Between the Bullet and the Hospital Clara Barton and the Civil War - A Lecture Honoring the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War

Date: September 1, 2015
Contact: Kevin Patti, 301 320 1407

Glen Echo, MD –Clara Barton National Historic Site will host a special illustrated talk by a park ranger on Saturday, September 19 at 4:00 p.m. in honor of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Photos from the Civil War era will be used to explore the dangers Clara Barton faced and to highlight her accomplishments. The talk will be given in the hall of Miss Barton's historic home. Consider taking the 3:00 p.m. tour of the house and then sitting down for this interesting talk at 4:00 p.m. To make reservations for the talk, please call: 301-320-1407.

Miss Barton wrote: "My business is stanching blood and feeding fainting men; my post the open field between the bullet and the hospital." How does it make you feel to help people? What if you faced opposition to helping people because of your gender? Clara Barton struggled to gain access into a Victorian-era work force that limited professional opportunities for women. When the Civil War started she was an unmarried woman living in Washington City and fighting to keep a job at the U.S. Patent Office. The Civil War set Miss Barton on a path of a different type of public service, one where she endured some of the same terrible conditions and extreme dangers as the soldiers. This path took Miss Barton to Antietam, where she worked as the battle raged around her. At the battle of Fredericksburg she was the only woman working at the front!  After the war, Clara Barton traveled to Europe to recover from years of stress caused by the war. There she discovered the International Red Cross. She then returned to America with the desire to found the American Red Cross.