Clarissa Harlow, American Red Cross, Educator And Nurse

Clarissa Harlow â€Å"Clara† Barton was founder of American Red Cross, educator and nurse. She was born in Oxford, Massachusetts on December 25, 1821. She spent much of her time helping others, such as tending to her brother after he was involved in an accident. At the age of 15 she became a schoolteacher and later went to open a free public school in New Jersey. She later became a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office in 1854 but lost the job two years later when the Democrats won the presidency. Throughout her life she was a teacher and helped people whenever the opportunity appeared. From 1861-1865 the Civil War had taken place in the United States. Many men went and fought to protect the rights that they believed in. Thousands were killed and millions more were injured due to the fighting. Many women volunteered and signed up as nurses to help the injured men and try to save their lives. Their duty as nurses was not to only help those that were sick or injured but keep the others healthy enough to fight. Clarissa Barton was one of those women who signed up as a nurse during the Civil War. At first she collected and distributed supplies and meals for the Union Army. She quickly got tired of just taking care of supplies and meals so she went to the front lines to help the injured men. Clarissa was on the frontlines to clean wounds, meet basic needs, and comfort the soldiers in death. Some battles Clarissa saw combat in were at Fredericksburg, Virginia and Antietam. â€Å"When tending to