美国政府于1917年成立了战争营社区服务，以协调红十字会等非政府组织的活动。志愿者以其在纽波特新闻和全国设施中为军事成员提供舒适的作用而闻名，志愿者是在部队中筹集资金和士气的关键。
Soon after America entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson issued a rousing call for the American people to “Do Your Bit for America.” He encouraged all citizens to get involved and help raise funds to support the war effort. He pointed out the importance of the work being done by the American Red Cross who let it be known: “We cannot serve in the trenches, but we can all serve at home.” Volunteers across the land began knitting socks, making surgical dressings for the boys “over there,” and sewing handmade quilts to raffle off. The quilts became a popular means of raising funds, and are recognized as one of the most significant charitable efforts of the 20th century.
In December 1917,The Modern Priscilla杂志是当时最杰出的妇女出版物之一，发表了一篇名为标题的文章“Wartime Activities of Significance to Women。”由Clara Washburn Angell设计的被子图案。该杂志鼓励妇女进行被子运动，这些运动可能会筹集“红十字会一千美元”，这将在购买救护车，紧急设备和纱线方面大有帮助。这些被子被称为红十字会被子。
尽管在战争期间，全国社区中的妇女贡献了数百种纪念性和筹款的被子，但如今她们非常罕见。
弗吉尼亚州格林县，红十字会筹款被子
Among the artifacts on view in the Museum’s World War I exhibition,接听美国的电话1918年前后,是一个被子,从格林C租借ounty Historical Society. Although this quilt holds many mysteries – for example, it is not known how much money was raised by this effort – it nevertheless tells a great deal about the community where it was made.
The quilt top (it is not backed or quilted) measures 82 inches square; it is made of red and white cotton, with red cotton embroidery. Probably constructed in early 1918, it adheres fairly closely to the pattern published by the American Red Cross in the December 1917 issue ofThe现代普里西拉。有185个广场，绣有数百名格林县居民的名字。正如杂志文章所指示的，红十字辅助辅助“出售”广场和空间刻有贡献者的名字。
The embroidery (and most likely the piecing) were almost certainly the work of Miss Senannie Beaty, who was well known throughout her life as a force for good in her community. The center square carries Miss Senannie’s name (S. R. Beaty) as well as those of her brother, John Owen Beaty, and the aunts with whom she and her brother had lived since childhood, Adeline Cornelia Simms and Elizabeth Davis Simms. Miss Senannie was much loved in her community, living a long life in service to it. She died on her 95th birthday in 1987.
被子顶部包括大多数（如果不是全部）在该县的可识别名称，例如N. B.早期参议员，其名字出现十次；还有他的妻子苏珊·B（Susan B.这些紧紧的社区中的家人在家中，他们的儿子，丈夫和邻居在欧洲战斗。格林县历史学会收藏的信件分享了其中一些联系。1918年10月30日，由布莱索·帕罗特（Blessoe Parrott）撰写的一封信给他的母亲：“我很想早点见到尼姆。我还没有听说他怎么出来，我希望。”帕罗特（Parrott）提到了参议员和早期夫人的儿子理查德·尼姆罗德（Richard Nimrod）“尼姆”（Richard Nimrod）。1917年4月，尼姆自愿参加了蒙蒂塞洛（Monticello）后卫，并被转移到第116步兵团，第29师，被称为蓝灰色师。帕罗特（Parrott）和早期都在1918年9月26日开始的阿尔贡森林战役中进行了战斗，直到停战日。值得庆幸的是，这两个人都幸存下来，1921年9月，帕罗特（Parrott）与尼姆（Nim）的姐姐玛丽（Mary）结婚。
Including duplicates, a total of 749 names are embroidered on the quilt top. There are around 530 individuals. Many of the large squares were bought by the owners of businesses, such as R. N. Stephens, owner of a large store in Quinque, and the Dulaney family, whose store was located in Ruckersville.
Greene, one of the smallest counties in the Commonwealth, remains very rural, tucked under the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. During the World War I era, many small villages and farms were quite isolated. The names on the quilt cluster somewhat in the area along and north of what was then known as the Gordonsville Pike, the road from Richmond and Gordonsville through Stanardsville and over the mountains at Swift Run Gap into the Shenandoah Valley. Other parts of the county had much less to do with Stanardsville and even less with Ruckersville in the east. Eight miles separate the county seat, Stanardsville, from the hamlet of Dyke in the southernmost section that abuts Albemarle County. The Greene County Historical Society’s collection includes Minutes of the Red Cross Auxiliary’s activities in the Dyke and Nortonsville area. Curiously, these Minutes do not have a single mention of this fundraising quilt. To the contrary, for the ladies of the Dyke Auxiliary, ‘Wartime Activities of Significance to Women’ consisted of much fundraising on their own account as well as spending countless hours with needles and thread. These Minutes describe church socials, theatrical events and other activities, with money raised being spent on supplies for knitting bandages and socks, and for making and mending hospital shirts to benefit the Stanardsville Red Cross Chapter, funding refugee support activities in Europe.
In this community, as in so many others, historical records often depend on the local newspaper, and its availability many decades later. Greene’s weekly, the格林县记录, has been published since 1914. Although microfilms and other forms of the newspaper exist from the early 1920s on, sadly, it seems there are few copies of the issues between 1914 and 1919. So despite the fact that the quilt and its money-raising would undoubtably have made the news in 1918, no details are known.
格林县及其历史学会很幸运地将被子藏在收藏中。显然，在筹集资金后，它并没有离开塞纳尼小姐的财产。它在她位于鲁克斯维尔的教堂里展出了几年，在1960年代初，她将其作为圣诞节礼物，送给了夏洛茨维尔的瓦德尔·厄普（Waddell Updike）夫妇。反过来，他们于1986年将其交给了历史学会，认为它属于建造的县。塞纳尼小姐（Senannie）于1892年4月3日出生，于1987年在她的生日上去世。毫无疑问，她很高兴今天很多人都赞赏这种被子所描绘的慷慨。
Red Cross Quilts Make News
Sources
Greene County Historical Society.美国图像：格林县。查尔斯顿,SC:世外桃源出版,2013年。
Reich, Sue.第一次世界大战的被子。宾夕法尼亚州阿特格伦：Schiffer Publishing，Limited，2014年。
- 。“被子历史：一层，第一次世界大战的被子”，访问11-01-2018。http://www.coveringquilthistory.com/quilts-of-world-war-i.php。