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The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 by 10 doctors and 5 laypeople in New York City.
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At the time created a cancer diagnosis meant near certain death.
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The sword symbol, adopted by the American Cancer Society in 1928, was designed by George E. Durant of Brooklyn, New York.
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Marjorie G. Illig proposed creating a legion of volunteers whose sole purpose was to wage war on cancer. The Women’s Field Army, as this organization came to be called, was an enormous success.
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It was called the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC) Originally. In 1945, the ASCC was reorganized as the American Cancer Society.
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In 1946, philanthropist Mary Lasker and her colleagues met this challenge, helping to raise more than $4 million for the Society – $1 million of which was used to establish and fund the Society’s groundbreaking research program.
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Since 1946, the American Cancer Society has invested more than $4 billion in research, recognizing and providing the funding 47 researchers needed to get started and go on to win the Nobel Prize.
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In 2009, CEO John Seffrin earned a chilling annual salary of $914,906. For an organization dedicated to funding research, these statistics are inexcusable. Relay for Life spends an egregious amount of funds promoting its own brand.
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Thanks in part to the Society’s work, there are nearly 14.5 million people alive in the United States alone who have survived cancer.
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More than 500 lives are being saved each day that would have otherwise been lost to cancer.
