Clara Barton

Clara Barton lived a lifetime of tireless service to others. During the American Civil War, she became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield", delivering supplies and caring for the sick and wounded. After the war, Barton organized a campaign to locate missing soldiers. Her enduring legacy was the founding, in 1881, of the American Red Cross, an organization whose name became synonymous with disaster preparedness, response and relief.

"You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it."

— Clara Barton

Born: December 25, 1821 North Oxford, Massachusetts
Died: April 12, 1912 Glen Echo, Maryland

Founder of the American Red Cross, Angel of the Battlefield, teacher, and women's rights advocate, are only a few of the monikers attributed to Clara Barton. Her list of accomplishments is long and diverse and can be attributed primarily to her tireless spirit and her motivation to help those in need. Barton's perseverance and devotion laid the groundwork for the American Red Cross, an organization that currently provides services through 8 regional centers and 2200 local chapters. The American Red Cross provides a multitude of services, all of which reflect their mission to serve those in need. Examples include provision of medical services for the armed forces and veterans, development of community disaster preparedness plans, and services for disaster victims. Its blood services program is the largest in the world. The Red Cross established the nation's first bone marrow registry and also offers a donor tissues service. Its support services include a nursing and health program. The impact the Red Cross has had on this nation has been incalculable. Time and time again, it lives up to its reputation of lending its services to others, whenever the need arises.

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was the fifth and last child born to a farmer and his wife. At the age of 18 she passed her high school examinations and began teaching near her birthplace in Worcester County, Massachusetts. In 1845, she established a school in North Oxford, Massachusetts, for the children of her brothers' mill workers. She then spent a year furthering her own education at the Liberal Institute, an advanced school for female teachers in Clinton, New York. Moving to Bordentown, New Jersey, she instituted the first free public school in 1852. Under Barton's guidance, the school's attendance grew to an astonishing six hundred children. However, in 1854 when the school opted to hire a man, instead of Barton, to head the school, she was furious. She left the teaching profession that same year.

Clara Barton moved to Washington, and from 1855 to 1861 she worked as a patent office clerk. One week after the start of the Civil War, in April of 1861, a Massachusetts infantry was attacked by southern-sympathizers in Baltimore, Maryland. Upon arrival in Washington, the regiment and their wounded were temporarily housed in the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol. Barton initially tended to their needs from her own household, but due to an overwhelming response to her request for additional supplies, she began to operate a warehouse and personally distribute the supplies on the battlefield.

For the next three years, Barton found herself on the battlefield caring for the sick and wounded. She and her wagons delivered supplies, tended to the wounded, assisted the surgeons, prepared the injured for evacuation to hospitals, and arranged for the opening of private homes for care of the wounded. She provided medical care at the battles of Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, the bombardment of Charleston, and the siege of Fort Wagner.

During this time, unknown to Barton, the International Committee of the American Red Cross was established in Geneva, Switzerland, in response to the very same situations she was facing at home on the battlefield. Although there were other organizations in the United States that were working to provide relief, such as the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the U. S. Christian Commission, she never allied herself too closely with them. Her need for independence and individual recognition compelled her to work alone, unhampered by organizational interference.

When the war ended, the outspoken and self-reliant Barton sought out new opportunities to provide help to others. She organized a campaign to locate missing soldiers. Her four-year effort, marked by the receipt and dispatch of 63,182 letters, resulted in the identification of 22,000 missing men. Her efforts to help locate and mark the graves of 13,000 Federal soldiers allowed for the creation of a national cemetery for those who died at Andersonville. She spoke out in favor of the enfranchisement of slaves and gave her support to the women's movement. Her fame lent credibility and prestige to these efforts.

In 1868, Barton's work ethic began to take its toll on her health. She suffered a nervous breakdown, and on the advice of her doctor, traveled to Europe to recuperate. During her stay she learned about the International Red Cross and the work they were pursuing. During the Franco-Prussian War, from 1870 to 1871, she helped organize and direct relief efforts in France. She was unable to sustain her efforts, however, and suffered again from nervous exhaustion, which resulted in the temporary loss of her eyesight. In 1873, she returned to the United States with a strong desire to see an American Red Cross established. Instead, much to her dismay, she continued to grapple with her health, eventually checking herself into a sanitarium in 1876.

By 1877, she was well enough to begin the four-year effort toward gaining public and political support for the American Red Cross. On May 21, 1881, the American Association of Red Cross was established. Barton was elected President and served in that capacity until 1904. The following year President Chester Arthur signed the Geneva Treaty and the United States became an official member of the International Red Cross.

Under Barton's leadership, the Red Cross was on the scene abroad as well as on the home front when disaster struck. Barton was often on the front lines, as was her nature. After seeing her organization in action during the floods off the Georgia Sea Islands in 1893, Joel Chandler Harris described it as, "entirely different from any other relief organization that has come under my observation. Its strongest and most admirable feature is its extreme simplicity." On May 31, 1889, the Red Cross arrived to direct the relief operations at the scene of the flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The death toll climbed to 2,000 and thousands were left homeless. This disaster relief effort became one of the most celebrated in the early history of the Red Cross. Barton also traveled to Armenia where she assisted starving and sick citizens, and encouraged farming, hygiene, and domestic industry. In 1898, during the Spanish American war, she directed relief efforts from the battlefields of Cuba. In the aftermath of a tidal wave and flood in Galveston, Texas, which left 6,000 dead, Barton directed her last major relief effort with the Red Cross, and distributed $120,000 in cash and supplies.

During the Spanish-American War, members of the Red Cross began to express concerns about the organization's efforts to cope with the mounting needs of a growing nation. Finally, criticism of Barton's management style, her age, and business sense led to her forced resignation in 1904, at the age of 83. She was left with bitter feelings. She was particularly hurt because she felt that President Theodore Roosevelt had turned against her. Soon after her resignation she wrote, "The government I thought I loved and loyally tried to serve has shut every door in my face."

Barton retired to her home, a converted Red Cross warehouse in Glen Echo, Maryland. In true Clara Barton style, she was not idle. In 1905, she founded the American First Aid Society whose goal was to increase knowledge of emergency preparedness at the community level. She also took the time to enjoy the things she loved: gardening, writing, and reading. She remained at her Maryland home until her death in 1912. Clara Barton ran the American Red Cross with compassion and hope. She was active on every level of the organization. She tended the sick, garnered supplies, and cleaned the warehouses. She personally directed many of the Red Cross relief operations; therefore she was often the direct recipient of both praise and criticism of the organization. Her lasting legacy is evident in the guidance she provided to the Red Cross, specifically, the promotion of a highly successful domestic relief agenda.



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