Hello Margaret10~
Thank you for such an interesting question. I hope you'll agree with
me that Clara Barton is an interesting lady, who did a great deal to
improve relief and medical conditions in the United States.
When the Civil War broke out in the USA, and Clara Barton learned that
many wounded First Bull Run soldiers had suffered from want of medical
supplies, she advertised for supplies to remedy the situation; with
the donations, she gave wounded soldiers socks, bandages, and other
helpful items.
In 1862, Clara Barton was given permission to deliver such supplies to
the front?which she did for the following two years. She also served
as a nurse, and her nickname soon became ?angel of the battlefield.?
Barton drastically increased wounded soldiers? comfort, and their
possibility of surviving. In 1864, Barton was named superintendent of
Union nurses under Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butlers command.
At the war?s end, Barton conducted a letter?writing campaign to help
look for missing soldiers. Nothing of this kind had ever been
undertaken for American missing and dead. She managed to discover
information on 22,000 soldiers. She the U.S.A.?s first national
cemetery (in Andersonville, GA), witch marks the graves of more than
13,000 anonymously buried Union soldiers.
After her service during the Civil War, Barton became a
suffragette?one of millions who laid the ground work for women?s vote.
But she is better known for establishing a vital U.S. institution.
Traveling abroad, Barton discovered the Red Cross. In 1873, Barton
began lobbying for an American version of the Red Cross (which was
finally formed in 1881, with Barton as it?s president). At first, the
American Red Cross only served during war time, but Barton was
responsible for changing that; soon the Red Cross provided relief even
during peace time, to victims of disasters. She remained the president
of the Red Cross until 1904.
For more information about Clara Barton, her achievements, and how she
changed the U.S., you might wish to visit the following links:
* Clara Barton, Civil War Nurse, Founder of American Red Cross,
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/bartonclara/
* National Women?s Hall of Fame, Clara Barton,
http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=17
* Angel of the Battlefield, http://www.nps.gov/anti/clara.htm
* Clara Barton?s Pages, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6732/cb.html
* Clara Barton National Historic Site, http://www.nps.gov/clba/
Regards,
Kriswrite
"Clara Barton"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Clara+Barton%22&btnG=Google+Search |
