Mary Dodson Wade - Amazing Civil War Nurse Clara Barton

A Lifetime of Helping Others

Read about Clara Bartonnurse, teacher, and founder of the American Red Cross.

Young readers will learn just how amazing some Americans are as they pore over the pages of these biographies.

By establishing the American Red Cross Clara Barton lives on bringing aid and comfort to millions. Read about this important American heroine.

About the Author

Author Mary Dodson Wade is a book lover, a people watcher, and a compulsive writer. She spent twenty-five years as an elementary librarian, surrounded by things she loved.

Clara Barton was born on Christmas Day in 1821. Her brother David thought she was a special present. Later, she would give a great gift to America.

Clara Barton created the American Red Cross.

The Bartons lived on a farm in Massachusetts. David and Clara were always together. He taught her to ride horses.

One day David was building a roof for a barn. He fell and was badly hurt. Clara was eleven. She wanted to help. She took care of David for two years until he got well.

When David was hurt, Clara helped him get better.

Clara took classes to become a teacher. She started teaching when she was 17 years old. She opened the first free public school in New Jersey.

Then she went to Washington, D.C. Clara became one of the first women to work in a government office.

This is the school that Clara Barton opened in Bordentown, New Jersey.

In 1861, the Civil War started. Soldiers from northern states fought soldiers from southern states. Some battles were near Washington, D.C.

Clara went to hospitals to take care of wounded soldiers. She collected water, food, blankets, and medicine. She brought these supplies to battlefields. Soldiers called her The Angel of the Battlefield.

Clara helped soldiers on the battlefield and in the hospital.

After the war, many soldiers did not come home. People knew Clara had been at the battles. Families wrote to her. Had she seen their sons or husbands?

Clara made a list with the names of 22,000 dead soldiers. She put the names in newspapers or wrote letters to families. People were able to learn what happened to their missing loved ones.

Clara sent lists of missing soldiers all over the United States.

Clara gave speeches about her work. She did not like to speak in front of large groups. But she did it anyway. Then she got sick and lost her voice.

Clara gave speeches to raise money. She used the money to find out what had happened to the missing soldiers.

Clara traveled to Europe to get well. She learned about a group called the International Red Cross that helped people during wars.

In 1881, Clara founded the American Red Cross. This new group would help people during wars or when natural disasters ruined homes.

The American Red Cross helped soldiers during World War I. Here, a worker serves lunch to soldiers.

Clara Barton died when she was 90. Her lasting gift to millions of Americans was the American Red Cross.

When Clara went to Europe to get well, she helped soldiers there too. This cross was given to her for her help. It honored her for her work.

The American Red Cross still helps people today. This volunteer is helping after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Clara Barton said, While our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.

Do you think she was wise to go to the battlefield? Was she brave? What is the bravest thing you have ever done?

Clara Barton said that she did not like to be told about old ways of doing things. She wanted to try new ways to make things better.

How did she change things for the better?

1821

December 25, born in North Oxford, Massachusetts.

1852

Established first free public school in New Jersey.

1854

Began work in U.S. patent office.

1862

Allowed to go to battlefield to nurse wounded soldiers.

1865

Helped families find out what happened to missing soldiers.

1869

Went to Europe, learned about the International Red Cross there.

1881

Established the American Red Cross.

1912

April 12, died in Glen Echo, Maryland.

battlesWhen soldiers fight.

Civil WarThe war between the Northern and Southern states of the United States from 1861 to 1865.

disasterSomething bad that happens, like a storm that kills people and ruins homes.

medicineDrugs to help sick people get well.

soldiersPeople who are in the army to fight in wars.

woundedTo be hurt.

Koestler-Grack, Rachel A. The Story of Clara Barton. Philadelphia: Chelsea Clubhouse, 2004.

Raum, Elizabeth. Clara Barton. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2004.

Schaefer, Lola M. Clara Barton