Clara Barton Research Paper
Sydney Rosenblatt
7th hour
Clara Barton
Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton was born December 25, 1821, in North Oxford,
Massachusetts, to Captain Stephen and Sarah (Stone) Barton. Her father was a prosperous businessman and community leader who served in the Indian wars and regaled Clara with war stories. Educated mainly at home by her older siblings—she was the youngest of five children—
Clara was acutely shy.
When her brother David became seriously ill following a barn-raising accident, 11-year old Clara nursed him for two years. The family enlisted the help of a doctor who used hydrotherapy to cure David within a few weeks. Following David’s recovery, Captain Barton sent Clara to a private boarding school and though she was able to keep up …show more content…
Clara took the teacher’s exam—a brief oral exam given by a minister, a lawyer, and a judge— and began teaching in May 1838 in North Oxford. As a teacher, she enthralled her students and refused to discipline them physically, though corporal punishment was a common practice in
19th-century schools. She later wrote, "Child that I was, I did not know that the surest test of discipline is its absence." Six years later, she opened her own school.
In 1850, to further her own education, Clara enrolled at the Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton,
New York. After a year of study, she moved with a friend to Bordentown, New Jersey. At the time, New Jersey had no free public schools, but with support from the local community Clara opened a free public school. Although enrollment was initially low, by the end of the year she
had about 200 pupils. Her project was such a success that the community built a new school and, much to Clara’s surprise, hired a man to run it— at twice her salary.
Clara resigned and moved to Washington, D.C., where she became the first female clerk at the U.S. Patent Office. After President James Buchanan took office in 1857, her position …show more content…
The Baltimore Riot killed and wounded several soldiers and civilians. A makeshift hospital had been set up for the soldiers at the new U.S. Capitol building in
Washington, D.C. As soon as she heard about the riots, Clara left the Patent Office to tend the wounded, some of whom she knew personally. She collected food, medicine, clothing, and other supplies for the troops, many of whom arrived with just the clothes they were wearing. Clara wrote friends in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey urging them to help, soon building a volunteer supply network that would last the entirety of the war.
Clara wanted to help with the war effort as much as she could and offered to do the work of two clerks at the Patent Office, drawing only the salary of one, so that two male clerks could be released to fight in the war. With no precedent, the Patent Office refused and Clara resigned, dedicating herself to help with the war by any means she could, initially collecting and dispersing supplies and eventually nursing the wounded.
She met and was one of the first to tend to the routed multitudes from the First Battle of
Bull Run in July 1861 and, in October, the soldiers returning from the Battle of Ball’s Bluff,
7th hour
Clara Barton
Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton was born December 25, 1821, in North Oxford,
Massachusetts, to Captain Stephen and Sarah (Stone) Barton. Her father was a prosperous businessman and community leader who served in the Indian wars and regaled Clara with war stories. Educated mainly at home by her older siblings—she was the youngest of five children—
Clara was acutely shy.
When her brother David became seriously ill following a barn-raising accident, 11-year old Clara nursed him for two years. The family enlisted the help of a doctor who used hydrotherapy to cure David within a few weeks. Following David’s recovery, Captain Barton sent Clara to a private boarding school and though she was able to keep up …show more content…
Clara took the teacher’s exam—a brief oral exam given by a minister, a lawyer, and a judge— and began teaching in May 1838 in North Oxford. As a teacher, she enthralled her students and refused to discipline them physically, though corporal punishment was a common practice in
19th-century schools. She later wrote, "Child that I was, I did not know that the surest test of discipline is its absence." Six years later, she opened her own school.
In 1850, to further her own education, Clara enrolled at the Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton,
New York. After a year of study, she moved with a friend to Bordentown, New Jersey. At the time, New Jersey had no free public schools, but with support from the local community Clara opened a free public school. Although enrollment was initially low, by the end of the year she
had about 200 pupils. Her project was such a success that the community built a new school and, much to Clara’s surprise, hired a man to run it— at twice her salary.
Clara resigned and moved to Washington, D.C., where she became the first female clerk at the U.S. Patent Office. After President James Buchanan took office in 1857, her position …show more content…
The Baltimore Riot killed and wounded several soldiers and civilians. A makeshift hospital had been set up for the soldiers at the new U.S. Capitol building in
Washington, D.C. As soon as she heard about the riots, Clara left the Patent Office to tend the wounded, some of whom she knew personally. She collected food, medicine, clothing, and other supplies for the troops, many of whom arrived with just the clothes they were wearing. Clara wrote friends in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey urging them to help, soon building a volunteer supply network that would last the entirety of the war.
Clara wanted to help with the war effort as much as she could and offered to do the work of two clerks at the Patent Office, drawing only the salary of one, so that two male clerks could be released to fight in the war. With no precedent, the Patent Office refused and Clara resigned, dedicating herself to help with the war by any means she could, initially collecting and dispersing supplies and eventually nursing the wounded.
She met and was one of the first to tend to the routed multitudes from the First Battle of
Bull Run in July 1861 and, in October, the soldiers returning from the Battle of Ball’s Bluff,