THE CHARTERS OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.

A spectacular collection of original documents and fair copies in Barton's hand of the American Red Cross charter documents, including:

A spectacular collection of original documents and fair copies in Barton's hand of the American Red Cross charter documents, including:
1. MOYNIER, GUSTAVE. Autograph Letter Signed ("G. Moynier") to Clara Barton, 2 pp, 8vo (conjoining leaves), Geneva, June 13, 1881, on Comite International de la Croix Rouge stationery, asking her to transmit a letter from the committee regarding the Geneva Convention to Secretary of State James Blaine. Barton was able to get Blaine and President Garfield to support the US's approval of the treaty, though the process was interrupted by Garfield's assassination.
2. Fair copy in Clara Barton's hand of "Articles of Incorporation of the American Association of the Red Cross," 4 pp, legal folio, July 1, 1881; WITH a fair copy of a Department of State letter dated August 1, 1882, and a Department of Interior letter dated July 31, 1882, 6 pages in total; Barton's copy of the charter plus the administration approvals for the Red Cross.
3. Fair copy in Clara Barton's hand of "A Proclamation" of March 1, 1882, the United States' accession to the the Red Cross convention of August 22, 1864 and October 20, 1868, 6 pp plus an additional 4 draft pages, legal folio, all pages bound together at upper margin. This text reproduced in Barton's 1912 work, The Red Cross in Peace and War (pp 85-86).
4. Fair copy in Clara Barton's hand of "A Bill making appropriations to enable the American Association of the Red Cross to extend its usefulness," 2 pp recto and verso; together with a 13 pp petition in Barton's hand requesting funding for the organization, March 23, 1882.
5. A working draft in Clara Barton's hand and that of one other of a the petition requesting funding for the American Association of the Red Cross, 13 pp, plus 1 printed donation circular.
6. Fair copy in Barton's hand of a Letter Signed of Chester Arthur to Walter Phillips announcing his support of the American Association of the Red Cross, 1 p, 4to, July 5, 1882.
7. Typed Carbon, "A Statement to be Made Before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate by Judge Joseph Sheldon," 10 pp, 4to, [Washington, after 1884]; two copies plus draft and related correspondence.
With related later documents.

CLARA BARTON'S FILE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF THE RED CROSS. The original charters of the AARC, which are in a scribal hand and are signed by all the participants, are part of the LOC's Clara Barton Collection, and were donated along with her other papers by the Hubbell family in 1940. The collection here, which includes original documents and fair copies in Clara Barton's hand, was found in the Barton trunk along with the other manuscripts and ephemera offered in this sale. They document the long and arduous path to establishing an American branch of the International Red Cross.

Moynier and Appia first reached out to Barton in the late 1870s, during the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, to see if she could encourage the US to sign on to the Geneva Treaty. Hayes declined, but the team tried again after the election of James A. Garfield, who was agreeable (#1). Anticipating a quick adoption, the American Association of the Red Cross was incorporated on July 1, 1881, just one day before the assassination of Garfield. Still Barton pushed forward with the Departments of State and the Interior to acquire the necessary approvals for the AARC. In March of 1882, Garfield's successor Chester Arthur signed the convention and gave his blessing to the organization (#3 and #7) and Barton lobbied Congress for appropriations for the AARC (#4 and 5).