The Red Cross began serving the cities and towns of the Neenah-Menasha area in April of 1917. Although the American National Red Cross originally envisioned a single Neenah-Menasha chapter, with Neenah and Menasha residents splitting the committee and official positions, separate charters were granted resulting in two individual chapters.
The Neenah and Menasha chapters began their work by aiding returning World War I soldiers and their families by providing medical care advice, filing compensation claims for back pay and travel pay, and even assistance in retrieving lost bags and overcoats. These local chapters continued to be contact points for information regarding veterans from the community. These Red Cross chapters also contributed to disaster relief aid, particularly during the Great Depression and a series of natural disasters including floods in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys during the mid-1930s. During World War II, chapter members and volunteers provided assistance to military service members and their families, sewed surgical dressings, organized nurses' aid classes, and served abroad.
The two chapters existed separately from 1917 to 1969, and while the communities served were closely connected geographically, socially, and economically, there seemed to be little interest in merging the two chapters, until the mid-1960s. By the early 1960s, the two chapters had begun working jointly on a number of programs including Joint First Aid and Home Nursing programs; both chapters (along with the Oshkosh, Fond Du Lac, Green Bay, and Sheboygan chapters) sent members to the Inter-chapter Home Service meetings; they coordinated on Disaster Preparedness programs (together with the Appleton and Oshkosh chapters); members of the Service to Military Families committees from Neenah and Menasha chapters met regularly to discuss mutual problems; chapter members jointly staffed and operated the 24 Hour Emergency Service. In early 1965, recognizing the "social and economic unity" of the Neenah-Menasha area, initial steps were taken to investigate a merger.
In 1969, after a four year negotiation process, the Neenah and Menasha chapters finally merged into the Twin Cities Chapter of the American National Red Cross with John E. Westgor as the first chapter chairman. In 1970, the chapter partnered with the Neenah-Menasha United Way (Community Chest at the time) in order to more fully fund and expand services such as the blood bank, first aid programs, disaster preparedness programs, water safety programs, nursing services, and Red Cross Youth.
In July of 2010, the then-named Neenah-Menasha Chapter merged with the East Central Wisconsin Chapter headquartered in Oshkosh. This placed all of Winnebago County under one chapter.
