Clara Harlowe Barton

“Angel of the Battlefield”   

 

 

With the courage to work for women's rights and make the world a better place, Clara Barton was able to influence the world in the areas of economics, culture, technology, and government.

 

 "I am" Poem 

I am one of the most influencial women of my day.

I wonder if future women will benefit from my actions.

I hear the cries of the strong soldiers I care for that are being weakened by war.

I see the happy faces of mothers as I reunite them with their lost soldiers.

I am "The True Heroine of the Battlefield".

I pretend that I am fearless of the battlefield; it's the least I can do.

I feel as though my time now belongs to those who are in need of a better life.

I touch the wounds of the hurt soldiers in need of care.

I worry that I don't have enough time in life to improve everything I want to.

I cry when men do not take me seriously because I am a women but I don't let them see.

I am "The Angel of the Battlefield".

I understand that I can't help everyone in the world, but that won't stop me from trying.

I say that all children should be able to earn an education no matter where they come from.

I dream of a future world that contains only people that help eachother and stop fighting.

I try to further my education and  learn as many new things as I can as my life continues.

I hope that The American Red Cross continues to improve the lives of the unfortunate in the future.

I am Clara Harlowe Barton.

 

by Hailey Flanagan

 

 

 Justification Assignment

 

300 Words About Clara?

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born to Captain Stephen and Sarah Barton on December 25, 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts as the youngest of five siblings. Her father was a respected farmer, horse breeder and politician. Most of her education came from her two brothers and two sisters. Barton became a teacher in Massachusetts at the age of 17, and founded her own school six years later. After ten years of teaching, she felt the need to alter her career path so she pursued writing and languages at the Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York. Clara later opened a free public school in New Jersey but shortly after, she moved to Washington when the board hired a man to head the school instead of her. She then began work as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office; this was the first time a woman had received a substantial clerkship in the federal government. With the emergence of the civil war, Clara refused a salary from the government and dedicated herself to aiding wounded soldiers. She soon became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”.  In 1869, she traveled to Europe and was educated about the concept of the Red Cross.  Twelve nations had signed the treaty but the Unites States had not.  She returned to the United States, rallied to have the US join in this treaty, and vowed to establish this work in the United States. Barton was the President of the American National Red Cross for twenty-two years. Clara was the most decorated American woman, receiving the Iron Cross, the Cross of Imperial Russia and the International Red Cross Medal. She retired as President of the American Red Cross at the age of 83, and died on April 12, 1912 in Glen Echo, Maryland from complications of a cold.

 

 

 

 

Why I Chose Clara Barton?

When we were assigned our first wiki project, I chose Clara Barton as one of my three people to research. I had never heard of her but chose her name randomly from a list of important people. Usually, I, and many other students, tend to automatically pick a famous, male person to search rather than a female, so I thought I would pick a woman, and a new person to learn about at the same time. After finishing that paper, I had learned a ton of information that I never would have known about Barton. Before that, I had never even heard of her, but after doing a little bit of research I found myself wanting to learn more about her and her accomplishments that she made in her lifetime. She is most famous for founding the American Red Cross. That achievement is something that, to me, is very important, interesting, and seems to have impacted our country a tremendous amount. After thinking about that huge goal that she made come true, I saw her as a very smart and strong woman, and also a woman that anybody could be able to look up to or thank for her contributations. Then, I decided that I would like to share all of this information to other students like me who hadn’t heard of Clara Barton and maybe learn even more about this woman in some deeper research. I knew that using her as my power of one person would be the perfect way to do that.

 

 

 

 

Clara Barton’s Time Period?

            Clara Barton lived from December 25, 1821 to April 12, 1912 during the nineteenth and twentieth century. During this time, President Lincoln served his term as president. At this time, women still didn’t have all the rights that men had, such as, voting and getting to work in certain professions, and all together weren’t taken as seriously. An example of this could be when Clara opened and founded her own school, but the board still chose a man over her to be the head of the school. One event that occurred during her lifetime was the Franco-Prussian War in Europe where she learned more about the Red Cross with other volunteers before bringing the idea back to the United States. The most crucial thing that happened during Barton’s lifetime was for sure the outbreak of the Civil War. This war had the most impact on Barton’s life without a doubt. She spent all of her time trying to help by nursing the soldiers, getting supplies for their needs, and doing it all for free.

 

 

 

 

 

Barton’s Initial Impact on the World?

Culture:

            Clara Barton ultimately had a huge impact on culture. Her actions and achievements caused the US and other nations to come together in times of need. In 1869, Barton traveled to Europe to because of the instruction for rest given by her doctor. While she there, she was educated on the concept of the Red Cross as it was outlined in the Treaty of Geneva. She also learned more about the Red Cross by observing while traveling with volunteers serving in the Franco-Prussian War. Twelve nations had already signed the treaty, not including the United States. She soon returned to America where she rallied to have the US join in this treaty, and vowed to establish this work in the United States. She expanded the original concept of the Red Cross to include helping in any national disasters, which tied different countries and their cultures to America. This service brought the United States the “Good Samaritan of Nations” label. The United States officially signed the Geneva Agreement in 1882.

 

 

Government:

            As you can tell, Clara Barton not only had an impact on culture with the Treaty of Geneva, but also on government. Many would, and probably do think, that this is the only influence she contributed to the governmental section of the US, but they are all wrong. Little do they know that she actually worked in the government in her earlier years. In fact, she made history by becoming the first woman to receive a substantial clerkship in the federal government. Barton soon dedicated herself in aiding to soldiers on the front and refused to take a salary from the government’s treasury because of the emergence of the Civil War. This was the first time a woman had been allowed in hospitals, camps, or on a battlefield. At first, military and civil officials underestimated and refused her help. Eventually though, they began putting their trust in her and she began receiving supplies from all over her country. As a result from her hard work, Clara became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”. Later on in life, Barton also became involved in the suffragist movement; the movement to let women have the same right to vote as men.

 

 

Economics:

            Altogether, Barton’s impact as a person and what she accomplished in her lifetime may have gone, to the most part, economics. By bringing the idea of the Red Cross to the US, and giving them the idea to sign the treaty she helped many people of her time and in today’s world. The Red Cross helps people of all status during national disasters, whether they are poor, rich, sick, or healthy. Thanks to Clara Barton the Red Cross should always be here in case of an economic disaster to provide food and shelter, and help anyway they can to the people in need.

 

 

Technology:

            Although Clara Barton had a much bigger impact on economics, government, and culture, she did manage to contribute something to the world that could have been a form of technology back in her time. After the war, President Lincoln granted her the ability to start a letter writing campaign to search for missing soldiers through the Office of Correspondence. She also influenced her own future technology in our time by opening schools and teaching for over ten years.

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

 

Faust, Patricia L., ed. Clara Harlowe Barton. 6 Nov. 2008

 

               <http://www.civilwarhome.com/bartonbio.htm>.

 

"Life Stories of Civil War Heros." The Biography of Clara Barton. 6 Nov. 2008

 

               <http://www.geocities.com/athens/aegean/6732/files/cb2.html>.

 

Women in History. Clara Barton biography. Last Updated: 1/25/2008. Lakewood Public Library. Date accessed 11/6/2008 .

 

               <http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/bart-cla.htm>.

 

 

 

 

Research Journal

 

12/20/08

Now that I have picked my subject, Clara Barton, and have done actual research assignments on her, I can see a pretty good view of how I can go about my project. The biggest challenge I am going to have will be not having enough information on her. Usually one of my main difficulties with research projects is trying to fit a bunch of information into an understandable, and organized format. While researching Clara Barton, I have realized that I could run out of things to write about her life very quickly. Most of the websites, books, and articles that I have found on her life accomplishments are all written very similary and contain the same information. I will just have to work hard on trying to dig deeper to find more sources with new information and display it in a way people have not seen before.

 

 

 

2/1/09

"The door that nobody else will go in at, seems always to swing open widely for me." This quote was spoken by Clara Barton herself. I chose this quote for my research journal because after reading these words, I felt that in this one sentence Clara explained her job, volunteer work, and compassion very well. She was basically explaining the facts about how she started new trends for women and did brave things that many people of her time wouldn't dream of doing, or at least wouldn't want to do the things she did for free as Clara did.

 

 

2/11/09

When people think of Clara Barton and her influence on the world, they often only recognize the fact that she was the founder of the American Red Cross. Little do they know that some of the biggest helps, achievements, and contributions went to the disasters she helped with while actually working in the Red Cross. One of the biggest helps she ever gave was to the great state of Texas in 1900. Galveston was her last and one of her greatest relief efforts. When The Great Storm of Galveston hit on September 8, 1900, Clara Barton immediately came down south with the Red Cross to help the victims. Over 6,000 people lost their lives to the storm and broke up many families. Clara put together an orphanage for storm victims who had been hurt or had lost their homes. She also organized the Red Cross to help acquire lumber to rebuild houses, but she didn't quit there. There were also some farmers whose orchards had been ruined by the hurricane. Barton knew that the farmers would need some kind of a crop to make money on while they rebuilt their orchards and she thought of the perfect one. She knew that strawberries were a fast growing crop so she had 1.5 million strawberry plants shipped to Pasadena, Texas to give to the farmers. Clara Barton’s actions and ideas were life-savers to the people of Texas and made the recuperation of the storm much easier.

 

2/27/09

By the end of her life, Clara Barton had achieved many things, helped many people, and changed the lives of many future women. Not much could stand in Clara’s way to make her influence in the world. The force that worked against her the most was that she was a woman. Around her time was when women were still working on their equality and rights. She had forces such as men trying to hold her back from advancing on in her life. She had men take her for granted and jobs that she deserved were given to males instead of Clara just because she was a woman. When Clara opened up and founded her own free public school, the district gave the head principle job to a male instead of Barton even though she had already been running the school. This is what caused her to get a job with the government in Washington. Clara Barton’s want to help people was the cause of her success. Founding the Red Cross was the perfect way to express herself because it showed how much she was willing to give to help and that nothing would stop her.