Clara Barton is most known for founding the American Red Cross. She began her life in Massachusetts as the youngest of five children and became a teacher in early adulthood. She was also a self-taught nurse by way of tending to her brother when he was badly hurt by a fall. Upon the death of her father, Clara Barton remembered: “As a patriot, he had me serve my country with all I had, even with my life if need be; as the daughter of an accepted Mason, he had me seek and comfort the afflicted everywhere, and as a Christian he charged me to honor God and love all kind. The door that nobody else will go in seems always to open widely for me.” True to her word, Clara went to aid the soldiers during the American Civil War and became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield.†In May of 1881, Clara established the American Red Cross. Her legacy is immense.
