Clara Barton

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Clara Barton was an important and respected part of American history, and here is how she she imprinted herself into our history books. Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton was born on December 25th, 1821 in Massachusetts to a farming family, and was the youngest of five children. Her first experience caring for others when she was 12, when she nursed her invalid brother back to health for two years after he fell off the roof of a family barn. When Barton returned to school, she put as much work into getting an education as she had in taking care of her brother. Clara was homeschooled until she was 15 and when she was 17, was hired as a teacher for small children. After a few years of teaching at the public school in her hometown, Barton moved to Bordentown, New Jersey. She taught in a private school, and soon founded and became the superintendent of the first Bordentown public school. She built the school to give an education to the hundreds of children too poor to afford private school. Soon after the school board replaced Clara as superintendent with a man when it was "determined that the school should be headed by a man, not a woman" (Lewis, "Clara Barton Biography"). She quit teaching and moved to Washington D.C. Clara persuaded her way into the U.S. Patent Office with her qualified credentials and was the first woman to do so. Her job was to copy important documents. While working there, she learned how the government worked and how things were done. When the Civil War began in 1861, soldiers were shipped to Washington to be treated. Barton immediately began a relief program and volunteered to improve the conditions. Her house became a storage facility filled with blankets, food, medical supplies, candles, and she began making ba... ... middle of paper ... ...e years. She spent the remainder of her life supporting women's rights and volunteerism, and began writing a series of biographies, which she never finished. She died on April 12, 1912 in her home in Glen Echo, Maryland. Clara Barton was a part if American history from the day she led her supplies wagon into the battlefield, and continued to be so even after she founded the Red Cross. In a period of close to 75 years, Clara Barton imprinted herself into American history, from serving a warring nation to establishing a huge part of American health services. Works Cited "Clara Barton". Civil War Trust. n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014 "Clara Barton". McDougal Littell, 2007. Print. Faust, Patricia. "Clara Harlowe Barton". n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014 "Founder Clara Barton". Red Cross. n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Clara Barton Biography". About. n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014

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