Clara Barton: The Heart of American Red Cross

1064 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women and african americans in civil war

Introduction

From childhood to death Clara Barton dedicated her life to helping others. She is most notably remembered for her work as a nurse on the battlefield during the Civil War and for the creation of the American Red Cross. Barton was also an advocate for human rights. Equal rights for all men, women, black and white. She worked on the American equal Rights Association and formed relations with civil rights leaders such as Anna Dickensen and Fredric Douglass. Her undeterred determination and selflessness is undoughtably what made her one of the most noteworthy nurses in American history.

Historical Perspective

Clarissa Harlowe Barton, born on December 25, 1821, in North Oxford, Massachusetts. Carissa (Clara) was born the youngest of five children to Sarah and Steven Barton. Clara received all of her schooling and life training from her parents, brothers and sisters. Her father who was a once a captain in a war, taught Clara all he knew about the battlefield. Her mother taught her to sew and cook. Her two older sisters Sally and Dorothy taught her to read before she was four years old. Her brother Stephen taught her arithmetic and David her eldest brother taught her everything else; for instance, how to ride anything on anything with four legs, how to shoot a revolver, how to balance and how to take care of and nurse animals. (OTQEF, 1999, p.1) When Clara was 11 years old her favorite brother David, fell from the roof of the barn while trying to fix it, he was seriously injured and was not expected to live. Clara offered to help him and stayed by his side for three years. Her brother recovered thanks to Clara’s help. These learning experiences gave Clara the drive and determination to achieve anything she set out...

... middle of paper ...

...African Americans after the civil war Barton stepped in helping anyone she could. This to me is the way a nurse should feel in her heart. Wanting to be a nurse to be selfless and help individual get better or to console and stay with them to comfort them in their last moments. She is a true inspiration to nurses everywhere.

References

Holder, V. L. (2003). From hand maiden to right hand-- The birth of nursing in America “.ARON journal, 20. Retrieved from Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Apr. 2011

Marrow, L. (1996).Clara’s Heart. Policy review 75. Retrieved from Academic One File. Web.16 Apr.2011

Oracle Think Quest Education Foundation, (OTQEF) (1999) Clara Barton. Retrieved from http.//library.thinkquest.org/5940/cchildhood.html

Updike, W. A. (July 2000). “Angel of the Battlefield.” National Parks, 40. Retrieved from Academic One File. Web.25 Apr. 2011

Show More
Related

  • Viola Liuzzo's Legacy

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    She was 39 and expected to stay home. Her deaths showed her motives, stability and judgement to speculation. The circumstances of her death made her Hero but she had been playing the role of a Hero the whole time. She afforded a clear symbol to the segregationists. For her family, friends, and neighbors she was the woman with a good heart. She always supported what was right. For her family, she was the source of love and courage, for the nation she is hero, fighter, and a martyr. She gave her life for human equality and peace. She was not just a woman but an extraordinary and one of the most courageous woman in the

    Read More

  • How Did Clara Barton Contribute To The Military

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    Born on December 25th, 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts, Clarissa “Clara” Harlowe Barton made a great impact on the lives of many. She was a volunteer teacher, worked for the U.S. Patent Office, and was the driving force behind the American Red Cross. Clara Barton accomplished many great things, but most of her efforts focused mainly on the members of the United States Military, because she wanted to help them stay healthy and serve the country.

    Read More

  • Clara Barton

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    Almost all Americans have learned about the iconic people in American history including George Washington, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. Although all of them deserve their recognition, they aren’t the only ones who have changed history. Many Americans, not just a select few, changed history and created the America we know today. One in particular is Clarissa Harlowe Barton, who went by the name of Clara. At the time Clara lived, women were still considered inferior to men. Throughout her work, she faced much sexism, but she worked past it and created a legacy for herself. Also occurring during her life was the Civil War, which she was a very helpful part of. Clara’s most well known achievement is her founding of the American Red Cross. In addition to that, Clara also established the nation’s first free public school in Bordentown, New Jersey, worked as a field nurse during the Civil War, and supported the movement for women’s suffrage. Barton has received little recognition for her efforts, but the work she did is still being continued today at the American Red Cross where they give relief to the victims 70,000 every year. By understanding her life and the work she did, people are able to realize the impact she had on the world, for it far exceeds that of which she is recognized with.

    Read More

  • Clara Barton: The Angel of the Battlefield

    327 Words  | 1 Pages

    Clara Barton was born in Oxford Massachusetts on December 25, 1821. Little did everyone know the huge role she would fill in American history. The medical field caught her attention when she helped heal her brother after he was in an accident. Barton became a teacher when she was 15 and later opened a free public school in New Jersey. She moved to Washington, D.C., to work in the U.S. Patent Office as a clerk in the mid-1850s.

    Read More

  • Mary Mahoney: Breaking the Nursing Color Barrier

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Eliza Mahoney was born May 7, 1845 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Smith, J, & Phelps, S, 1992) Mary Mahoney was the first African American professional nurse. She spent over 40 years as a private duty nurses going to sick people’s homes nursing them back to health. She was such a wonderful private duty nurse that after joining a nursing directory, Mary was called upon time after time by the families that hired her all over the country near and faraway. Mary Mahoney was a member of the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada now known as the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896. (Webster, Raymond B, 1999) She was also one of the first members of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) which was a minority nursing organizations that was focused on equality for African-American nurses comparable to that of non minority nurses. Mary was named chaplain of the organization and was later named a lifetime member. After her death on January 4, 1926 from breast cancer the National Association of Colored Graduates Nurses named an award in honor of Mary Eliza Mahoney, after the NACGN was disbanded in 1951 the American Nurses Association continued the Mary Eliza Mahoney award. (Webster, Raymond B, 1999)

    Read More

  • Florence Nightingale, Nursing, And The Philosophy Of Nursing

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    When one thinks of the evolution of nursing, several noteworthy women come to mind, yet one stands out, Florence Nightingale. In Notes on Nursing, Nightingale says “…put the patient in the best conditions for nature to act upon him.” (1859, p.75) She established standards that reformed the industry. For example; her practices of sanitation and aseptic methods led to a decrease in hospital mortality rates. By keeping records of care given, techniques used and the outcomes; by utilizing these records, she implemented documentation and evidence-based practice. She started the ball rolling on the transition of nursing from a belittled trade to the profession it is now proclaimed to be. Nightingale, in conjunction with other

    Read More

  • Why Is Clara Barton Important In American History

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Barton was timid and unsure of herself, but still had a very caring nature. Despite her shyness, Ms. Barton later became a teacher and opened a school in New Jersey. Several years later, she continued her career as a clerk in Washington, DC where she realized her true calling while caring for those injured in the Baltimore riots. She provided clothing, food, and supplies for the wounded soldiers and kept their spirits high by reading books to them, writing letters to their families for them, talking to them, and supporting them. What I would really hope to learn from Ms. Barton would be how she was able to take care of the soldiers, both physically and emotionally, despite the overwhelming destitution during that time. It is clear she possessed an amazing inner strength and will to overcome extreme

    Read More

  • Clara Barton's Biography by Elizabeth Brown Pryor

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    Born on December 25, 1921, Clara grew up in a family of four children, all at least 11 years older than her (Pryor, 3). Clara’s childhood was more of one that had several babysitters than siblings, each taking part of her education. Clara excelled at the academic part of life, but was very timid among strangers. School was not a particularly happy point in her life, being unable to fit in with her rambunctious classmates after having such a quiet childhood. The idea of being a burden to the family was in Clara’s head and felt that the way to win the affection of her family was to do extremely well in her classes to find the love that she felt was needed to be earned. She was extremely proud of the positive attention that her achievement of an academic scholarship (Pryor, 12). This praise for her accomplishment in the field of academics enriched her “taste for masculine accomplishments”. Her mother however, began to take notice of this and began to teach her to “be more feminine” by cooking dinners and building fires (Pryor, 15). The 1830’s was a time when the women of the United States really began to take a stand for the rights that they deserved (Duiker, 552). Growing up in the mist of this most likely helped Barton become the woman she turned out to be.

    Read More

  • Clara Barton: A Hero

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Joseph Campbell). Clara Barton could be regarded as a hero because she went into several military battles during the civil war with a strong mindset to help the soldiers who were wounded and to provide supplies that were needed but scarce17.She was a woman of many talents who accomplished a lot but became best known for the founding of the Red Cross in America. Her humanitarian contributions and compassionate personality allowed her to connect with many people. As inspiring as Clara Barton was, she wasn’t born a hero but became one with the influence of her younger years. Clara Barton’s family life and personal struggles when she was younger, ultimately shaped

    Read More

  • Book Report on Clara Barton

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    Clara Barton attacked many social problems of the 1800’s. From creating a free school, to being on the front lines helping soldiers in the Civil War, to creating the American Red Cross, Clara Barton was a humanitarian. She fought for what she believed in and because of her never-ending fight for people, the world is a different place.

    Read More

  • A Career in Nursing

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    As caretakers of children, family, and community, it was natural that women were the nurses, the caregivers, as human society evolved. Nursing may be the oldest known profession in the world. The Civil War gave enormous boost to the building of hospitals and the development of nursing as a credentialed profession that was led to greater respect for nurses, something that the congresses acknowledge in the year of 1872. Linda Richards was America’s first professional trained nurse. Like most educational institutions during that time, the schools did not admit African Americans, and the informally trained black woman who nursed during the Civil War. The war was served as the beginning of moving the profession from the home to the hospitals and clinics. “There was an explosion of nursing schools in the late nineteenth century.”(www.nwhm.org) Most of the schools were associated with hospital.

    Read More

  • Florence Nightingale and Registered Nurses

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Registered nurses came through a long way back to the 19th century, when they used to provide care to the injured soldiers and other injures strangers. Florence Nightingale was the first influenced in this career. She was a daughter of a British family who worked her life to improve the field of nursing. Her main goal was to spread this field throughout the countries. As a success the first school was in the United States, in Boston. Then later it was passed to New York and others states. In today’s society we are still acknowledge to her great work. And improve the medical field for a better upgrade towards today’s society and generation.

    Read More

  • Global Citizenship: Red Cross

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Red Cross was established May 21st 1881 by a woman named Clara Barton. She was 60 when she founded the Red Cross and led the organization for another 23 years. However, Clara Burton had a history of helping people before Red Cross. During the Civil War she risked her life to supply and support soldiers in the field. According to the official website of the Red Cross she was never satisfied with the military medical units that were often far from the fights. when she was at Antietam she reportedly ordered the driver of her supply wagons to follow the canons and travel at night. She actually was further toward the battle than the medical units. While the battle took place Barton and her associates were helping the wounded by nursing...

    Read More

  • Nightingale's Ethical Principles

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    As stated by the American Nurses Association [ANA] (n.d.), the Florence Nightingale’s pledge entails the nurses’ commitment to do no harm, self-preservation to purity, and loyalty to physicians and patients. Despite the intention to form an ethical guidance, Epstein and Turner (2015) informed that the American Nurses Association [ANA], established in 1896, had to prioritize the issues on the nurses’ well-being, registration, and school accreditation. Back then, nurses were overworked, underpaid, and their public image was marred by untrained, unlicensed women who filled in the nursing roles during the

    Read More

  • The Contraction Of Time: A Brief History Of Nursing

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    The documentary depicts America's largest group of professional nursing women with comprehensive and compelling exploration and sometimes fanciful mythology characterized with the field of nursing since its inception in the mid-19th century. The contraction of time outlines the essence of modern technology that threatens to displace the compassion that has always been at the heart of the profession. Exploitative characters are depicted in the film; the racial and sexual discrimination, with which nursing has had to contend. It also documents the part played by student nurses in cleaning up early American hospitals, nursing's great contribution to public health, and the continuing difficult and essential role of nurses in the military. A large degree of humor and poignant are some of the impression of the sentimental women with the multilayered portrait of

    Read More

More about Clara Barton: The Heart of American Red Cross

Open Document