Clara Barton

Posted October 4, 2007, 3:01 pm by Growing Bolder


Clara Barton
Born: Dec, 25, 1821
Died: April 12, 1912

A true pioneer, Clara Barton is best known as the founder of the American Red Cross and, prior to that, as a nurse who tended to countless wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields earning herself the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield."

At age 60 (1881), Barton founded and became president of the American Red Cross. She directed its relief activities for 23 years, until the age of 83.

She also began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men and won the right to have a desk job in the federal government in Washington when previously, women had been required to carry their work home. 

Barton was the most decorated American woman, receiving the Iron Cross, the Cross of Imperial Russia and the International Red Cross Medal.

After the Age of Seventy

• At age 77, she went to Cuba with a cargo of relief supplies.
• At age 79, she spent six weeks on the coast of Galveston, Texas, directing relief efforts after the floods.
• At age 83 (1903), she resigned from the Red Cross.
• At age 84 (1904), she founded the National First Aid Society. 
  

Quotes

• “The door that nobody else will go in at, seems always to swing open widely for me.”
• “I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man's work for     less than a man's pay.”
  
• “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.”

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