The American Red Cross is frequently asked about the size of its membership. While membership is often a useful barometer of the organization's vitality, it does not always tell the whole story. During some periods of its history the Red Cross kept incomplete records and at other times tended to emphasize volunteer service over memberships.

The Red Cross, under founder Clara Barton and immediately afterward, maintained only informal records of members during its first 30 years. Congress granted the Red Cross a charter in 1905 which required the maintenance of accurate records even though the number of members was not great at the time. An enormous surge in membership occurred in 1917 when the United States entered the First World War. During the war, the Red Cross introduced the national Christmas Roll Call which became its annual membership drive. Anyone donating at least one dollar became a Red Cross member and had his or her name added to the "Roll Call." Roll Calls continued until the Second World War when President Franklin Roosevelt declared March "Red Cross Month" and it remains today the period during which the Red Cross asks the nation for its support with volunteer time, blood donations, and money.

The organization started to report volunteer numbers annually in the early 1950s as it continues to do today. Evidence of a reduced emphasis on membership appeared in the 1960s when the Red Cross stopped including membership numbers in its annual reports. The concept of membership, however, did not disappear. Red Cross by-laws continue to state that any person becomes a member of the American Red Cross if he or she (a) makes a monetary contribution to the organization or any of its units, (b) performs volunteer services for the Red Cross, or (c) donates blood to the Red Cross.

The chart on the following page gives the total number of members and volunteers as reported in the American Red Cross annual reports or elsewhere since accurate counts began in 1905. Note that numbers have typically risen sharply as the public responds to U.S. involvement in wars and subside somewhat during peacetime. Accompanying the dramatic increase in adult membership at the time of the First World War was the addition of the Junior Red Cross, created in 1917 in response to a wave of student interest in Red Cross activities. Some figures are estimates rather than exact counts. In a few cases, volunteer numbers may represent assignments rather than individuals. In such cases, the same person is counted more than once if performing more than one volunteer job.

Brien R. Williams, Historian
American Red Cross Museum
February 2005

ARC MEMBERSHIP AND VOLUNTEERS
Year	Adult Members	Junior Members	Volunteers	Year	Adult Members	Junior Members	Volunteers
1905	33,370			1952	18,635,000	19,076,000	1,825,000
1906	9,262			1953	20,829,000	19,623,000	1,650,000
1907	5,842			1954	23,196,000	21,256,000	1,650,000
1908	11,861			1955	23,196,000	21,256,000	1,650,000
1909	11,618			1956	23,104,600	21,819,300	1,500,000
1910	16,886			1957	23,100,000	22,200,000	2,000,000
1911	12,777			1958	24,000,000	20,400,000	2,000,000
1912	12,685			1959	24,200,000	20,500,000	2,000,000
1913	14,678			1960	23,900,000	20,300,000	2,000,000
1914	16,708			1961	24,885,700	19,816,300	2,000,000
1915	22,499			1962	26,400,000	18,800,000	2,000,000
1916	286,461			1963	28,600,000	18,100,000	2,000,000
1917	6,385,000			1964	25,700,000	17,800,000	2,000,000
1918	20,390,173	8,293,114	145,600	1965			2,000,000
1919	19,848,920	11,418,385	8,162,600	1966			2,200,000
1920	8,988,140	6,542,579	109,000	1967			2,210,000
1921	6,014,862	5,159,084		1968			2,293,000
1922	3,955,454	4,310,081		1969			2,308,000
1923	3,447,580	4,590,482		1970			2,310,000
1924	3,123,674	5,596,663		1971			1,827,600
1925	3,103,870	5,738,648	112,100	1972			1,661,565
1926	3,012,055	5,549,428		1973			1,594,020
1927	3,087,789	5,822,757		1974			1,475,907
1928	4,058,949	6,529,252		1975			1,371,002
1929	4,127,946	6,878,423		1976	30,945,344		1,387,515
1930	4,130,966	6,930,849	436,500	1977	30,044,842		1,441,364
1931	4,075,649	7,106,288		1978	33,065,741		1,382,749
1932	4,004,459	6,775,508		1979			1,357,290
1933	3,701,866	6,629,866	825,900	1980			1,418,267
1934	3,802,384	6,968,405		1981			1,405,743
1935	3,837,941	7,752,243	310,300	1982			1,374,579
1936	4,137,636	8,351,298		1983			1,457,653
1937	4,904,316	8,577,198		1984			1,443,108
1938	5,523,585	9,070,958		1985			1,734,604
1939	5,668,680	7,556,306		1986			1,415,249
1940	7,139,263	8,588,398	1,120,200	1987			1,329,391
1941	9,190,474	9,749,053	2,000,600	1988			1,152,393
1942	15,129,833	14,877,792	3,000,600	1989			1,137,876
1943	28,962,883	17,281,502	6,500,400	1990			1,052,579
1944	36,544,151	18,466,340	5,000,600	1991			1,496,729
1945	36,645,333	19,905,400	7,500,700	1992			1,489,361
1946	21,980,671	19,326,747	4,599,800	1993			1,417,986
1947	18,110,170	19,270,811		1994			1,438,492
1948	18,098,250	19,414,788		1995			1,391,879
1949	18,138,767	19,314,427		1996			1,332,677
1950	18,138,000	19,283,438	1,615,000	1997			1,366,356
1951	18,090,200	19,334,800	1,650,000	1998			1,336,523
				1999			1,166,944
				2000			1,175,909
				2001			1,031,351
				2002			1,216,198
				2003			1,003,170
				2004			874,375

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