The Red Cross in Siberia

From its entry in July 1918 to its departure in April 1920, the American Red Cross spent an estimated $23 million in aid to Siberia—almost exclusively in aid to persons in White-controlled areas during the Civil War (aiding the Bolsheviks would not have sat well with Americans).

On July 23, 1918, the Hawaiian chapter of the Red Cross was notified that it had been given the duty of setting up the first Red Cross base hospital in Siberia. The mission led by Riley Allen was one of the first groups of Red Cross workers.

By Felicia Forrester’s accounting in February 1920 (when she was working in public relations in Vladivostok), over the nearly two years of its activity in Siberia, the Red Cross sent 688 personnel to Russia, 278 of whom were Americans, including 60 doctors, 130 nurses, 50 nurse’s aids, 6 dentists and 18 pharmacists, with “scores of Russian assistants.” With activity spanning over 5000 miles, “from Vladivostok to Lake Turgoyac,” the Red Cross set up and staffed 15 hospitals, medical and dental clinics, operated an anti-typhus train and handed out much needed clothing and meals. Forrester estimated that “in Omsk and the outlying districts alone, the Red Cross afforded relief to 25,000 people.”