_{By Volunteer Bill Thawley}

Clara Barton, one of the great heroines of 19th-century nursing, has left an enduring legacy in the United States as founder of the Red Cross. She played a pivotal role in U.S. history, especially during the Civil War. Many events during her lifetime shaped her ambition, will, and commitment to human rights, culminating in the creation of the Red Cross. So, here’s the rest of her story. This part will take us up to the mid-1850s.

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on Christmas Day in 1821 on her parents’ farm in North Oxford, Massachusetts. The youngest of five children, she was named after the title character of Samuel Richardson’s novel Clarissa. Her father, a farmer and horse breeder, had been a soldier in the War of 1812 and was a leader in progressive thought in the community. Her parents also founded a local church; they may have been abolitionists, but their positions on women’s rights differed.

As a child, Barton excelled in school. She was painfully timid but also tough, keeping up with her male cousins as they played together. Her devotion to caring for others began at a very young age: At 10 years old, she took on the mission of nursing her brother David back to health after he’d sustained a head injury from a fall. In the process, she learned much about the medications of the day. She kept caring for her brother long after doctors had given up on him. He made a full recovery.

Barton applied herself to her studies and received her teaching certificate at age 17. At that point, she embarked on a campaign to promote the value of free public education for children living in impoverished communities. She was easily approachable and earned the children’s respect. They adored her, sought her guidance, and considered her a big sister.

Barton’s teaching methods melted away some of the fears and anxieties that had compromised her health when she was younger. Although she taught mostly without wages, in 1840 she demanded the same pay that her male counterpart was earning, and she received it.

In 1850 Barton decided to further her education at the prestigious Clinton Liberal Institute in upstate New York. This was one of the only coeducational academies in the country at the time. But her success there was cut short when her mother passed away in July 1851. Her friends Mary and Charlie Norton invited her to stay at their farm in Hightstown, New Jersey, as they thought this would clear her mind.

The Nortons soon discovered that the Cedar Swamp School in Cedarville had a vacancy for a teacher. Barton accepted the position, with the thought that Mary Norton could serve as her assistant. She rarely stayed at her desk and rapidly gained the respect and confidence of her students. Within a month, the school’s attendance grew from 39 to 60 students. But this was not a free school; parents paid for their children’s education. This didn’t sit well with Barton, whose home state of Massachusetts had free public education. It was one of her motivations for leaving the school and traveling to Bordentown, about 15 miles south. Her friend Charlie had taken a job teaching there.

In 1852 Barton accepted a job teaching at one of the first free public schools in the state of New Jersey. Her assistant, Fannie Child, was another friend of hers. Enrollment swelled from six to 600, and the school became so successful that the school board built a new eight-room schoolhouse. Because of the size of the student body, the board decided that a school principal was needed. A woman, the members felt, was not worthy of the position, so they hired a male principal. Barton had been earning $250 a year; they paid him twice that. Again, she demanded equal pay for the same work as a man—and was denied her salary increase.

From our 21st-century perspective, that turn of events now seems fortuitous. That denial was the nation’s benefit: Barton’s departure to Washington, DC, set her life and career on a new trajectory and ultimately, it changed our nation forever.

READ PART 2 of The Rest of Her Story by Volunteer Bill Thawley, including Barton’s employment in Washington, the Angel of the Battlefield, and reunifying soldiers with their families.

READ MORE about the incredible humanitarian work of Clara Barton.