| The threat of war burdened every American’s heart and mind. Like Mrs. Harriet Parsons James in Miami, Florence (Mrs. Robert) Spottswood of Key West went to work. A native Key Wester, she was deeply committed to the lush tropical paradise that generations of her family called home. Her father, John B. Maloney, was one of Key West’s first doctors, often making house calls on his horse.
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| On March 7, 1917, Harriet Parsons James, a noted philanthropist, invited a group of prominent Miami residents to her Coconut Grove home to establish a chapter of the American Red Cross. Through her experience as an American Red Cross member in New York, she learned to appreciate the organization. With World War I raging on in Europe, Mrs. James understood Miami’s need for a local American Red Cross chapter.
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| The Broward County Chapter was established in 1918 when community pioneer Ivy Stranahan and a committee of business and civic leaders met to establish a Red Cross Chapter in the Fort Lauderdale area. Ivy Stranahan and her husband Frank are considered the founding family of Fort Lauderdale. Ivy was born in 1881, moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1899 and became one of Florida's first schoolteachers.
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