Lindsey Graham

Soon, household goods, disinfectants, clothing, and money poured in from individuals and businesses from across America and around the world.

Barton made a special plea for cash donations so that relief workers could buy supplies from local merchants to help the city's suffering economy.

She also formed a Red Cross auxiliary for women, who undertook the daunting task of sorting and distributing supplies.

Women canvassed their wards to document losses, then allocated clothing, food, and other materials to those in need.

But soon, troubling reports of discrimination began to surface, deepening the wounds the storm had already opened.

Imagine it's mid-September 1900 in Galveston, Texas.

You and your two young boys have been lined up at your neighborhood relief station for two hours, waiting in the heat to pick out some new clothes.

At last, you step to the front of the line, where a white woman sits behind a makeshift table made of warped planks laid across two barrels.

She taps a wooden crate with the tip of her pencil.

Here, look through these.

The smell of old sweat and damp wool hits you as you peer inside and find a jumbled pile of clothes.

You pick up a shirt with a stained collar.

Beneath it sits a pair of trousers with a hole in the knee.

You lift them up and jump as a bug skitters away.

Ma'am, these clothes aren't fit to wear.

The woman looks up sharply.

You ought to be grateful you're getting anything at all.

I'm not asking for fine things, just some clean clothes to keep my boys warm at night.

You have anything else in the back?

No, you should have come earlier.