Clara Barton and a circle of acquaintances founded the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881. Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired International Red Cross Movement while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross society and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war-injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.

Barton headed the Red Cross for 23 years, during which time it conducted its first domestic and overseas disaster relief efforts, aided the United States military during the Spanish-American War, and campaigned successfully for the inclusion of peacetime relief work as part of the International Red Cross Movementthe so-called American Amendment that initially met with some resistance in Europe.

Locally, in 1861, during the Civil War, a group of patriotic Bridgeport women organized the Soldiers Aid Society to offer relief and comfort to war volunteers. They contributed supplies to the Union Army, prepared hospital garments, and found homes for orphaned children of Union soldiers killed in battle.

Then on June 18, 1898, during the midst of the Spanish-American War, three Fairfield women- Mrs. H. S. Glover, Ms. Mary Kippen and Ms. Mary Sturges- organized the first chapter of the American Red Cross in Fairfield County during a meeting in the First Church of Christ in Fairfield. This chapter was one of the original American Red Cross Chapters in New England.

The National Red Cross received its first Congressional charter in 1900 and a second in 1905. This charterwhich remains in effect todaysets forth the purposes of the organization that include giving relief to and serving as a medium of communication between members of the American armed forces and their families and providing national and international disaster relief and mitigation.

The Norwalk/Wilton Chapter of the American Red Cross received its first charter in 1916. The Westport/ Weston Chapter of the American Red Cross received its charter in 1918. The two chapters were established in the communities to meet the needs of soldiers and their families around World War I and evolved into full-service chapters with programs specific to the emerging needs of the areas they served.

On February 14, 1917, the Bridgeport chapter was chartered and drafted 22,000 members, going on to become one of the largest chapters in the nation in the early 1900s.

In 1971, Bridgeport and Fairfield merged to form the Southeastern Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross. The chapter had several homes during the 80s and 90s. In 1998, the chapter moved into its current location at 158 Brooklawn Avenue in a spacious Victorian home, donated by the late Dr. Robert D. and Wanda Russo.

In 1995, the Norwalk/ Wilton and Westport/Weston Chapters merged to become the Mid-Fairfield County chapter, serving a combined population of 140,000 residents in its four communities. The chapter remained at its Westport location at 36 Church Lane.

On January 1, 2001, the Stratford Red Cross, which had been serving residents in the town for some 84 years, merged with the Southeastern Fairfield County.

In July 2006, the Southeastern Fairfield and Mid-Fairfield County chapters merged to create a new Red Cross chapter. The new chapter, which retains the name Mid-Fairfield County, serves approximately 446,000 residents in the communities of Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Norwalk, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton.

The new chapter features two service centers, one in Bridgeport, at 158 Brooklawn Avenue, which serves as the administrative headquarters of the new chapter and the other in Norwalk, at 596 Westport Avenue, near the Westport town border. Both centers are fully staffed to provide a full range of Red Cross programs and services for its residents.