“I left here,” said Mr. Solomons, “on the 30th of last July, having been appointed together with Miss Clara Barton and Judge Sheldon, to represent America at the Red Cross Congress. The sessions were held from the 1st to the 7th of September, and officers from 37 Governments were present, including even a representative from Japan. The assemblage numbered 85 persons, all engaged in official life or distinguished by title. England, for instance, sent her surgeon general; the Empress of Germany sent her private secretary to represent her in person, as well as the Government, and the other powers sent correspondingly distinguished people. We appeared small in comparison to the rest.”
“Did the Congress get through much business during its session?”
“Yes, sir, a great deal, and business that will prove a blessing to many who will have to take their chances in the fields of battle. Many of the horrors of war will be materially lessened by the action of the Congress.”
“In what way can this be accomplished?”
“Well, a great variety of modern appliances for the care and cure of the sick and wounded were presented and approved by the Red Cross Association. Altogether I may say the good that will come from the Congress is incalculable.”
“How did the Powers receive their American cousins?”
“It was an ovation everywhere. In Geneva we were given an official dinner, at which 200 distinguished guests were present. Miss Barton was the only lady present in the room, and she received showers of encomiums from the various speakers.”
According to Michael Feldberg (“The Red Cross’s Jewish Star,” www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=23856):
“Through the 1880s, Barton and others helped people whose homes and lives were endangered by a series of epidemics and natural disasters such as the Johnstown Flood. Solomons labored diligently behind the scenes in Washington and New York, using his business, political, and journalistic contacts to generate funds and publicity to heighten public awareness of the Red Cross’s good works. The extensive correspondence between Barton and Solomons in the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society documents their close work together.
“As famine swept the Russian empire in 1892, a rift developed between Solomons and Barton. In 1891, Solomons became the American agent of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, an international philanthropy whose mission was, and remains, assisting Jews in need around the world. Because of his experience with Russia’s treatment of its impoverished Jews, Solomons advised against American Red Cross efforts toward Russian relief. He expressed concern that the Russian Red Cross, a creature of the imperial government, would be in charge of distributing the relief funds. Solomons feared that the czarist regime would divert humanitarian aid away from those who needed it, especially impoverished Jews. Nonetheless, Barton insisted that American aid pass through official Russian channels. Solomons publicly questioned her judgment.
“The disagreement soured their relationship and, at the subsequent election of American Red Cross officers, Barton and her supporters failed to re-nominate Solomons for a vice presidency. Adolphus Solomons’ official ties with the institution he had done so much to establish ended.”
Interestingly enough, the 1890s witnessed a tide of criticism of Clara Barton’s management of the Red Cross. This culminated in a widely publicized battle for control of the Red Cross during the first administration of Theodore Roosevelt and ended with Barton’s withdrawal from the leadership of the organization in 1904.
