J U LY / A U G 2 0 1 4
Late Life Success:
Clara Barton
Founder of the American Red Cross
by Angela S. Hoover,
Staff Writer
Clara (Clarissa)
Barton was born on
Christmas Day in
1821 in Oxford, Mass. A shy child,
at a very young age she cared for
her older brother, David, who had
suffered an accident. This early
experience gave her the skills and
affinity for nursing she would use
later in her life.
Barton became a teacher at the
age of 15 and opened a free public
school in Bordentown, N.J., in
1854. Local authorities were so
impressed by the rapid enrollment that they provided $4,000
to build a larger school. When the
new schoolhouse opened, Barton
was replaced by a man who was
7
paid double her salary. She moved
to Washington, D.C., to work in
the patent office – one of the first
women to work for the U.S. government in any capacity at a salary
equal to a man. This inspired her
to champion for civil rights for the
rest of her life.
During the Civil War, Barton
helped wounding soldiers who
came into the capital. At first, she
collected and distributed supplies
for the Union Army. When she
saw there was a need for supplies
at the front lines, she used her own
money to obtain them. She showed
up after midnight at the Battle of
Cedar Mountain with a wagon
loaded with supplies. She did this
at both small and large battles.
Barton soon switched from
delivering supplies to working as
a nurse. She first saw combat in
Fredericksburg, Va., in 1862. This
is when she earned the nickname
“Angel of the Battlefield.” Union
leaders were impressed with her
organizational skills and scientific
approach to nursing. By 1864, she
was running Union hospitals in
Virginia and North Carolina. She
often worked under fire. Once,
while tending to a wounded man, a
bullet shot through her sleeve and
killed a soldier standing next to her.
After the Civil War ended in
1865, Barton appealed directly to
President Abraham Lincoln for assistance in finding missing soldiers.
From 1865-1868, she operated the
War Department’s Missing Soldiers
Office, helping reunite soldiers
and their families. She also gave
speeches and lectures about her
war experiences.
Barton traveled to Europe under
doctor’s orders to rest. She met
members of the newly organized
International Red Cross who had
heard of her work. She served as a
volunteer in the Franco-Prussian
War from 1870-1871 and was
honored by both sides for helping
the wounded.
When she returned home, she
decided America needed an organization like the International Red
Cross. At age 60, Barton founded
the American Red Cross in 1881
and served as its first president.
The original intention of the
International Red Cross was to
serve as a neutral aid provider
during armed conflicts. However,
Barton believed the American
Red Cross should provide aid to
natural-disaster victims as well. In
1884, at the Third International
Red Cross Conference in Geneva,
Switzerland, the American Red
Cross suggested an amendment to
the Geneva Treaty that would provide aid to natural-disaster victims.
This amendment was accepted and
named the American Amendment.
As president of the American
Red Cross, Barton oversaw the
assistance and relief work for the
victims of the 1889 Johnstown
flood and the 1900 Galveston
flood. Today, there are about half
a million Red Cross volunteers
working in 500 chapters across the
nation.
Barton retired in 1904 as head of
the American Red Cross at age 83.
She continued to pursue humanitarian efforts, working for women’s
suffrage and prison reform and
with religious minorities. She died
at her home in Glen Echo, Md., on
April 12, 1912.
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