Clara Barton, American Humanitarian

Union nurse Clara Barton. Clarissa Clara Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 - April 12, 1912) was a pioneering self-taught nurse who founded the American Red Cross. On April 19, 1861, the Baltimore Riot resulted in the first bloodshed of the American Civil War. Wanting to serve her country, Barton went to the railroad station when the victims arrived and nursed 40 men. After the First Battle of Bull Run, Barton placed an ad in a Massachusetts newspaper for supplies; the response was a profound influx of supplies. She worked to distribute stores, clean field hospitals, apply dressings, and serve food to wounded soldiers in close proximity to several battles, including Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. Barton helped both Union and Confederate soldiers. Barton achieved widespread recognition by delivering lectures around the country about her war experiences in 1865-68. During this time she met Susan B. Anthony and began an association with the woman's suffrage movement. She also became acquainted with Frederick Douglass and became an activist for civil rights. Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work at a time when relatively few women worked outside the home.In 1881 she established the American Red Cross, and served as its director until her death. She died in 1912 at the age of 90. Photographed by Charles R. B. Clafin, 1865

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Activist Autodidact Autodidacticism Clara Clarissa Educated Harlowe Heroine Humanitarian Secession Self-educated Self-education Self-learning Self-taught Suffragist Taught

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