By La’Niya Jones
Clara Barton is a woman who dramatically changed the nursing and humanitarian fields in the U.S. Barton was born on Dec. 25, 1821, in North Oxford, Massachusetts. During her youth, she found her passion for nursing and helping others when she had to take care of her brother David after he sustained a head injury.
At 15, she became a teacher after getting a recommendation from a traveling phrenologist, someone who determines information by using the shape of someone’s skull. This path would help her with her shyness, and her parents were fully on board with it.
She later, at age 24, moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, and opened the first free public school there. Barton resigned from her position as a teacher after finding out a male coworker was given the job as principal and was getting paid twice her salary.
She told the school, “I shall never do a man’s work for less than a man’s pay.”
In 1854, she worked as a recording clerk at the U.S. Patent Office, making her the first woman in that position. She faced many obstacles during her journey, one coming from Robert McClelland, who opposed women working in government and lowered her salary. She was later eliminated from her job due to the Buchanan Administration, but in 1860 she returned as a copyist.
With the start of the Civil War, in 1861, Barton quit her job and sought out any way possible for her to help soldiers in need on the battlefield. She started by collecting and sending supplies for the Union Army.
This was not enough for her, so in 1862, when she was given permission to transport supplies to the battlefield, she took it. Batron would later be seen at any major battle in Maryland, Virginia, or South Carolina. She was not just bringing supplies but also caring for the wounded right outside the battlefield, which led to her nickname, the angel of the battlefield.
After the Civil War, Barton worked closely with the War Department and helped reunite missing soldiers with their families, mark graves, and give out any information she could to others. She was able to locate over 22,000 missing soldiers.
In 1869, during her time in Switzerland, she was able to learn about and work with the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War. The International Red Cross was a European human welfare program that worked to provide aid for those injured in combat.
This experience, along with her time during the Civil War, inspired Barton to bring the International Red Cross to America.
She was able to build support for the program, and on May 21, 1881, the American Red Cross was founded with Barton serving as its first president.
A year later, in 1882, the U.S. ratified the Geneva Conventions, which established international humanitarian treatment laws during war. That year, the U.S. also joined the International Red Cross.
Barton worked as president of the Red Cross for 23 years, and during that time she helped aid disasters, help the homeless and poor, and talk about her life and the Red Cross.
Since then, the American Red Cross has only grown more and more as time has passed. The Red Cross works to help people in need wherever they may be. People are now able to donate money, supplies, blood, and their time to help people in need.
The Red Cross also works to educate and train people to help others in any way possible. Without Clara Barton, the field of humanitarian assistance in the U.S. would not be as strong or powerful as it is today.
