Yesterday the Red Cross celebrated the 100 year anniversary of people helping people in Australia, in capital cities and country towns across the nation.
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On Tuesday, the eve of their 100th birthday, the Governor General of Australia Sir Peter Cosgrove officially launched the Centenary history book, The Power of Humanity, at Government House Canberra, this will be followed by Centenary events to launch the book in each state.
Written by leading historian Melanie Oppenheimer, and fully illustrated with a wealth of photographs and other records from the archives of the Australian Red Cross Society, The Power of Humanity – 100 years of Australian Red Cross 1914-2014, is a fascinating history to mark 100 years of Red Cross in Australia.
A Walcha local, Melanie currently holds the Chair of History at Flinders University in South Australia. Her journey with Australian Red Cross began more than twenty-five years ago with the discovery of her grandmother’s uniform, letters and diaries as a Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during World War II. She has been researching and writing on aspects of Australian Red Cross, women, war and volunteering ever since. As part of her role as centenary historian, Melanie has been made an Australian Red Cross Ambassador.
‘This is the story of everyday Australians. It is a history of people helping people across generations, united by a common passion and commitment to humanitarian action,’ Melanie said.
“Red Cross is proud to celebrate this remarkable milestone in Australia’s social history,” Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner said.
“It’s a great Australian story of the extraordinary generosity and compassion of everyday people helping people, our chance to recognise generations of Australians who contributed to Red Cross as members, volunteers and donors, and to look forward to the years ahead.
“Red Cross was born just days after World War I broke out, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers signed up to raise funds, produce goods to send overseas and to care for the wounded. By World War II we had become Australia’s largest charitable organisation.
“Our legacy has been built by millions of people caring for others in times of need. The commitment of so many people over a century to act with compassion, to help vulnerable people through times of national and personal crisis, during wars and disasters, has earned Red Cross its trusted reputation.
“Every single day Red Cross helps people from all walks of life, whether it’s an Aussie kid going to school hungry, families protecting their homes from a bushfire, to isolated elderly Australians living alone.”
