1920 - 1939

Life After Wartime

The years following World War I naturally saw a decrease in the Chapter's activities. The services which were started during 1916 and 1917 were continued on a limited basis. In 1932 the "Gray Ladies" became part of the Chapter membership. This service was originally formed to serve patients at Walter Reed Hospital in the District of Columbia. Mrs. J.H. O'Sanders was the first Chairman of the Gray Ladies in Atlanta. Eventually, the Gray Ladies became the largest of the uniformed Red Cross volunteer services. Also by 1932, virtually all schools in Atlanta had 100% enrollment in the Junior Red Cross Volunteers, with 52,000 young people participating in various programs.

The Great Depression

With the Depression causing hardships for many Americans in the spring of 1932, the American Red Cross was asked by the Federal Government to distribute great quantities of cotton cloth and flour. The Atlanta Chapter distributed 128,000, 24 1/2 pound sacks of flour and 41,000 garments to the needy in what is now Fulton County. In addition, hundreds of volunteers cut and sewed over 5,000 garments for distribution to the needy. The Atlanta Chapter also coordinated efforts to distribute seed and establish vegetable gardens. Many gardens were established in a section of the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, in an area now known as Cabbagetown.

During the 1930's the Red Cross assisted in a program to eliminate pellagra, which was epidemic in the South. Pellagra is disease caused by a deficiency of niacin (one of the B complex vitamins) in the diet. Symptoms of the disease include scaly skin sores, diarrhea, and mental illness. Mrs. Leon Frohsin served as Chairman of the campaign to eliminate pellagra in Atlanta.

The "Amiable Whale," Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow, came aboard to establish and guide the new lifesaving program begun by the National Red Cross in 1914. The Commodore visited the Atlanta chapter in the late 1930's.