We have talk about the Red Cross on her before, but here we will talk about it's founder one of the badass woman of the 1800s (Although there is a lot more women who were badass themselves during the Civil War dressing as Civil War soldiers we are unfortunately not here to talk about them) we are talking about Clara Barton who's got a badass nickname; "The Angel of the Battlefield". This is Clara Barton's Red Cross from The Civil War Category in Story of America Cards.

(Who is Clara Barton?)

Clara Barton, full name Clarissa Harlowe Barton was a American Nurse who founded the American Red Cross, she was a hospital nurse during the American Civil War, she was also a teacher and a patent clark, Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work and civil rights advocacy at a time before women had the right to vote.

During the Civil War, she bravely gave nursing care and supplies to soldiers and was given the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield". (Check the Red Cross website for more details on that; Note- ).

("Angel of the Battlefield")

They called this great American humanitarian "The Angel of the Battlefield" because she devoted much of her life to aiding wounded and suffering men who had fallen in battle. Born on a farm in Oxford, Massachusetts, on Christmas Day, 1821, Clara Barton's work as a nurse took her far from her native New England.

At 15 she began a successful 18-year teaching career, and in 1854 she was named the first woman clerk in the U.S Patent Office. When the Civil War began in 1861, Clara Barton voluntarily risked her life on the battlefield, nursing the wounded and carrying supplies to the soldiers.

Ignored at first by the government, she was appointed superintendent of nurses for the Union's Army of the James in 1864, and she was personally commended by President Abraham Lincoln for her work.

After the war, she was appalled by the deaths and numbers of missing soldiers and so she formed a bureau of records in Washington, D.C., to search for those missing in action. As a result, some 12,000 graves were identified in the Andersonville National Cemetery in Georgia. As she approached 50, Clara Barton still had much work to do.

In 1869 she traveled to Switzerland and France, where she became involved once again on the battlefield, this time the Franco-Prussian War. It was during this period that Clara Barton witnessed the International Committee of the Red Cross of Geneva. This organization had been founded in 1864 by Jean Henri Dunant a Swiss philanthropist who had toured Italy during the Austro-Sardinian War in 1859 and been horrified by the suffering of wounded men.

Greatly impressed by what she saw and experienced there, Clara Barton returned to America in 1873 and began a campaign to involve the United States in this work. America had not joined the International Red Cross when it was first organized because of fear of involvement in foreign problems. But finally, in 1882 largely through Barton's efforts, the United States ratified the Treaty of Geneva and became part of the Red Cross.

Clara Barton was its first president, serving from 1882 to 1904. Among other activities, she was in charge of aiding the victims of the Yellow fever epidemic in Florida in 1877, as well as those who were left homeless in the wake of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Flood of 1889.

After her retirement, Clara Barton kept busy with charities and writing. She died on April 12th 1912, at the age of 91 in Glen Echo, Maryland.

(Remembrance of Clara Barton)

Clara Barton is one of many women honored and recognized for her work and what she fought for others, in 1973; 61 years later after her death she was inducted to the National Women's Hall of Fame which is to Recognize and honor women. There are a lot Schools and Street named after her, (There are a lot of Elementary Schools with her name, One in Oxford, Massachusetts, which I went to, didn't attend it but I visited it when my parents were showing me and my sister some stuff on Clara Barton, I actually also visited her gravesite as well).

In other remembrances of her, There is the Clara Barton Homestead, where Barton was born in Massachusetts and is open to the public as a museum.

In 1975, the Clara Barton National Historic Site, located at 5801 Oxford Road, Glen Echo, Maryland, was established as a unit of the National Park Service at Barton's home, where she spent the last 15 years of her life. As the first National Historic Site dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman, it preserves the early history of the American Red Cross, since the home also served as an early headquarters of the organization.

There is a school in Disney's TV show; Sydney to the Max is named Clara Barton Middle School. There is a stamp with a portrait of Barton and an image of the American Red Cross symbol issued in 1948, and there are also Exhibits in the east wing of the third floor, 3 East, of the National Museum of American History that are focused on the United States at war. The Clara Barton Red Cross ambulance was at one point the signature artifact there but is no longer on display.

(Ending)

And that was the History of Clara Barton from Story of America Cards, I hope you enjoyed learning about her, as she is one of many woman I admire, there is so much about her and of course not a lot can be said here or we'll be here longer anyway, I'll see you in my other videos goodbye.