Historical Perspectives Person Paper: Clara Barton
Samantha Kromme
University of Cincinnati
Clara Barton comfortably grew up in North Oxford, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of six children; her father was a local farmer and politician. Although she grew up comfortable, her childhood memories are mainly focused around the emotion of fear. “Her parents' troubled marriage and erratic behavior, the insanity and early death of her favorite sister, and the questionable business dealings of her brothers made for an unstable home life.” (Pryor, 2000) Clara Barton started out as a patient clerk, moved on to be a teacher, then an innovative nurse for the Civil War, and founded The American Red Cross. (Pryor, 2000).…show more content… During her time at the War Department she told stories of her experiences from the war. (Peck, 2015)
According to the Biography Editors, in 1896 Barton traveled to Europe in search of some rest and was introduced to the International Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland during the Franco-Prussian War. Once Barton returned home, she began lobbying for an American branch of the International Red Cross in the United States. The Red Cross was soon founded in 1881 and Barton served as its first president (Tooker, 2007).
The American Red Cross took its first wartime obligations during the Spanish American war (Pryor, 2000). After resigning from the American Red Cross in 1904, Barton wrote a book The Story of My Childhood that was published in 1907. In 1912 Barton passed away in the peace of her own home in Glen Echo, Maryland. (Biography, 2015).
After the Death of Barton, her family donated many papers and awards to The Library of Congress. The National Park Service manages what is now the Clara Barton National Historic Site in Glen Echo (Pryor,