Evening star., 1940-04-28
Red Cross Will Open
Annual Convention
In Capital May 6
5000 Delegates Are
Expected at Sessions
Lasting Three Doys

The American Red Cross will hold
its annual convention here May s
to 8. with more than 5000 delegates
from all sections of the country ex-
pected to attend.
Among the speakers at the three
day meeting will be Justice Reed,
Norman Sommerville of Toronto,
chairman of the Canadian Red
Cross Society, and DR.. Frank
Graham, president of the University
Of North Carolina.
A procession of Red Cross nurses,
volunteers in uniform, Junior Red
Cross members and a color guard Of
soldiers, sailors and marines will
open the session the morning of May
8 at Constitution Hail.
Chairman Norman H. Davis of the
American Red Cross will speak at
the opening session. His address will
be broadcast. Frederick j. Roster,
San Francisco manufacturer and
civic leader, will be permanent chair
man of the convention.
Swift and Davis to Talk.
The evening session Of May will
feature talks by two Red Cross rep
resentatives just returned from
Europe, where they supervised distri-
button of Red Cross relief to civilian
populations. They are Ernest j.
Swift, vice chairman in charge of
foreign operations, and Malcolm
Davis, associate secretary general of
the League of Red Cross Societies
In Geneva.
Entertainment will be a tableau
staged by the Chicago Red Cross
with actors from the District of
Columbia Chapter illustrating all
Red Cross services. In addition. the
new Red Cross film, "Mobilized for
Mercy" will have its premier at
this session, at which Eliot Wads-
worth of Boston, member of the
Central Committee, presides.
James T. Nicholson. national di-
rector of the Junior Red Cross, who
recently returned 70 this country
after supervising relief work in Ger
man n-occupied Poland, will speak at
the morning session in Memorial
Continental Hall May 7. James L.
Fieser vice chairman in charge of
domestic operations, will lead the
discussion.
Climax of the convention is the
dinner scheduled for the evening
Of May in the Mayflower Hotel.
More than 1900 guests are expected
to attend the banquet, at which
Justice Reed and Mr. Sommerville
will be the speakers. Chairman
Davis will be toastmaster.
Rabbi Silver Speaker.
The convention will close at noon
the following day after a session in
Memorial Continental Hall. Com
I11ittee reports will be read. States
winning honor flags for membership
announced and awards made by Miss
Mabel T. Boardman, secretary Of
the Red Cross. An address by Rabbi
A. H. Silver will close the convention.
The Junior Red Cross will meet
concurrently with the senior group,
holding sessions in the Interior
Building auditorium. The school
boy and girl delegates will report
their resolutions to the senior con-
vention at the closing session.
Two luncheons following the close
of the convention have been sched-
uled. One for executive secretaries
and home service workers in the Red
Gross Chapters and for Red Cross
nurses will be held In the National
Press Club auditorium. The other,
for volunteer service workers, will
be held at the Willard Hotel, with
Mrs. August Belmont of New York,
member of the Central Committee,
as principal speaker.