Clara Barton A Lifetime Of Service

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Clara Barton National Historic SiteNational Park ServiceClara BartonA Lifetime of ServiceYou must never so much as thinkwhether you like it or not, whether it isbearable or not;you must never think of anything exceptthe need, and how to meet it.During Miss Barton's long lifetime of service, she was honored by powerful leaders of world nations, lonesurvivors of American disasters, the rich and the poor. The world's admiration of Clara Barton is strikinglyevident in the collection of medals and jewels that are preserved as part of the Clara Barton collection at theLibrary of Congress in Washington, D.C. The medals collection consists of 35 containers and is represented herein cooperation with the Library of Congress and with grateful appreciation to Barbara Bair, Historian, ManuscriptDivision and Bruce Douglas, Photographer, Clara Barton National Historic Site, Volunteer in Parks Program.At the onset of the Civil War, Miss Barton was living in Washington, D.C.She began her relief and supply work by helping the soldiers quartered in theCapital City's camps, forts and hospitals. She had stated, “What could I dobut go with them, or work for them and my country? The patriot blood of myfather was warm in my veins.” During the winter of 1861-1862, Miss Barton'sfather became gravely ill. She returned to Massachusetts and stayed by hisside. They talked of the war and of her work with the soldiers inWashington. She wanted to provide for the wounded on the battlefields, butas a woman, she was afraid. Her father alleviated her fears and she laterconfided, “As a patriot he bade me serve my country with all I had, even mylife if need be; as the daughter of an accepted Mason, he bade me seek andcomfort the afflicted everywhere, and as a Christian he charged me to honorGod and love mankind.”Stephen Barton presented his daughter his gold Masonic emblem, asserting that she was to wear it. After hisdeath, Miss Barton returned to Washington, D.C. and pursued a new direction for her relief work. She obtainedtravel passes and headed for the battlefields. Emboldened by her father's sentiments, she faced her relief effortswith a new courage. Clara Barton wore her father's Masonic pin throughout the Civil War and later recalled,“My father gave it to me when I started to the front, and I have no doubt that it protected me on many an occasion.”During the Civil War, Miss Barton worked as an independent civilian. She had not yet founded the AmericanRed Cross nor was she aware of the International Red Cross. Many years later, Miss Barton would be honoredby veterans' organizations and accorded honorary memberships in Civil War remembrance organizations.

2In 1869, on the advice of her doctor, Miss Barton traveled to Europe for a much needed rest. While visitingGeneva, Switzerland, Miss Barton learned of the International Red Cross, a newly formed war relieforganization. The International Red Cross was organized during conferences held in 1863 and established in1864. Twelve nations originally ratified the Treaty of Geneva. Miss Barton was amazed to learn that theUnited States government had rejected the idea of the war relief organization and had not joined, even while shetoiled as a private citizen to supply the needs of the wounded on the American battlefields during the Civil War.When the Franco-Prussian War began in 1870, Miss Barton worked under the sponsorship of the InternationalRed Cross and the German Red Cross. During this service, Clara Barton befriended Louise, the Grand Duchessof Baden (Germany). Grand Duchess Louise was the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm I and the Empress Augusta.She was a noted philanthropist and was credited with founding the German Red Cross. She advocated womenworking in disaster relief and supported the establishment of nursing schools. This friendship was a lifelonginfluence on Miss Barton.The Grand Duchess gave Miss Barton her first Red Crosspin, issued her a railroad pass and sent her to Strasbourg.Miss Barton wore this pin throughout her second war reliefexperience, the Franco-Prussian War.This was a remarkably important period of Miss Barton's life because the knowledge she gained here was vastlydifferent from her Civil War experience. During the Civil War, Miss Barton concentrated on the relief ofwounded soldiers on battlefields. This caused her to follow the U.S. Army, work in temporary areas and moveon. Occasionally, for rest or to resupply, she returned to Washington, D.C., where the city's buildings andsupply centers were untouched by battle conditions. Miss Barton's position with the Red Cross during theFranco-Prussian War had her working mostly with the victims of war; women, children, the elderly or sick, leftbehind in cities where the fighting had destroyed homes, factories, stores and nearly everything that offered anormal lifestyle. In the foreign surroundings of Strasbourg, Paris, Bescançon and Belfort, Miss Barton laboredto restore a sense of community, survival and recovery. She worked among wretched, starving people withwhom she was not even able to speak to without the assistance of a translator.After her first inspection of the burned and wrecked city of Strasbourg, she realized more than six thousandpeople were homeless and many others were ill from starvation, typhoid fever or smallpox. The city was undersiege for nearly two months before it fell to the German Army. Miss Barton stated, “I came suddenly into themidst of such an accumulation of woe - want & misery that there was not a moments [sic] time for anythingbesides attempting to relieve it.”Miss Barton spent several days distributing soup to survivors in Strasbourg. As she worked, she became awarethat a different approach was needed if these people were to recover from their circumstances. She developed aplan to restore work and employment in the city; a plan that would begin the recovery process for the localeconomy as well. She explained to her friend, Grand Duchess Louise, that constantly handing out food would,“make of them permanent beggars and vagrants, thus doing for their morale all that the bombardment haddone for their physical condition.” Miss Barton organized the city's women and established sewingworkrooms. So successful were the workrooms that, within six months, women were sewing nearly every typeof clothing and receiving pay for their work. Clothing supplies for the residents of the city were met. TheStrasbourg seamstresses supplied the clothing needs of the neighboring farming communities and theneighboring farming communities supplied the food needs of the city.Miss Barton's leadership and accomplishments greatly elevated her position in the community. When shebegan her relief work, she had been looked upon as a foreigner and was treated with distrust. When she leftStrasbourg, at the end of her efforts, the residents honored her with a great party and festivities. She wasgreeted and cheered by every attending guest. Miss Barton described the event stating, “they did talk, andlaugh and cry for joy - and such a time some hundreds of poor women almost beggars I think never had - It wasworth going a mile to see.”

3Miss Barton's work with the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War contributed to her international legacy.Kaiser Wilhelm I and the Empress Augusta recognized Miss Barton's accomplishments and honored hercontributions to the war relief efforts with several awards. The Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden alsoaccorded Miss Barton official recognition and presented her with awards and gifts. The amethyst pansy broochand smoky topaz brooch presented to Miss Barton by her dear friend, the Grand Duchess Louise, became hermost cherished possessions.

4When twelve nations originally signed the Treaty of Geneva in 1864, establishing the International Red Cross,the main focus was the relief of the sufferers of war or the victims of warfare. Miss Barton's work during theFranco-Prussian War was unique in its methodology but successful in its application. She brought relief to theinnocent victims of war in a manner that not only encouraged survival of individuals but also stimulated therecovery and growth of the community as a whole. This would later become the basic philosophy behind thework of the American Red Cross. But first America needed a Red Cross society and Miss Barton needed topersuade the United States government to accept and ratify the Treaty of Geneva.As Miss Barton's insight brought a new approach to the relief efforts in Strasbourg, so, too, she brought a newapproach to the concept of a Red Cross Society for America. She stated, “War, although the most tragic, is notthe only evil that assails humanity The American Society of the Red Cross asked to have included in itscharter the privilege of rendering such aid as it could in great calamities, as fires, floods, cyclones, famines andpestilence.” Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in 1881 and expanded the mission to includepeacetime and natural disaster relief. The United States Congress ratified the Treaty of Geneva in 1882.During the twenty-three years that Miss Barton presided over the American Red Cross, the organization wasresponsible for over eighteen peacetime relief efforts as well as relief work during the Spanish - American War.Local chapters of the American Red Cross were established from New York to New Orleans. American RedCross assistance had reached the burnt out remnants of the Michigan wilderness settlements to the impoverishedand famine stricken sufferers of the Russian Empire. Miss Barton organized relief efforts amid the mud andmuck of the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Flood, the barren wreckage of the hurricane stricken regions of theSea Islands, South Carolina and the strange and unfamiliar surrounding of Constantinople, Turkey.

5The American Red Cross relief work conducted inJohnstown, Pennsylvania, following the 1889 floodwas the single largest field of disaster that the youngorganization had faced in its eight years of service.More than two thousand people were killed by thedisaster and thousands were left homeless.Miss Barton wrote of her experience,“I cannot lose the memory of that first walk on thefirst day. The wading in mud, the climbing overbroken engines, cars, heaps of iron rollers, brokentimbers, wrecks of houses, bent railway tracks, tangleswith piles of iron wire, bands of workmen, squads ofmilitary - the getting around bodies of dead animals,and often people being borne away. The smoulderingfires, and drizzling rain.For five weary months it was our portion to liveamid these scenes of destruction, desolation, poverty,want and woe; sometimes in tents, sometimes without;in rain and mud, and a lack of the commonestcomforts, until we could build houses to shelterourselves and those around us.”For five months, Miss Barton and her little team of fifty RedCross workers distributed supplies, provided shelters, builthouses, gave out clothing, organized work teams and createdwork committees. All this ensured that the recovery effortswould continue after the Red Cross left the field of service.The American Red Cross had provided for the needs oftwenty-five thousand people.Out of gratitude, Miss Barton was presented a gold andplatinum locket bearing diamonds and a sapphire. On thereverse it stated, “To Our Friend in Need Miss Clara Bartonfrom the Ladies of Johnstown Oct 24 1889.”Following the Johnstown Flood relief effort, the American Red Cross was busy with fires in Wisconsin, droughtin South Dakota, storms and flooding across Kentucky, Texas and Iowa. Food and medical supplies weredistributed throughout famine stricken regions of the Russian Empire in 1892 and the following year, a severehurricane devastated the coastal farming communities of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.The devastation caused by the 1893 hurricane and storm surge surpassed that which the American Red Crosshad faced as a result of the Johnstown Flood. It was estimated that over 5,000 people were killed; thousands ofacres of unharvested crops were ruined, entire farms washed over, and more than 30,000 survivors neededrelief. Miss Barton reported, “ all vegetable growth destroyed, all animals, even to fowls, swept away, allfresh water turned to salt - not even a sweet well remaining - not one little house in five hundred left upright ”During ten months of work, thousands of houses were built or repaired; fresh water wells were cleaned;hundreds of miles of drainage ditches dug; roads and bridges rebuilt; free schools established; stray farmanimals returned to farmers; nets or assistance repairing boats given to fishermen; seeds for "sea island cotton"(the main cash crop) were obtained and distributed and “nearly five tons of garden seeds” distributed.Vegetable gardens soon began “producing all varieties of vegetables.”

6The work accomplished with the victims of the Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893 went beyond survival and basicrecovery efforts. The American Red Cross was a leader in community education and economic reform. Freeschools were established for the education of the children, but American Red Cross relief workers also providedinstruction in proper business methods and financial management for the farmers and fishermen of the region.Appropriate farming technology: the use of drainage ditches; the importance of fencing out livestock;recommendations of planting early crops and the use of hot beds and fertilizers were demonstrated and stressed.Just as Miss Barton had organized sewing workrooms inStrasbourg, the women of the Sea Islands were organizedinto "sewing circles." In a few months, the islandresidents were so well clothed, that over 20,000 garmentswere shipped to stricken residents on the mainland.Miss Barton ensured that women were paid for their work“in the same manner and at the same rate as men.” Thiswas unusual for the times but not for the manner in whichMiss Barton organized her relief efforts. Miss Bartonsupplied aid to all in need and she treated all survivorswith dignity and equanimity.After the Civil War, the Sea Islands had been settled predominately by former slaves and freeAfrican-Americans. Many of these individuals were skilled in planting and raising cotton, so as they settledinto their new way of life, they established cotton farms. Miss Barton recognized the importance of the"sea island cotton" as a cash crop. Therefore, she arranged for seed supplies from the U.S. Department ofAgriculture in order to replace that which had been destroyed by the storm. She also emphasized theimportance of early crops that would meet both the food and the economic needs of the community.Miss Barton acquired 1,000 bushels of white potatoes foruse as seed potatoes. This idea met with resistance,because there was still an immediate need for food andthese potatoes were worth five dollars per barrel.Miss Barton arranged for the local women to work bycollecting the potato eyes and sprouts. These weredistributed for planting. The result was a fine early cropthat provided an abundant food supply and started theprocess of community self-sufficiency. Over 2,200bushels of corn were also distributed for planting andthey, too, yielded excellent crops. Miss Barton stressedthe importance of planting a variety of vegetable cropsand fruit trees. She wrote,“A good garden and a variety of crops are as necessary for the prosperity of a farmer as they are for his health.Every Sea Islander should plant now a few fig cuttings and a few grape cuttings, and such fruit trees as he maybe able to get; peaches, pears, pecans. In a few years these plantings (if protected from the goats, pigs andcattle) will give plentiful fruit through the 'dry season' (particularly the fig), and the grapes and other fruit willbe a luxury and profit in their season, besides keeping the people in health.”Miss Barton was proud of the success of the Sea Islands relief work. She stated,“It is probable that there are few instances on record where a movement towardrelief of such magnitude, commenced under circumstances so new, so unexpected,so unprepared and so adverse, was ever carried on for such a length of time andclosed with results so entirely satisfactory to both those served and those serving,as this disaster ” The American Red Cross provided immediate survival needsand educated the survivors affording complete community recovery.

7So successful were American Red Cross efforts during disaster relief that the International Red Cross modifiedthe original mission of the organization from providing exclusively war relief to include peacetime and disasterassistance.This change occurred in 1884.The International Red Cross honored Miss Barton'saccomplishments and the American Red Cross by adding the "American Amendment" to the Treaty of Geneva.Three times during Miss Barton's American Red Cross presidency, she served as the leader for internationalpeacetime relief efforts.During the 1892 Russian famine relief, Miss Barton remained in America, where she coordinated donations andshipping logistics. The American Red Cross was not the only charitable organization responding to thedesperate need of the Russian people, but the organization's reputation and Miss Barton's appeal yieldedconsiderable support. American railroads shipped grain from Midwest farms to the port in New York free ofcharge. Telegraph companies provided free wire service. Donations of 12,500 provided funds to hire a ship.Supplies totaling 117,000 bushels of shelled corn, 11,033 bags of flour and meal and additional amounts ofwheat, rye, bacon, canned goods and medicine were shipped to Russia. Dr. Julian B. Hubbell, American RedCross Chief Field Agent, was dispatched and supervised the fieldwork. Red Cross workers delivered suppliesthroughout the stricken areas by rail, caravans and river transport. American Red Cross aid reached famineaffected regions spanning 3,000 miles throughout the Russian Empire.Ten years later, in 1902, Miss Bartontraveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, asa representative of the American RedCross at the Seventh InternationalConference of the Red Cross. At theconference, Miss Barton wasofficially praised and decorated.Because of her efforts during theRussian famine, Czar Nicholas IIawarded her the Silver Cross ofImperial Russia.Miss Barton's involvement in the Russian Famine arose from a clamor by the American people to relieve thesuffering of the Russian people. During the Russian Famine relief work, American aid had been welcomed andthe American Red Cross had worked throughout the Russian Empire in cooperation with the Russian RedCross. Miss Barton’s second international peacetime relief effort also arose from the outcry of the Americanpeople, but she faced a much greater challenge. In 1896, Clara Barton and a small group of American RedCross workers arrived in Constantinople [Istanbul], Turkey and she confronted the ministers of a governmentthat was distrustful of foreign intervention and had refused the assistance of the Red Cross.Miss Barton stated, “The necessity for immediate action was urged; humanbeings were starving and could not be reached, hundreds of towns and villageshad not been heard from since the fire and sword went over them, and no oneelse was so well prepared for the work of field relief, it was said, as ourselves.It was urged that we had a trained force of field workers, and as Turkey wasone of the signatory powers to the Red Cross Treaty of Geneva, having givenits adhesion as long ago as July, 1865, it must consequently be familiar with itsmethods and humanitarian ideas.” She further stated, “By the obligations ofthe Geneva Treaty, all national controversies, racial distinctions, anddifferences in creed must be held in abeyance and only the needs of humanityconsidered. In this spirit alone can the Red Cross meets its obligations as therepresentative of the nations and governments of the world acting under it.”

8The relief effort could not commence un

Clara Barton National Historic Site National Park Service During Miss Barton's long lifetime of service, she was honored by powerful leaders of world nations, lone survivors of American disasters, the rich and the poor. The world's admiration of Clara Barton is strikingly evident in the collection of medals and jewels that are preserved as part .

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