She was born in 1821, in a time when women did not have the same rights and privileges as men. But from very little on this little lady would prove that no matter your gender you let nothing stand in the way of what you were born to do.
With no education her only means to learn came from her older siblings who often spent hours teaching her about reading and writing when she was young. At age eleven she helped her brother back to health after he fell from the barn rafters an almost died. Even at this very young age her dedication for helping others was undeniable. She stayed at her brother’s side for three years caring for him, administering medicine and nursing him back to health.
Having tapped into the giving gene she went on to get schooled and become a teacher. She always had a deep need to give back and to help others. She even opened the first public free school which was such a success the town opened another one and hired a man to run it, paying him twice what Barton was making. Unhappy with this she left for a new career path, government office.
It was 1854 and Barton became the first woman clerk ever to work in the US Patent Office at a salary equal to a man’s salary. But sadly after much opposition the position was eliminated and she spent the next three years soul searching on what lay on the road ahead.
Her thoughts always went back to paving the way for other women in government positions. So in 1860 she returned to the Patent Office only being able to get the job title copyist, but she was there nonetheless and knew her life had a bigger purpose.
That greater purpose came to light during the civil war. Many injured soldiers were brought to her town and quarantined. With little help to nurse them back to life she jumped in on the front lines and started caring for the fallen men. She made such an impact that she was granted the access to ride in the military ambulance out to battlefields to care for the wounded soldiers. She even battled congress and won the rights to bring her own medical equipment into the field to help save these men’s life. Within no time at all and against all odds for women at this time she was on the front lines of some of the worst battles in history, caring for the wounded and nursing the sick back to health. She saved countless men from horrific death and did it all out of a need to give back and to help her fellow man.
At one battle a bullet tore through her sleeve of her dress just missing her but sadly hitting the patient she was attending to. With such dedication she was named ‘"The lady in Charge” and become a significant hero in history.
After the war she went on to start a foundation to help search for the missing soldiers which lead her into her most famous act of kindness of all. From heading up the search for fallen men she went on to press government into signing onto the European Red Cross. Even after the government signed on she moved the agency forward by having it include help in the face of natural disaster. She was the founder of the American Red Cross and she served for the cross till the age of 83. She helped millions of people; saved hundreds of life’s and did it all at a time when women were not given the means to have such success.
She was a woman who let nothing stand in her way, who dodged bullets for what she believed in and in the end she created one of the most humanitarian agencies in America. She is Clara Barton. What would our world be like had she not persevered and founded The Red Cross?
Obstacles in life are only road blocks, they are never dead ends, so let nothing stand in the way of what you were born to do.