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Essay on Clara Barton And The Red Cross
Clara Barton is best known as being the founder of the American Red Cross and, prior to this significant achievement, as a nurse who tended to countless wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields. Her tireless, compassionate work during the Battle of Antietam in the Civil War would inspire praise of her as being “the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battlefield”—the latter part of the phrase associated with her name thereafter. But why this courageous woman chose to pursue a challenging and difficult career path despite great obstacles, and how much else she accomplished and endured in her long and productive life, is just as noteworthy as the work for which she is well remembered.
Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts on December 25, 1821 to Stephen and Sarah (Stone) Barton. As a result of growing up as the youngest child in an uncertain environment, Clara was timid and withdrawn.
Throughout her life she would always seek acceptance and confirmation of her worth. It was not until her late childhood that Clara’s parents began to steer her towards more girlish activities. To gain their acceptance, she began to take on traditionally feminine household tasks, embracing the strong work ethic they instilled within her. At age 11, when her brother David fell from the rafters of a newly raised barn, Clara volunteered to nurse him, and for two years fulfilled this occupation with great devotion.
Clara exuberantly assisted the Union army in the Civil War by gathering and purchasing provisions for the soldiers, and it wasn’t long before local women and relief societies learned of her charitable activities and brought her boxes of goods to deliver to the men. During the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in July 1861, the U.S....
