Claira Barton

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Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born December 25, 1821, in North Oxford, Massachusetts. Her father, Captain Stephen Barton, was a farmer, horse breeder, and respected member of the community. Her mother, Sarah, managed the household and taught Barton the importance of cleanliness.
Barton was the youngest of five children, and her two brothers and two sisters assumed much of the responsibility for her education. Her sister, Dorothy, taught her spelling, Stephen taught her arithmetic, Sally taught her geography, and David coached her in athletics. With their help, Barton received a vast and diverse education. By the time she started school at age 4, Barton could already spell three-syllable words. She found school to be quite easy and studied such subjects as philosophy, chemistry, and Latin. Barton’s only problem was her extreme shyness.
At 17, Barton became a teacher in Massachusetts’s District 9, located in Worcester County. During the next 6 years, she taught in several schools, before establishing her own school in North Oxford. At the age of 29, after teaching for more than 10 years, Barton yearned for a change. As a result, she entered the Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York, an advanced school for female teachers. Among her other studies, Barton worked on her writing and took private classes in French.
After a year in Clinton, Barton accepted a teaching position in New Jersey. She subsequently opened a free school in Bordentown, and the school’s attendance grew to more than 600 students. When the school board refused to offer Barton the principal position to head the school and hired a man instead, she found herself at a crossroads. Following a period of physical and emotional exhaustion, Barton moved to Washington DC, where she worked as a clerk in the U.S Patent Office.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Barton resigned from the Patent Office to work as a volunteer. She begged everyone she knew for food and clothing. When she filled her small apartment with supplies she would rent warehouse space to fit more. She would visit army camps and pass out gifts to soldiers, including tobacco, which she thought was the devil, to help keep spirits high.
She fought for her right to go to the front to help o...

... middle of paper ...

...go inside the buildings and help save people. She would have risked her own life to help others during that morning. Barton would have been at as many local hospitals as possible making the living feel better and help consoling the families of lost ones.
If she were around today she probably would have set up different charities to help those who have lost family members, especially those who earned the majority of the families income. She would have set up group meetings to talk about their loved ones to help the pain go away.
Clara Barton helped many people during her life. She was a great contribute to society and social workers of today. With her efforts, millions of people’s lives have changed. The American Red Cross was probably her biggest accomplishment in today’s eyes as it still runs strong daily giving aid to as many people as possible.

Works Cited

McKown, R. (1966). Heroic nurses. Toronto, Canada: Longmans
Canada Limited.
Pryor E.B. (1987). Clara Barton Professional Angel. Pennsylvania:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Oates, S.B. (1994). A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War.
New York: The Free Press

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