A Brief Biography Of Clara Barton's Life

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Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821 in North Oxford, Massachusetts. Clara’s parents were Sarah and Capt. Stephen Barton. Her father was a member of the local militia and a selectman. She was the youngest of six children. As a young girl, Clara was really shy and didn’t have many friends except her siblings. She was just ten years old when her brother was badly injured by falling from a rafter in their unfinished barn. Clara then decided to nurse her brother back to health. It took three years for her brother to regain his health. This experience helped her overcome her shyness and was the first step to her medical career. Clara began teaching in schools at the age of 18. She later opened a free school in Bordentown, New Jersey. She soon learned that she couldn’t be the principal of the school that she founded because the job went to a man instead. Devastated, Clara came to the decision that she needed a serious change and moved to Washington D.C. Clara moved to Washington D.C. in 1855 and began to work in the U.S. Patent Office as a clerk. She was the first woman to work in a...

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