May 21st is National American Red Cross Founder’s day. It marks the anniversary of Clara Barton founding the American Red Cross in 1881.
I have a wonderful book about Clara Barton. It is the Landmark Book “Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross”, by Helen Dore Boylston, 1955. This book goes through the history of Barton, how she grew up, then becoming a teacher, then nurse, and the other causes she fought for.
There are clever stories in the book. For starters, the author writes her name was Clarrisa Harlow Barton, named after a book character. At her third birthday, she cut her birthday cake, and handed out pieces for everyone there. At the end, she realized that she had not left a piece for herself. While there was a chorus of “she can have mine!” her mother stated “She must not take back what she has given. She must learn to stand by what she does.” She latter added, “But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t share with her.”
The book then goes on that Clara Barton did learn to stand by what she did, but she never learned to not to give away all of whatever she had, as occasion required. And she was always suprised to find that she had nothing left for herself.
Clara became a nurse to her brother, developing her skills. She then became a school teacher. The plan was to get her out of her shyness. A doctor observed that she will not assert herself for herself, but for others, she would be fearless. She later went to work in Washington DC, in the Patent office, before being downgraded in pay because of being a woman.
The Civil war broke out, and Clare went to help soldiers. She had to fight bureaucracy to get not only bandages, but also clothes and food for patients. She would spend time with them reading and helping write letters to back home. She was called the ‘Angel of the Battlefield’.
After the war, Clara Barton organised a program to find missing soldiers, or identify those missing in action who died. She located over 20,000 men, living and dead, along with 14,000 graves at Andersonville, Georgia, a confederate prison camp. After this success, she went to Europe meeting Louis Appia, from the International Red Cross. He told her that the Red Cross had been started in Switzerland by a Swiss, so they kept the flag, just reversed the red and white. She took what she learned and began the attempt to have an American Red Cross.
It was tough going. She had to begin with only local chapters-helping immediate disasters of floods and fires. President Garfield was interested in her but was shot before he could bring her up to Congress. After a grass roots promotion, and successes in helping the needy. President Arthor promoted her President of the National Red Cross.
The author then explained that “the details of Clara Barton’s work as president of the Red Cross would take a very long book. Clara herself has written that book, simply calling it “The Red Cross”, coming in at 700 pages.” We should read it. As I am writing this, checking my memory, I re-read that line, and have ordered the book to read. I encourage you to read this one, as well. I have done a poor book report on a well written story about a deserving American hero.
Librarytomes 