Role of Clara Barton in Civil War - Essay Example

She was born into a thoroughly middle-class family. Clara started earning her way in life at a young age. She worked as a school teacher for several years but decided to further her education in western New York. After a year, she moved to New Jersey and established New Jersey’s first free public school. She was removed from her position at this school simply because she was a woman, prompting her to begin a personal quest for equal rights for women (National Park Service).

Clara moved from New Jersey to work in the U.S. Patent Office as a clerk. While there, wounded soldiers began to stream into Washington D.C. She saw that the supplies the surgeons and doctors needed to adequately care for the wounded were not available. She was determined to do something. Barton solicited funds for supplies by advertising the plight of wounded soldiers in papers and magazines in New England. The effort was so successful, Clara Barton was appointed Superintendant of Nurses in 1861 and granted permission to travel to war zones to deliver supplies and care for the wounded (Faust).

Clara Barton’s efforts during the Civil War were not limited to nursing.  At the end of the war, 13,000 soldiers were still unidentified. She worked tirelessly to investigate who these men were so their families could receive word of their deaths. This daunting task left Clara exhausted physically and emotionally. She was sent to Europe to recuperate and rest.  While there, however, she witnessed the plight of civilians resulting from the Franco-Prussian War. A new chapter of caring was about to begin in Clara Barton’s life.

While in Europe, Clara was introduced to a new organization known as the Red Cross. The Red Cross cared for the victims of war. Clara Barton returned to the United States eager to start the Red Cross here. She tried for many years but was unsuccessful because most Americans could not imagine fighting another war after the Civil War. After seven years of effort, the first American Red Cross chapter was opened in 1881. Sarah served as the first president of the Red Cross from 1882-1904.

Though primarily established to help civilian victims of war, as stated in the Red Cross’s constitution, Clara Barton soon saw an opportunity to use this new organization in times of natural disaster. During her time as president, she mobilized the Red Cross to care for victims of the Yellow Fever epidemic in Florida in 1887 and those displaced by the Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania in 1889. This early precedent of helping victims of natural disasters is still followed by the Red Cross all over America and all over the world to this day.

Clara Barton’s life was full of meaning and purpose. She blazed new trails and made America a better place during her 90 years here on earth. Because of this and her great abilities, she will always be remembered as a great American hero and reformer.