She Followed Her Heart

A Story of Love and Dedication

by Kelley Speer

In this book, you will learn of a brave and selfless woman who rose up and became a much-needed aid to men and women, during and after her time. She was once a timid girl, with social anxiety, but overcame adversity and ended up leaving a legacy, while paving the way for others to make an impact in society.

Be sure to look in the back of the book for a glossary that has definitions for all of the underlined words in this book!

On Christmas Day in 1821, Stephen and Sarah Barton of Oxford, Massachusetts welcomed a baby girl into the world. Clarissa Harlowe Barton, better known as Clara, was born ten years after the youngest of her four siblings.

Clara loved listening to her father tell her military stories which helped her understand things about battles and the need for help such as food, supplies, and medical attention.

Clara also enjoyed learning things from her brother, David, like riding horses and working on the farm. When she was just 11 years old, she spent two years taking care of her brother after he had a farm accident.

She discovered a talent and a passion

for helping others at this time. And

she was good at it!

Clara was highly intelligent but she was extremely shy in nature. Her parents worried about her, so they had a phrenologist examine her, advising her to teach school. 17-year-old Clara took her first position as a school teacher and spent almost thirty years teaching students in paid schoolhouses, factory mills, and in 1852, opened a free school for students in Bordentown, N.J.

Miss Barton

In 1854, Clara left teaching and became one of the first women to work in the Federal Government. During this time, men were given more educational and employment opportunities, and Clara soon became a product of this inequality. She worked for the U.S. Patent Office but she was demoted and then terminated, then hired again when Abraham Lincoln became President.

In 1861, civil war broke out in America. States started fighting because the federal government wanted to abolish and get rid of slavery, but not all states agreed. So, some states left the Union and became the Confederate States. Forces from the Union (the north) and from the Confederacy (the south) formed, and battles began. The American Civil War was the deadliest war in American History.

Clara thought back to the days her father told her stories. She remembered the feelings she felt when she thought about soldiers being alone on the field, sick, scared, hungry, and without shelter. She knew she needed to get involved, but because she was a woman, she had to work hard to be allowed. Clara quit her job at the Patent Office and dedicated herself to gathering supplies, food, and other items needed, and worked hard to find a way to distribute them to the Union soldiers. She pleaded with the government to get permission to take the items, herself. Surgeon General, William Hammond, gave Clara a signed military pass on July 11, 1862.

Clara entered into her lifelong service work, something she truly felt a calling for all the years before. She first started delivering the supplies to field hospitals, and spent her time caring for the wounded. When she traveled to the battlefields, she fed hungry soldiers, prayed with them, handed out supplies, listened to the soldiers' who needed someone to talk to, and took note of the tragedies. She made it her mission to be as involved as she could in helping these men.

"I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and nurse them." Clara B.

Clara became known as "the Angel of the Battlefield" for her dedication in helping the soldiers in the war. She continued to serve even after the war ended, by offering her testimonies of the War to Congress, marking anonymous graves, and opening an office to receive letters for missing soldiers in 1865, called "The Missing Soldiers Office." Clara and her office, with help, located 22,000 missing soldiers.

In 1869. Clara fell ill and needed rest from her work. She traveled overseas, to Europe, and in her travels learned of something called the International Red Cross, which was an organization to provide medical aid, neutrally, during wars. She decided she wanted something like this in America, but before she could get home, she became involved in activities during a war in Europe in 1870-71. Clara even received an Iron Cross of Merit from a German Emperor.

Clara returned to the United States in 1873, and it took eight years, but she was able to finally gain legal support to found the American Red Cross, in 1881. The following year, the United States joined the International Red Cross. Clara was excited to see her efforts become reality. As the President of the American Red Cross, Clara devoted herself and the organization to helping people in times of need, no matter what the disaster or event was. Her goal to get the American people involved in responding to crises and disaster was a success.

Clara remained President of the Red Cross until 1904. The same year, she decided she wanted to take her passion even further, and founded the National First Aid Association, and focused the mission on producing first aid kits and providing training for emergencies.

Clara made it her life goal to help others, but it did not come only in the form of being a teacher, a nurse, or a humanitarian. Clara, a woman, was also passionate about women's suffrage. She was friends with some of the well-known advocates, such as Susan B. Anthony, and attended many conferences in support of equality for women's rights.

Clara Barton truly lived a life of service, putting herself in different careers to find where she could make the biggest impact. She did not give up, nor did she give in to her fears. Clara persevered through a time when women were limited, and when the country she loved was fighting itself. She has a very large list of achievements, all of which were to the benefit of others, not herself.

Clara's lifelong efforts helped her brother, schoolchildren, mill families, medical teams, soldiers, military families, freed slaves preparing for their autonomy, women, and many others. She has been recognized with high honors and is still widely remembered and celebrated by various communities, today.