The Salvation Army history

In 1867, Booth had only 10 full-time workers.

Booth assumes the title of 'General Superintendant' in 1874

Booth was reading a printer’s proof of the 1878 Annual Report when the noticed the statement, ‘”The Christian Mission under the Superintendent’s of the Rev.

She held the first meeting of The Salvation Army in America in Philadelphia in 1879.

On March 10, 1880, Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers knelt on the dockside at Battery Park in New York City to give thanks for their safe arrival.

The opening salvos of the Salvation War were fired in Baltimore, Maryland when the Shirley family arrived there in 1881.

When Frederick Booth-Tucker started The Salvation Army’s activities in India in 1882 he and his group adopted Indian names, dressed as locals and worked amongst the outcasts of society.

In 1883 a prison-gate home was opened in Melbourne, Australia, to provide support for prisoners re-entering the community.

In 1884 the United States organization sought to establish its independence of General Booth.

1885 saw the age of consent in the UK raised following a campaign by the Army.

President Grover Cleveland received a delegation of Salvation Army officers in 1886 and gave the organization a warm personal endorsement.

In 1890 it opened its first labour exchange to help people in finding work.

In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee wanted to raise money to provide Christmas dinner to the poor and destitute of San Francisco.

In 1894, The Salvation Army Naval and Military League was established.

In 1896 Ballington Booth, another son of the general and national commander in the United States, resigned after a dispute and set up the Volunteers of America.

The first Salvation Army hospital was in founded in 1897 in Nagercoil, India – there are now tens of hospitals worldwide, plus thousands of schools, health projects, sanitation programmes and other social services.

1899 saw the start of the Second Boer War, and Army services were sent to the battlefields.

In 1901, she established the Military and Naval Leagues.

Eva, who had served throughout Great Britain and Canada, migrated to the United States and became that country's commander in 1904, changing her name to Evangeline.

While the Army did not consider itself a true competitor, its chief international rival was Goodwill Industries, the Maryland-based charity founded in 1910.

The Salvation Army is active in virtually every corner of the world.General Booth's death in 1912 was a great loss to The Salvation Army.

Frederick Booth-Tucker wearing a version of Salvation Army uniform tailored for India (photo: Library of Congress, 1914)

In April 1927, the National Commander Evangeline Booth came to Atlanta to proclaim the opening of the Southern Territory.

Edward J. Higgins elected as the first elected general in 1929

1931 saw The Salvation Army Act come into being, meaning that the terms are office are now enshrined in UK law.

She served as commander until 1934 when she took over the generalship from Higgins, becoming the Army's first female general.

1950: Evangeline Booth dies.

In 1959, the first over-60s clubs were inaugurated.

By 1993 the international Salvation Army rivaled the armed forces with operations in 99 countries, a membership of over three million people, and 25,000 officers of diverse backgrounds.

The Salvation Army USA, for its part, received close to $2 billion of these dollars in 1996 and spent $1.56 billion on helping men, women, and children around the globe.

Stateside, the Army served over 32 million people in 1998, spreading its message of hope, love, and redemption through nearly 1.6 million volunteers who committed themselves to providing disaster relief and fighting hunger, illness, homelessness, and other social ills.

Significantly in recent history, this was the case following the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on 11 September 2001.

For nine months following that day it provided pastoral support and refreshments to those involved in rescue and recovery efforts, and was involved in the larger rebuilding projects until 2006.

In 2008, General Shaw Clifton expanded this work by establishing the International Social Justice Commission.

Men attend a weekend away as part of their rehabilitation process in Maine, USA (photo: SAConnects, 2010)

It is for this reason that the Accountability Movement was formally established in 2016, calling on each person in The Salvation Army to be ‘accountable for every aspect of our journey through life.