Clara Barton - Nurse
Clara Barton (more)
1821-1912
Nurse, founder of American Red Cross
Clara Barton's work made her a symbol of humanitarianism.
Introduction
Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821, in North Oxford, Massachusetts. She was the youngest child of Stephen Barton, a farmer and state legislator who had served in the Revolution under General Anthony Wayne; she later recalled that his tales made war early familiar to her.
Well-spoken and well-read, at the age of 15 Clara Barton began teaching at nearby schools. In 1850 she went to teach at Bordentown, New Jersey, where state tradition required paid schooling and thus served few children. Barton offered to teach without salary if payment were waived. She later took pride in having established the first free school in New Jersey and having raised enrollment in Bordentown from 6 to 600. When town officials decided to appoint a male administrator over her, she resigned. At this time she suffered her first crisis of nervous illness, associated in part with uncertainty about her future.
In 1853 she obtained an appointment as copyist in the Patent Office in Washington, D.C., becoming the first woman in America to hold such a government post. She continued this work till April 1861, when the Civil War began and she determined to serve the Federal troops.
http://www.civilwar.com/history/significant-people-of-the-war/union-women/148411-clara-barton-nurse.html
