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During World War I over 370,000 Black men joined the armed forces, mostly serving in the U.S. Army in support roles although around 40,000 saw combat in Europe. Once the United �һ�������Ƶs entered the war in 1917, Newport News became a key port of embarkment for men fighting overseas, and this event led to a rise in the establishment of American Red Cross chapters in the area. These volunteer organizations were headed by women who supported the war effort. Black women also organized “auxiliary” units loosely linked to the larger chapters run by white women. Little is known of these Black women volunteers in the history of the American Red Cross.

In Fall 2024 a history student named Dee Gullickson, Historian with the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, completed the requirements to graduate from �һ�������Ƶ Dominion University with her master’s degree. She pursed a portfolio project and as part of that assignment produced an excellent paper focused on local volunteer women’s chapters of the American Red Cross that operated in Hampton Roads during World War I. While conducting her research, Gullickson unearthed little known facts about Black “auxiliary” chapters established in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Smithfield, and outside the immediate area in Elizabeth City. One white author of the Norfolk chapter history, for example, wrote that the Norfolk Black auxiliary chapter “rendered very valuable aid to its own race throughout the war,” (McCormick).

Gullickson’s thesis focused on how these Red Cross chapters empowered women to take on wartime activism and support humanitarian causes. Her primary sources came from chapter histories archived at the Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Other sources were found at the Library of Virginia in Richmond and at the Slover Library in Norfolk. Red Cross administrators indicated that these documents had rarely if ever been used. White women produced most of the chapter histories, but as in the Norfolk example above, they often referenced the work of the Black auxiliaries. Two notable Black women, moreover, emerged from these documents, Mrs. Beulah Howard and Mrs. Elizabeth Jordan, (Gullickson).

Beulah Howard lived a long life. Born in North Carolina in 1877, she died in Hampton, Virginia in 1973 at the age of 96. She was an 1896 graduate of the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) and taught school in Baltimore, Maryland. She spent much of her life in Hampton, Virginia a member of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church on Queen Street, and she is buried in Hampton University Cemetery. Virtually no records exist of Beulah Howard’s specific wartime work; however, the Red Cross recognized her after the war for her “exceptional service” as a leader in her local auxiliary chapter in Elizabeth City County. She was part of the “Home Service Section” that gave aid to Black families whose husbands and sons were members of the armed forces, some stationed away from home. In all instances, it is clear from the sources that the Red Cross chapters were segregated with Black women Red Cross volunteers expected to take care of Black men who served in the war and support any Black families who experienced hardships while the men were away.  

Mrs. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Jordan headed what was known as the Trinity Red Cross Chapter, an auxiliary of the Newport News chapter and one that operated out of Trinity Baptist Church on Chestnut Avenue in Newport News. It was common for the Red Cross chapters to be associated with local churches for most of the work done was gender specific and Red Cross women often relied on established circles of church women to support chapter membership and initiatives like preparing surgical dressings, sending knitted garments to the front, and holding bake sales or teas to raise money for Red Cross efforts.

The Trinity Chapter is unusual because it authored a chapter history that has survived. It is the only local chapter history penned by a Black woman, although we don’t know her name. Perhaps it was written by Elizabeth Jordan. The document recounts that over 100 Black women belonged to the Trinity Chapter. It also records that the chapter provided “comfort kits” consisting of cigarettes, gum, candy, and other supplies worth around $2.00 each ($42 today) to wounded Black and white soldiers. The Red Cross awarded Elizabeth Jordan a blue ribbon in recognition of over 800 hours of volunteer service.

These small details from history are limited but precious. Typical of the challenges in researching Black history in general where sources have not always been recorded or preserved, the material on the white Red Cross chapters in this case is extensive compared to what can be found on the Black chapters. From Gullickson’s work we can, however, elevate the names of Beulah Howard and Elizabeth Jordan during Black History Month and recognize their faithful service to the nation during World War I. We can also underscore the challenges they faced living in a segregated society where their white colleagues in the Red Cross sometimes recorded racist sentiment about what they believed the Black auxiliaries could render in service or expressed surprise at what they accomplished. What comes out of any reading of the chapter histories is a better understanding of how even humanitarian organizations inculcated systemic racism. This observation makes the work of Beulah Howard and Elizabeth Jordan all the more significant given the challenges they faced in 1917 and 1918. These two strong Black women made Red Cross history even if their efforts have for so long gone unrecognized.   

References:

Gullickson, Dee. (2024). “The Red Cross in Hampton Roads: Women’s World War I Civil Activism in Local Context.” M.A. Portfolio Paper, �һ�������Ƶ Dominion University.

McCormick, Virginia Taylor. “The Story of the Red Cross in Norfolk, VA.” Virginia War History Commission Norfolk, Virginia Records, MSS 0000-182, Box 16: Organizational Reports, 7. Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, VA.