Wilbert E. Longfellow

Background Working in his first job as a newspaper reporter in Providence, Rhode Island, Longfellow wrote many stories on local drownings. In his spare time, he began a one-man crusade to educate people on water safety with the U.S. Volunteer Life Saving Corps. This work led the US VLSC to appoint Longfellow as the organization's state superintendent in 1905 and bestow upon him the title of Commodore. In 1910, he became the organization's Commodore-in-Chief.

With the Volunteer Life Saving Corps, Longfellow recruited and trained volunteers to perform rescues and teach water safety. His mission was to "Waterproof America", and his slogan became "Everyone a swimmer, every swimmer a Lifesaver". This later became the motto of early Red Cross swimming safety programs.

Longfellow worked for the Red Cross from 1914 to 1947, retiring shortly before his death. He is credited with halving the drowning rate in the United States, from 10.4 per 100,000 to 5.2. International Swimming Hall of Fame