After the first battle of Bull Run in 1862 Barton established an agency dedicated to obtaining supplies for and distributing those supplies to wounded soldiers. At first she was forced to stay behind the lines and service soldiers brought back from the front, going as far as to be allowed to accompany ambulances - however, Barton wasn’t given permission to travel to the lines herself until July 1862, after several petitions to the U.S. Army’s bureaucracy.

By 1864 Barton was named “the lady in charge” of all frontline hospitals of the Army of the James, and in 1865 Abraham Lincoln gave Barton a rather important duty - search for men missing in combat. A young soldier by the name of Dorence Atwater had managed to procure a list of the dead from the south and, using that list, Atwater and Barton went to Andersonville after the war with 42 carvers, all of whom worked together to erect the necessary tombstones to the dead soldiers. This worked earned them all the nicknames of the “Angels of Andersonville”.

Barton would later travel the country speaking of her experiences during the way, giving public lectures to anybody who would listen (and there were lots).

- Barton first traveled to Europe in 1869 because her voice went hoarse and she lost it for some time. There she met representatives from the Red Cross who first introduced her to the organization.

- Barton was a nurse during the Civil War and helped save the lives of many soldiers. At the time, however, the Red Cross did not have the power to act on a battlefield without being attacked by the enemy, so Barton’s actions are all the more courageous.

- Before becoming a nurse Barton was a government clerk in Washington in 1854.

- Barton’s favorite color was red.

- Barton loved to ride horses in her spare time. She’d been taught by her older brother David.

- Barton was a vegetarian.

- Barton loved animals, especially cats.

- Whenever she went to a military camp Barton had to have some kind of escort - it was considered quite improper for unmarried women to circulate among the men unescorted.

Established 75 years ago, the Clara Barton Camp is one of the programs held on behalf of the Barton Centre For Diabetes Education. It is divided into two week and five day programs and give the girls a chance to do what you’d expect at any camp: swim, play sports, do arts and crafts, take field trips, and interact with the boys from the nearby Joslin Camp (which is basically the male version of Clara Barton Camp).

The whole campe takes place at a modernized campus that provides suitably rustic cabins that are nevertheless state-of-the-art and provide the best experience possible. Its staff include well-trained counsellors and a team of health care professionals to ensure that every girl attending the camp is cared for.

Open every summer, the Clara Barton Camp is a place to help children suffering like diabetes feel like everybody else. For more information, check out their website.

Named after the American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, the Clara Barton School follows a definite mission statement (taken from their website):

“At Clara Barton Elementary we believe that each student is unique and has the ability and right to find success at school. We seek to collaborate with families in order to develop the total child; academically, socially, emotionally and physically. Clara Barton Elementary will continually foster self-esteem to develop confident, independent thinkers with an eagerness to learn.”

The school is a well-equipped, modern building with a developed nutritional system, a seasoned staff and strict policies designed to keep its students healthy and safe while on the school grounds. It accommodates students in Kindergarten up to Grade 6.

The Clara Barton School is also the birthplace of the Barton Bear Hug, a reward given to students noted for their good behavior. Students receiving these rewards are eligible to win prizes from the main office once each week.

But where did it all start? What did the Clara Burton education consist of?

In fact, not that much. Her early education was provided almost exclusively by her brothers, her sisters (all older, of course) and lots of reading. Apparently that was enough to let the bright girl teach, and she was doing so in Massachusetts while still just a teenager. She stopped briefly in 1850, mind you, but that was only so she could go to school to learn how to be a better educator in New York. She was back by 1852, having started a school that grew to 600 students within a year.

A year-round camp, the Center is dedicated to educating their charges on the risks of and proper habits for dealing with diabetes, and regularly provides a variety of fun events for children to engage in, from golf to adventure trips to any number of family and coed programs.

There truly is no better place to go if your child is afflicted with diabetes. These people understand, and want to give as much help as possible.

There website is http://www.bartoncenter.org/

Naturally, such a woman has plenty of Clara Barton books written about her. If you’re interested in Barton you might want to look at Clara Barton: In the Service of Humanity, by David Henry Burton (is that last name just a coincidence?). Or non-fiction picture book Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield, written by Allison Lassieur and illustrated by Brian Pascale. Or perhaps Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross by Augusta Stevenson. Given how Barton herself so enjoyed books, she’d probably approve your reading any of the above.

The saga of Clara Barton American Red Cross began during the American Civil War. She spent much of the war searching for soldiers who had gone missing and tending to those who were injured. After a stressful period doing this she went to Europe to recuperate, were she witnessed the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Created just five years earlier (1864), the ICRC was dedicated to aiding the injured in war, regardless of their nationality.

Upon returning to America Barton pushed the government to create a similar organization, which soon happened – with her as the President. Her work, quite obviously, has borne fruit since.

Clara Barton was an American teacher and nurse who lived during the late 1800’s. She is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.

After the Battle of Bull Run in April of 1862, the first major land battle of the American Civil War, Barton put years of nursing experience to good use. She established an agency that would collect and distribute supplies to injured soldiers and, later that same year, obtained permission to travel behind the lines to deliver medical supplies and care for the wounded. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln placed Barton at the head of searching for missing Union Army men, a work she continued after the conclusion of the war.

On a trip to Europe in 1870, Barton became involved with the International Committee of the Red Cross. When Barton returned to the United States, she started a campaign to begin an American branch of the Red Cross. Barton became the organization’s first president in 1881, a position she held until her resignation in 1904.