women during World War I.
Then came the Great Depression, and the chapter was there — establishing relief shelters, running food distribution centers, keeping people fed when the bottom had dropped out of everything. Then World War II, and again the chapter turned itself toward servicemen and women, providing goods and services through those long years. And then 1947.
The Texas City harbor explosion. That one hit close — closer than close. The Galveston County chapter inventoried and distributed medical supplies and other disaster relief supplies to the victims.
The word "inventoried" might sound like paperwork, but in the aftermath of an explosion like that, knowing what you have and getting it to the right people fast — that is the difference. The chapter has answered hurricanes along the Texas Gulf Coast, handing out groceries and supplies to people who've lost just about everything to wind and water. Regional disasters, state disasters, national disasters, world disasters — the marker uses every one of those words, and the chapter has touched every one of those scales.
In 1987, the Galveston County chapter joined the Greater Houston Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. The name changed. The mission didn't.
It all started with a woman who arrived within days of the worst storm this coast had ever seen and a group of local women who refused to stand aside. That's a foundation that holds.
What the marker says
Within days of the devastating storm of 1900 Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, arrived in Galveston with personnel, supplies, and relief funds. Assisting the relief effort, which included Galveston Island and several mainland counties, was a group of Galveston women who formed a Red Cross auxiliary and operated distribution centers throughout the area. Galveston County's American Red Cross Chapter was formally established in 1916. The chapter established branch organizations throughout the area in support of servicemen and women during World War I. Since its formation the Galveston County chapter has been at the forefront of countless relief efforts in response to regional, state, national, and world disasters. It established relief shelters and food distribution centers during the Great Depression, provided goods and services for servicemen and women during World War II, inventoried and distributed medical and other disaster relief supplies to victims of the Texas City harbor explosion of 1947, and provides groceries and other supplies to victims of hurricanes along the Texas Gulf Coast. Galveston County's chapter joined the Greater Houston Area Chapter of the American Red Cross in 1987.