Clara BartonClara Barton was a teacher, a worker in the U.S. Patent Office, and a Civil War nurse. She is best known for founding the American Red Cross.

She was born on Christmas Day in 1821. She first discovered her love for helping people when she was a child. Her brother David fell off of a barn roof and received serious injuries, and Clara helped tend to him even after the doctors had given up, and thanks to her David made a full recovery. She became a teacher at the age of 15 and founded a free public school in New Jersey. She later moved to Washington, D.C., to work in the U.S. Patent Office.

While working for the Union in the Civil War, she began as a supply distributor, but she wasn't happy sitting on the sidelines of the war. Because of this, she later became an independent nurse for the first time in 1862 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She also cared for wounded soldiers in Antietam, and was nicknamed "the angel of the battlefield" for her outstanding work.

After the war ended, she began work for the War Department, where she helped to either reunite missing soldiers and their families or gather information about those who were missing. She also gave public speeches about her war experiences.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Clara visited Europe and worked with a relief organization known as the International Red Cross. She began to lobby for an American branch once she returned home. The American Red Cross Society was founded soon after in 1881 and Clara was its first president, overseeing care for victims of disasters such as the 1889 Johnstown Flood and the 1900 Galveston Flood.

Clara resigned from the presidency of the American Red Cross in 1904 but still remained an active lecturer. She wrote a book titled The Story of My Childhood, published in 1907. She died in her home in Glen Echo, Maryland, on April 12, 1912.

Quote

I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.

This quote represents her passion for caring for the wounded, which she did for much of her life.

Contribution to History

Clara Barton tended to wounded Civil War soldiers and founded the American Red Cross, which has assisted in relief work for many disasters throughout history up to the present.