Clara Barton

Clara Barton

Clara Barton was a pioneer in American nursing.   She helped improve medical conditions during the Civil War and was the founder of the American Red Cross.   I have always been interested in World War II, and I initially wanted to research a nurse who served in the armed services during it, but I was unable to find enough information about one person to be able to write about.   So, I went back further in history and came across Clara Barton as someone who had not only served her country greatly during the Civil War, but had also helped the families of the men she nursed, and had taken an administrative role as the founder and president of the American branch of the International Red Cross.   I believe that Clara Barton not only touched the lives of the people she worked with, but also changed them, and this is why I chose to research her.
Clara Barton never received any formal nursing training.   Everything she knew was from experience, such as taking care of her brother when he was ill as a child.   She began her nursing career when the Civil War broke out by collecting supplies that were needed and distributing them.   Barton sent advertisements and letters “asking for donations of food, clothing, bedding, medical supplies, lanterns, cleaning supplies and anything else that would be of use to a soldier” (Evans, 2003, p. 77).   She stored these supplies in warehouses until she found a time to use them.
Clara soon found that she was not satisfied just distributing supplies in hospitals, but wanted to go onto the battlefield to assist soldiers awaiting medical attention. She needed to obtain permission to go into the field since she was a woman, and was turned down numerous times.   She finally went to the quartermaster’s office and insisted that she would be of service on the battlefield and that she had warehouses full of supplies to back her up.   The quartermaster agreed and arranged for a wagon and driver to assist her (Holder, 2003).   Barton spent most of her...