The Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army officer in the Civil War who later authored a book on how to teach patriotism to children in public schools. In 1892, Francis Bellamy revised Balch's verse as part of a magazine promotion surrounding the World's Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Bellamy, the circulation manager for The Youth's Companion magazine, helped persuade then-president Benjamin Harrison to institute Columbus Day as a national holiday and lobbied Congress for a national school celebration of the day. The magazine sent leaflets containing part of Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance to schools across the country and on October 21, 1892, over 10,000 children recited the verse together.
Flag Day is a holiday celebrated on June 14 in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The Flag Resolution stated "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States as well as the motto of the U.S. state of Florida, along with the nation of Nicaragua. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing E pluribus unum, which had been the de facto motto since the initial design of the Great Seal of the United States.
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times in the organization's original motto head, heart, hands, and health, which was later incorporated into the fuller pledge officially adopted in 1927. In the United States, the organization is administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 4-H Canada is an independent non-profit organization overseeing the operation of branches throughout Canada. There are 4-H organizations in over 50 countries; the organization and administration varies from country to country.
Kiwanis International is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization began to accept women as members. Kiwanis and its affiliated clubs have more than 600,000 members. Kiwanis clubs raise over $100 million each year and report over 18.5 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children.
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a Canadian humanitarian charitable organization, and one of 192 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. The organization receives funding from both private donations and from Canadian government departments.
Lambda Chi Alpha (ΛΧΑ), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initiates. It has almost 8,700 current undergraduate members affiliated with chapters and associate chapters at 166 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its members may be known variously as Lambda Chis, LXAs, LCAs, Lambdas, Chops, or Choppers at different campuses.
The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the late 19th century to represent much of Christianity and Christendom. Since its adoption by the United States Federal Council of Churches in 1942, it has had varied usage by congregations of many Christian traditions, including Anglican, Baptist, Congregationalist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, and Reformed, among others.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (ΔΣΘ) is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two women at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Membership is open to any woman, regardless of religion, race, or nationality. Women may apply to join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university or through an alumnae chapter after earning a college degree.
Theta Kappa Nu (ΘΚΝ) fraternity was an American national collegiate fraternity founded in 1924 by delegates from eleven local fraternities. It merged with Lambda Chi Alpha in 1939.
Kappa Alpha Order (ΚΑ), commonly known as Kappa Alpha, KA, or simply The Order, is a social fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. As of December 2015, the Kappa Alpha Order lists 133 active chapters, five provisional chapters, and 52 suspended chapters. Along with Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, the order constitutes the Lexington Triad. Since its establishment in 1865, the Order has initiated more than 150,000 members.
Many countries and international organizations offered the United States relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Cathedral School, Townsville, officially The Cathedral School of St Anne and St James, is an independent Anglican co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in the Townsville suburb of Mundingburra, Queensland, Australia. The incumbent principal is Mr. Luke Baills, serving in this role since February 1, 2024 after ten years as the head of Junior School.
With God, all things are possible is the motto of the U.S. state of Ohio. Quoted from the Gospel of Matthew, verse 19:26, it is the only state motto taken directly from the Bible. It is defined in section 5.06 of the Ohio Revised Code and sometimes appears beneath the Seal of Ohio. The motto was adopted in 1959 and survived a federal constitutional challenge in 2001. The state maintains that it is a generic expression of optimism rather than an endorsement of a particular religion.
The American National Red Cross, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the designated US affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United States movement to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Thomas Denny Sanford is a South Dakota businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of First Premier Bank and the chairman and chief executive officer of its holding company, United National.
The Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization, abbreviated as the Young Pioneers, was a compulsory youth organization of the Soviet Union for children and adolescents ages 9–14 that existed between 1922 and 1991.
Alma E. Foerster (1885–1967) was an American nurse who worked in both civilian and military care. She began her career as a public health nurse in Chicago and during the First World War helped establish hospitals in Kiev, for which she received the Cross of Saint Anna. She worked in Romania, receiving the Order of the Cross of Queen Marie for her service, before being sent on a humanitarian mission to Archangel, Russia. As one of only two American Red Cross nurses in Archangel, she provided assistance at the military surgical hospital, while the other nurse assisted with civilian nursing. She was one of the inaugural recipients of the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1920. After her return to the United States, she worked in the United States Public Health Service as a nurse, instructor and director of nursing in Chicago, Mobile, Ann Arbor and Racine, before returning to Chicago where she ended her career.
Enriqueta Morales was a Panamanian nurse and feminist, who was instrumental in creating social service organizations in the country. Trained abroad in Belgium, she returned to Panama and founded feminist organizations aimed at improving the socio-economic and political status of women in the country. Becoming the superintendent of the Red Cross in the mid-1920s, she oversaw the creation of medical facilities and institutions to help women, children and the poor. Spending the years of World War II assisting the Allied Forces, she returned to Panama and served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Labor and Public Health until 1950. She was a recipient of the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, for her dedication to Catholic causes.
Anna Milo Upjohn (1868–1951) was an American artist, illustrator, author, and relief worker who, late in her long career, became known for paintings, drawings, and illustrations she made for the American Red Cross. After graduating from high school, she studied art briefly in New York but obtained most of her training in Paris from Claudio Castelucho and Lucien Simon. In the early years of the twentieth century, she became known both for her portraits and paintings of children and for her book and magazine illustrations. Finding herself in France at the outset of the First World War, she devoted herself to relief work first among the refugees in Paris and later among the devastated villages in France and Belgium. Having spent the first half of her adult life as an independent professional, she served as a staff artist for the American Red Cross between 1921 and 1931. She traveled extensively during her adult life and lived mostly in New York City; Ithaca, New York; and Washington, D.C.
