NAWSA SUBJECT FILE Barton, Clara (Clara Barton to H E Blackwell) Washington DC. American Red Cross Jan 3, 1899 Mr. Henry B. Blackwell Dear and honored friend: It gives me pain to be compelled to decline the invitation of your executive committee to be present at the Suffrage Association and try to bear my part in the cause so dear and precious to us all. A meeting at which Mary A. Livermore should preside, and Governor Roosevelt and let me say Henry Blackwell, should speak, is an occasion not to be declined without regret. May I commission you, dear Mr. Blackwell, to say at that meeting what you think I would say if I could be there. Tell them the cause we are advocating is the great cause of the world to-day; that with its final success the shackles will loosen from the pinioned wrists and the scales fall from the blinded eyes. And while congratulating the leading workers, you will surely not forget the great, earnest souls that have labored and won and gone to their reward. Their blessed influence will be with you, the mighty words they would speak will fall from other lips as by inspiration. They will know that you are there, and you will feel that they are, and in that conviction your meeting will be not only blest, but holy. Full of confident trust and tender memories, believe me, my dear friend, as always, Yours Clara Barton Feb 18/93 THE WOMAN'S COLUMN. "THE WOMEN WHO WENT TO THE FIELD." By Clara Barton. [Read at the Farewell Reception and Banquet by the Ladies of Potomac Corps, at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D. C., in response to the toast "The Women who went to the Field."] The women who went to the field, you say; The women who went to the field; and pray What did they go for? - just to be in the way? They'd not know the difference betwixt work and play. And what did they know about war anyway? What could they do? - of what use could they be? They would scream at the sight of a gun, don't you see? Just fancy them round where the bugle-notes play, And the long roll is bidding us on to the fray. Imagine their skirts 'mong artillery wheels, And watch for their flutter as they flee 'cross the fields When the charge is rammed home and the fire belches hot; They never will wait for the answering shot. They would faint at the first drop of blood in their sight. What fun for us boys, - (ere we enter the fight) ! They might pick some lint, and tear up some sheets, And make us some jellies, and send on their sweets, And knit soft soft socks for Uncle Sam's shoes, And write us some letters and tell us the news. And thus it was settled, by common consent, of husbands, or brothers, or whoever went, That the place for the women was in their own homes. There to patiently wait until victory comes. But later it chanced - just how, no one knew - That the lines slipped a bit, and some 'gan to crowd through; And they went, - where did they go? - Ah! where did they not? Show us the battle, the field, or the spot Where the groans of the wounded rang out on the air That her ear caught it not, and her hand was not there; Who wiped the death sweat from the cold, clammy brow, And sent home the message: - "'Tis well with him now;" Who watched in the tents whilst the fever fires burned, And the pain-tossing limbs in agony turned, And wet the parched tongue, calmed delirium's strife, Till the dying lips murmured, "My mother," "My wife!" And who were they all? - They were many, my men: Their records were kept by no tabular pen: They exist in traditions from father to son, Who recalls, in dim memory, now here and there one. A few names were writ, and by chance live to-day; But a perishing record, fast fading away. Of those we recall, there are scarcely a score, Dix, Dame, Bickerdyke, Edson, Harvey and Moore, Fales, Wittenmeyer, Gilson, Safford and Lee, And poor Cutter, dead in the sands of the sea; And Frances D. Gage, our "Aunt Fanny" of old, Whose voice rang for freedom when freedom was sold; And Husband, and Etheridge, and Harlan and Case, Livermore, Alcott, Hancock and Chase. [?] Turner, and Hawley, and Potter, and Hall. [?][?ist] grows aspace, as they come at the [?]. Did these women quail at the sight of a gun? Will some soldier tell us of one he saw run? Will he glance at the boats on the great western flood, At Pittsburg and Shiloh, did they faint at the blood? And the brave wife of Grant stood there with them then, And her calm stately presence gave strength to his men. And Marie of Logan: she went with them too; A bride, scarcely more than a sweetheart, 'tis true. Her young cheek grows pale when the bold troopers ride; Where the "Black Eagle" soars, she is close at his side; She staunches his blood, cools the fever-burnt breath, And the wave of her hand stays the Angel of Death; She nurses him back, and restores once again To both army and state the great leader of men. She has smoothed his black plumes and laid them to sleep, Whilst the angels above them their high vigils keep: And she sits here alone, with the snow on her brow - Your cheers for her, Comrades! Three cheers for her now! [At this point, as by one impulse, every man in the room sprang to his feet, and, led by Gen. W. W. Dudley, gave three rousing cheers, while Mrs. Logan, with her white head bent low, vainly sought to stop the fast-falling tears.] And these were the women who went to the war: The women of question; what did they go for? Because in their hearts God had planted the seed Of pity for woe, and help for its need; They saw, in high purpose, a duty to do, And the armor of right broke the barriers through. Uninvited, unaided, unsanctioned ofttimes, With pass, or without it, they pressed on the lines; They pressed, they implored, till they ran the lines through, And that was "the running' the men saw them do. 'Twas a hampered work, its worth largely lost; 'Twas hindrance, and pain, and effort, and cost; But through these came knowledge - knowledge is power, - And never again in the deadliest hour Of war or of peace shall we be so beset To accomplish the purpose our spirits have met. And what would they do if war came again? The scarlet cross floats where all was blank then. They would bind on their "brassards" * and march to the fray, And the man liveth not who could say to them nay; They would stand with you now as they stood with you then, - The nurses, consolers and saviors of men. * The insignia and arm-band of the Red Cross worn upon the field. Birthplace of Clara Barton 1944 Woman's Column. BOSTON, MASS., FEBRUARY 18, 1893 NO. 7. to the facts and acknowledge it. The dignity of the law is interesting to comtemplate. The men made the laws, and then they represented justice by a woman with a bandage about her eyes. The analogy is absolutely ghastly in its correctness. They have hoisted this travesty around on monuments and court-houses about long enough. It's time the women chopped her down. A RIBBON ON ITS TAIL. Mrs. Caroline B. Buell, reading the stories told at the recent Washington suffrage convention of the naming of calves, mules, etc., after prominent reformers, is reminded of a similar incident. She says: "A temperance worker in Indian Territory, whose heart was all right, whatever else might be said, once wrote me: 'At last I have secured money enough to buy a pony to use in my temperance work. I have named it Frances Willard, and have tied a white ribbon on its tale.'" This is certainly a unique way of honoring the white ribbon. It is the reverse of the method adopted in France during the war in La Vendee, when the royalists tied red, white and blue cockades to the ends of their horses' tails in order to show their contempt for the republican colors. WOMEN VOTING IN MISSISSIPPI. A despatch from Greenville, Miss., to the Memphis Appeal, says: An election was held in this county today on the question of declaring Washington County a stock-law or no-fence territory. From the reports received, the no-fence voters are in the majority. For the first time in the history of this county, ladies were at the polls. Real estate owners, regardless of sex, are permitted to vote on the stock-law question, and a number of wealthy ladies cast their first ballots. A number of negro women, who own small lots in the city, also voted. Indeed, about half of the two hundred and fifty votes cast at the Court House precinct in the city were cast by women. An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with.-- Fuller. In the California Legislature, the bills to give school and municipal suffrage to women have been favorably reported by [the?] committee. A new magazine, entitled Woman's Progress, is soon to be started in Philadelphia. A bill granting township suffrage to women has been introduced in the Illinois Legislature. In New Mexico, a bill extending full suffrage to women has just passed the House of Representatives. It has been given out semi-officially that Governor Lewelling will appoint Mrs. Annie L. Diggs as one of the regents of Kansas University. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE has started a health crusade amongst the villages of Buckinghamshire, assisted by the County Council Technical Instruction Committee. MRS. EMILY C. WOODRUFF, of Little Valley. N.Y., was ordained on Feb. 9 as pastor of the Congregational church of that place. She has been conducting services in the Little Valley church since the death of her husband some months ago. A municipal suffrage bill has been introduced in the Missouri Legislature by Hon. J.E. Carter. It was referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments. Missouri women think the prospects are good for its passing the House. MISS MABEL MCELHENY has won the first prize of $200 offered by the New York Mail and Express for the best tariff essay. The judges were Governor McKinley and Senators Aldrich and Hiscock. Miss McElheny is a newspaper writer. But she cannot vote. The municipal woman suffrage bill was reported in the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Wednesday and came up for second reading on Thursday, Feb. 16. It will come up for discussion, by special assignment, next Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 2 P.M. Those who wish to hear the debate should go early. MISS JULIA S. BRYANT, of Roslyn, L.I., the youngest daughter of William Cullen Bryant, has given to the trustees of the Tilden Trust almost a thousand volumes selected from her father's library at Roslyn. To the books were added some interesting old pamphlets, and a large number of medallions taken from the same collection. The women of Missouri should look sharply after the pending bill to establish the State regulation of vice. In England, in 1869, a similar law was smuggled through a thinly-attended and sleepy House of Commons at about two o'clock in the morning, but it took seventeen years of hard work and distasteful agitation to repeal it. Resist the beginnings. MRS. PHOEBE HEARST has definitely decided to erect a museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The amount to be placed to the credit of the park for the purpose stated will be $1,000,000. Much of the material has been gathered by Mrs. Hearst during extensive travels, and is now stored in her Washington [?] Francisco residences [?] Christmas Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year from Clara A. Adams of the Clara Barton Committee [*19.*] Dec. 12 Information for Speakers HISTORY OF THE RED CROSS from "Facts, 1941", and "Thumbnail Setch", 1942 It was a Swiss idealist, Henri Dunant, who gave to the world the idea of the Red Cross. And it was to honor his memory that the flag of his native Switzerland, red with white cross, was reversed to make the flag of the International Red Cross . Travelling thro Italy in the summer of 1859, he found himself on the outskirts of the bloody battle of Solferino, fought between the French and Austrians, He was so moved by the soldiers dying of wounds, thirst, and exposure that he gathered the neighborhood girsl and women to aid him in succoring them. After three days of this, realizing the futility of their efforts, he succeeded in reaching Napoleon III, who was in command of the French. The young emperor, was so impressed by Dunant that he consented to release all Austrian medical men who had been taken prisoners, so that they might return with Dunant to treat the wounded. This was the first recognition that medical men were neutrals in the battle zone and should treat the enemy wounded as well as their own. Dunant wrote a description of the battle from the point of view of a non-combatant humanitarian and urged the formation of voluntary societies, whose aim should be to succor the wounded in war , and to give aid in epidemics or national disasters. As a result of this book and of his personal efforts, the first international conference in Geneva was called in 1863, and at a second in 1864 the famous articles were drawn up, now known as the Treaty of Geneva. Nine nations signed. The United States was represented – but unofficially. Clara Barton, a former school teacher from New England, and during the Civil War a volunteer worker among the war wounded, was the leader in working to bring the Red Cross principles into use by the U.S. Government. But several successive Secretaries of State opposed signing the treaty, believing that we should keep aloof from general treaties. Finally, eighteen years later, in 1882, President Arthur, with the consent of the Senate, signed the Geneva Treaty. Clara Barton was the first president of the Red Cross and remained so until its reorganization in 1905, under a new Congressional Charter. In this charter, Congress outlined the Red Cross duties and obligations: "To furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of armies in time of war.. "To act in matters of voluntary relief and in accord with the military and naval authorities as a medium of communication between the people of the U.S. and their Army and Navy. . . "To carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace [etc.] and . . to mitigate the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, etc. The treaty and the charter make the Red Cross different from other agencies because it is international and semi-governmental. It is the agent for nations at war in dealing [it] with humanitarian aspects. The World War saw the great development of the Red Cross. Most of its present services were created at that time. Its membership leaped from about a quarter of a million to about twenty millions. Over 400 millions were raised in two War Fund drives. The disaster period, starting in 1926 with the Florida hurricanes, brought the Red Cross into relation with [relief] the government and with people. All people could belong to it, could work for it, and might benefit from it. And after this war the Red Cross must be the agency to relieve the distress everywhere. Clara Barton – formation of the American Red Cross. Miss Barton begged for the organization of the American Red Cross. We were just out of the Civil War and the argument was that we would never get into another. She got the International Red Cross to agree that the Red Cross should help in time of calamity as well as in war. They called it the American Amendment. [*G S B*] Feb. 25, 1933 TWELVE GREATEST WOMEN LEADERS IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS Mary Baker Eddy Jane Addams Clara Barton Frances E. Willard Susan B. Anthony Helen Keller Harriet Beecher Stowe Julia Ward Howe Carrie Chapman Catt Amelia Earhart Putnam Mary Lyon Mary E. Woolley Heading of article in C.S.Monitor, caption under picture of Frances E. Willard "An open poll to determine the 12 greatest women leaders in the United States during the last 100 years was taken recently by the National Council of Women and the Ladies' Home Journal, for the Hall of Fame at the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. The names placed on this roll of honor in the order of votes received were: (see list above) CLARA BARTON "Angel of the Battlefield" BY ELIZABETH ROBBINS BERRY Birthplace of Clara Barton North Oxford, Massachusetts CLARA BARTON "THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELD" BY ONE WHO KNEW HER The name of Clara Barton is known throughout America and Europe. Yet how few, even of those who are doing many things in her honor, realize the many acts of her life which entitled her to the undying veneration of the civilized world. Modest, almost to a fault, her work was done without ostentation, she asking for herself only the privilege of relieving human suffering, and the reward which comes from a sense of accomplishment. HER BIRTH Clara Barton was born December 25, 1821, at North Oxford, Massachusetts, a precious Christmas gift to the world. The parallel of her useful life with that of the Master is made more significant by the fact that she passed to the life beyond on Good Friday, April 12, 1912. She was given the name of Clarissa Harlowe, but on arriving at maturity she chose the simpler Clara Barton, by which name she will always be remembered and which especially suited her simple, steadfast personality. HER FAMILY The Bartons were a pioneer Oxford family. Clara's parents were among a few of the descendants of the earliest settlers who liberalized their creed, built the historic first Universalist Church of Oxford, and ordained Hosea Ballou as pastor. It is said that despite their changed thought, the little Oxford group did not renounce their Puritan habits. However great the distance, or inclement the weather, they were always in their places in the little church—a lesson which might be applied by some Universalists of today, with advantage to our respective communions. In such an atmosphere of the finest type of Universalism Clara Barton was reared, and the writer of this was assured by her personally spoken word that she had never wavered from the faith her parents had helped to establish. HER FATHER AND MOTHER Clara's father had been a soldier. She once said of him that "his military habits never left him and he was her instructor in military and political lore. Because of his teaching, when later she found herself in actual warfare, she never addressed a colonel as a captain, nor got her cavalry on foot nor her infantry on horseback." Her mother (Sarah Stone) was of Revolutionary stock. A very practical woman, she taught her little daughter housewifely accomplishments especially cooking, which was very valuable to her later when she not only nursed the soldiers but fed them. HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS Clara Barton was the youngest of five children. Two sisters and one brother were teachers and she received her early education from them. Much of her fearlessness of physical danger in her battlefield experiences was implanted by her brother Stephen who taught her, when but five years old, to ride bareback at full speed upon the spirited young blooded horses upon the Barton farm. In her own words, "Sometimes in later years when I found myself upon a strange horse in a trooper's saddle, flying for life or liberty, I blessed the baby lessons of the wild gallops among the beautiful colts." A NURSE AT ELEVEN When Miss Barton was eleven years old her education was interrupted by an accident to her brother David and her natural impulse to nurse first found expression. For two years she devoted herself untiringly to him, leaving his bedside for only a single half day. This devotion was prophetic of later service, but her health became greatly impaired. Her growth was arrested, and she was always physically a small woman though graceful and of girlish figure to the end of her long life. TIMIDITY AND SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS It seems paradoxical to make such a statement of such a person, but self- consciousness was a dominant characteristic of Clara Barton's youth. Her later courage was a wonderful demonstration of self-overcoming for the benefit of others. She was super-sensitive, bashful, easily embarrassed. She did not wholly recover from this. Sometimes, even after her fame had resounded throughout the world, she would be so disconcerted by a complimentary introduction to an audience that she would stammer in confusion when she began to speak. She was sent away to school, but was so unhappy she had to return. Later she was sent to another school, where she succeeded in partially overcoming her timidity and finishing the course. A FACTORY WORKER Her parents were troubled as to what career should be chosen for their little daughter. Clara had a great desire to master the art of weaving in her brothers' mills. After much importunity she was allowed to try, but the mills were burned two weeks later, and that ended her experience as a factory worker. A TEACHER About this time a traveling phrenologist, who was consulted as to what Clara was best fitted for, said "Throw responsibility upon her; give her a school to teach." She thereupon became a teacher in a local school, and also bookkeeper in her brothers' mills which had been rebuilt. In the meantime she fitted herself for the Clinton Liberal Institute at Clinton, N. Y., where she completed a course giving her all the education which the schools of that day allowed to a woman. IN NEW JERSEY On graduating Miss Barton was persuaded to assume charge of a public school at Bordentown, N. J. There had been a strong prejudice against such schools and she was warned that success was impossible. This whetted her determination. She began with six pupils, which number, in three years increased to 600, and the public school system had been made permanent. Her voice and health failed and she was forced to resign. The schoolhouse where she taught is now a Clara Barton Memorial. A GOVERNMENT CLERK For recuperation she went to Washington. She could no longer teach, but she had developed a very clear handwriting of the copperplate variety (the typewriter had not been invented) and when, because of the discovery of irregularities, a position as a clerk in the Interior Department was offered her, she accepted it and became one of the first, if not the first woman to be so employed. A weakness in the Patent Office came to her attention. She was placed in charge of a confidential desk where she received a salary of $1400, a large one for that day, and equal to that of a male clerk in a similar capacity. It was considered a "dangerous precedent," and aroused much opposition from the men in the department, who made conditions very disagreeable for her. When President Buchanan was inaugurated she was removed, ostensibly because of her political sympathies, but so expert had she become in untangling records that later she was reinstated. BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR As the war clouds thickened, after the inauguration of President Lincoln, there was no doubt in Clara Barton's mind as to which side she was on. She had been thrifty, had saved some money which she had invested well-- "but what," she said, "is money without a country." She resigned her position, prepared to sacrifice herself and her little fortune if need be, though she had no definite idea just how it should be done. She did not have long to wait. When the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment reached Washington, after the historic passage through Baltimore on April 19, 1861, she found her work. When the train arrived with the wounded, she, with other devoted women, was there to meet them. They dressed the wounds of the men and fed them. The Senate Chamber of the Capitol was the scene of the feast and from the Vice-President's desk Clara Barton made what she afterwards wrote of facetiously as her first literary effort. Many of the men were from her own Worchester County in Massachusetts, and she read to them from the Worcester, "Spy." This service created a desire to go to the front, to minister to the wounded. She wrote at the time, "I struggled long and hard with my sense of propriety; with the appalling fact that I was a woman whispering in one ear and thundering in the other the groans of suffering men . . . dying like dogs, unfed and unsheltered, for the life of every institution which had protected and educated me; . . . . . I say it now with humiliation; I am ashamed to have thought such a thing." At that time society and tradition absolutely forbade a good woman going near a battlefield, and there were also iron-clad army regulations to be overcome. HER FATHER'S DEATH Miss Barton was then in her fortieth year. In July 1861, she witnessed the flight back to Washington of the Union army after the first battle of Bull Run, and assisted in the care of the wounded. She then decided that she would throw aside all restraint and nurse the suffering and the dying. At this time a call came to her from the bedside of her dying father. She went immediately to Oxford. There was always a beautiful confidence between that father and daughter, and before he passed away she told him what she had resolved to do. "Go," he said— "I know soldiers, and they will respect you." After her father's death Miss Barton returned to Washington determined to ignore convention, and to override army red tape. CLARA BARTON A NURSE It has been said by her would-be detractors that Clara Barton was not a nurse. Certainly she was not a trained nurse, as we know them today. There were none at that time. But all the tenderness of the finest type of womanhood, all that experience could teach her, was freely given for the relief of the soldiers. For a year she worked in Washington unceasingly for the relief of the wounded brought there. In the meantime she had solicited and received large quantities of comforts from the people of the North. These she desired to take to the field, where they were much needed, the Government making no such provision of supplies as in the recent World War. GOES TO THE FRONT After months of rebuffs, Miss Barton finally prevailed upon her Quartermaster- General Rucker to give her passports. Her first battlefield was Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862. After this battle she wrote: "Five days and nights with three hours sleep, a narrow escape from capture, and some days of getting the wounded into Washington hospitals. If you chance to feel that the position was rough, and unseemly for a woman, it was also rough and unseemly for men—but under all lay the life of a nation." Miss Barton was undoubtedly the first woman to go to the front, for this was before the great and noble and Christian commissions which came later had found their way there. She was present at the battles of Falmouth, Fort Wayne, Deep Bottom, Chantilly, Fredericksburg, second Bull Run, Charleston, Spottsylvania, Richmond, Antietam, Morris Island, and the Mine. She had a keen sense of humor, and wrote of her journey to one of those fields: "Our coaches were not elegant or commodious; they had no windows, no seats, no steps; a slide door on the side the only entrance and that higher than my head. For my method of attaining my elevated position I beg of you to draw upon your imagination, and spare me the labor of reproducing the boxes, barrels, boards and rails which seemed to help me up on in the world" THE BATTLE OF CHANTILLY A description of this battle was written soon after in a letter to her home folks. She stated how for two days she had ministered to the wounded, taking no time to eat or sleep. When she finally attempted to eat, late in the afternoon of the second day, in the midst of a downpour of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, the decisive action began. In her wonderful description of the chaos which seemed to follow she said: "The courage of the men who braved death in the darkness of Chantilly let no man question." Her two woman assistants were worn out and could work no longer but she continued to prepare for the wounded such food as remained - army crackers beaten to crumbs between stoned, mixed with wine or whiskey and water, and sweetened with coarse brown sugar. Later, thoroughly exhausted, she managed to get two hours rest upon the ground in a small tent through which rivulets of water were flowing. She was aroused by the coming of more wagons with more wounded men. She wrung the water from her hair and her skirts and returned to her work. Again she says; "The morning of the third day broke upon us, drenched, weary, hungry, discouraged and under orders to retreat. The enemy's cavalry, skirting the hills, admonished us that we must soon go from them or with them. But our work must be accomplished, and no wounded men given into our hands must be left. "At three o'clock an officer said to me, 'Can you ride?' 'Yes, sir.' 'But you have no lady's saddle - could you use mine?' 'Yes, or without it, if you have a blanket and surcingle.' 'Then you may have another hour,' he replied." At the end of that time he returned and told her that a train was leaving in two minutes for Washington, which they hoped to reach if a bridge a short distance beyond had not been destroyed. She saw that the last wounded man was aboard, got on the train herself, and arrived safely in the capital city. In five days she had slept but two hours. It is surprising that she slept twenty-four consecutively? HER CHARGE OF A WAGON TRAIN For a time Miss Barton was in sole charge of a wagon train, conveying to the field supplies which had been sent her from the North. The rough men who were the drivers and who had seen the harder side of war, resented being directed by a woman, but she so won them by her consideration and courtesy that they became her most devoted assistants. By their help she often succeeded in passing the army at night, arriving at the scene of battle with her supplies in time to be of real service. Following the battle of South Mountain, she thus found herself the only woman among 80,000 men. She wrote at that time: "I was faint but could not eat; weary but could not sleep; depressed but could not weep. So I climbed into my wagon, tied down the cover, dropped down and prayed with all the earnestness of my soul that God would stay the morrow's struggle or send us victory." When asked by an officer at that time if she did not need protection she said, "I think I am the best protected woman in the United States." HER ABILITY TO CUT RED TAPE As an instance of her ability to cut red tape, which many recall in connection with the was in Cuba, it is recorded that on one of her journeys with the wagon train, they were driving before them a herd of cattle to be used as food for the army. Passing a house used as a Confederate hospital, the surgeon in charge appealed to them, stating that his parents were dying for want of proper nourishment. In those days an army respected the needs of the wounded, whether friend or foe. The officer in charge of the cattle rode up to Miss Barton and said, "What can I do? I am a bonded officer and responsible for the property in my charge." "You can do nothing" she replied "but ride on ahead. I am neither bonded nor responsible." She consulted with one of her drivers, and soon a large white ox disappeared from the drove, and went over to the enemy. Miss Barton not only fed the soldiers, but bound up their wounds and cared for the sick. She allowed nothing, not even when herself seriously ill, to stand in the way if she could make a suffering soldier comfortable; and this with only such materials as she had been able to gather together, principally by personal appeals to the people of the North. BREAKING A DEADLOCK At Belle Plain, following Spottsylvania, Clara Barton found thousands of wounded men without food or care, the wagons conveying them unable to move, because of congestion and deep mud which in places reached to the hubs of the vehicles. Her own supplies were exhausted, and she was powerless to help them. She resolved to go to Washington and to call attention to the official stupidity which allowed such a thing to occur. With her to resolve was to act. Arriving at the capital at night, she immediately communicated with Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, late Vice-President of the United States. She told him the story and although the hour was late, he immediately called the War Department authorities together and insisted that they send aid. The Department doubted Miss Barton's story but Senator Wilson in his characteristic way convinced them that they would do something immediately or face action by the Senate. The wheels were then set in motion, and the situation relieved. Characteristically, Miss Barton gave all the credit to Henry Wilson. ASSISTS DISCOURAGED SURGEON At Antietam she found the surgeons with only their instruments and a little chloroform which they had brought in their pockets. Not a bandage, rag, bit of lint, or string, and scores of shell-wounded men bleeding to death. One surgeon was trying to perform an operation with only a pile of green corn leaves and his instruments. Imagine the relief brought by the soft old linen which she had received from the women of the North. Again, she found at night a discouraged surgeon with but a small bit of candle, and a thousand wounded men needing immediate attention. She had learned much by experience, and among her supplies at the time were four boxes of candles, which she gave him, and his work went on. Some years later she mentioned the incident in a public address, and a man came upon the platform saying that he could testify that the story was true as he was the surgeon. At the same place while she was giving a drink of water to a wounded soldier, a bullet passed between them, tore a hole in her sleeve and killed her patient. She never mentioned that hole. "I wonder," she said, "if soldiers ever mend the holes in their uniforms." One man insisted that she extract from his cheek a ball which was causing him intense suffering. This she did successfully though she had no knowledge of surgery. Yet, in spite of her many and various experiences, there are women who never saw a battle who calmly assert that Clara Barton was not a nurse. ALMOST A MIRACLE One of her experiences seems almost miraculous. She found herself without food for a large number of wounded men in her care. Only some salt and several cases of wine remained. The wine would stimulate but not feed, and the need was great. Imagine her gratitude, when the cases were opened, on finding that some of the bottles were packed in fine Indian meal, from which she made gallons of delicious gruel. It is told of her that she was often seen at night, after a battle, going over the field with her little lantern, fearing that among the dead some living sufferer might have been overlooked. No case of suffering failed to appeal to her. At times she nursed the Confederate wounded; at others she rode for her life to escape capture by the men in gray. GRATITUDE OF THE SOLDIERS Hundreds of Union Veterans of the Civil War have acknowledged their indebtedness to Clara Barton for life. She was also venerated by many Confederates because of her ministrations to them. Of her many battlefield experiences, the memory of Fredericksburg was especially painful to her, but she always insisted that defeat wrested from President Lincoln and the American people the Emancipation Proclamation. A NEW FIELD OF SERVICE At the end of the Civil War there were 80,000 men missing from the Union armies. Miss Barton received heart-breaking appeals from mothers and wives who believed that she could locate their absent loved ones. In March, 1865, President Lincoln, who had met Miss Barton in the hospitals and knew of her work, summoned her to the White House, and consulted with her as to methods of obtaining information of the missing. But when he was assassinated, a few weeks later, she was left to solve the problem alone. At Mr. Lincoln's suggestion, she had located at Annapolis, where thousands of exchanged prisoners from the Southern prisons were being received, but it was two months before the War Department gave her authority to proceed with the work. ASSUMES THE INITIATIVE When Clara Barton encountered a deadlock, she always assumed the initiative. She therefore organized a department herself, using her own money. At this time a wonderful thing happened. In answer to her advertisements for information concerning the missing men, she discovered a young man from a New England state, Dorance Atwater by name, a discharged prisoner from Andersonville. While there, though little more than a skeleton himself, he had been detailed by the Confederates to keep an official list of the Union dead and the order of their burial. He had managed to make a duplicate copy of the list, which he had secreted in his coat lining. This list he had offered to the Government, urging immediate action before the graves were forever obliterated. The Government delayed. He then wrote Clara Barton and his story impressed her deeply. "SEEING STANTON" The writer heard Miss Barton relate the following story. A day or two before the assassination of President Lincoln, she went to him and told him of the material Mr. Atwater had secured and urged that immediate action be taken. Mr. Lincoln suggested that she "see Stanton," the Secretary of War. In those days "seeing Stanton" was a terrifying experience. It was said that even the great President stood somewhat in awe of his Secretary of War. It was the only thing to do, however, and Miss Barton described the trepidation with which she, a tiny woman, only five feet two, stood before the tall Secretary with the big voice. He listened to her story. When she had concluded he roared, "Would you go?" "Yes." "When?" "Tomorrow." "Be ready. You may hear from me." AT ANDERSONVILLE The next day, with a detachment of soldiers under command of a lieutenant, and accompanied by the young man who had furnished the list, she was on her way. She dared not take another woman, knowing what conditions to expect and fearing she might become a helpless burden upon her hands. For six weeks, in midsummer weather, Miss Barton slept in a small tent. Every day, in the intense heat, she and the young soldier directed the work, with the result of 12,800 Union dead and 400 Confederates were properly buried and their graves marked. It was not a minute too soon. When the task was finished, she with her own hands raised the Stars and Stripes over Andersonville and never saw that place again. A simple stone, erected there since her death by the National Woman's Relief Corps, tells the story. LOCATES TWENTY THOUSAND MISSING MEN Congress having at last been moved to action, she returned to the work of locating missing men with the result that she and her clerks were able to learn the fate of 20,000 of the 80,000 men whose places were vacant. The rest will remain forever unknown. Congress reimbursed her for the expense which she had incured. IN THE LECTURE FIELD Later she entered upon a less congenial occupation, but only after much urging and repeated claims that she owed it to the American people to tell the story of the war as she saw it. "I am willing to give my service to relieve suffering," she said, "but if I must talk, I insist upon being well paid." She accordingly engaged with James Redpath for a series of 300 lectures, at a price which would be liberal even now. In the field she was very successful. John B. Gough said of her that he never heard anything more touching, more thrilling, than her talks upon the war. But the strain, following the years of exposure and almost superhuman service, proved too great. One evening, in the early winter of 1868, as she appeared before a large and brilliant audience, her voice failed, and she stood speechless and terrified before her listeners. Nervous prostration had developed. She lay helpless all winter, and was finally ordered abroad to recuperate. NOT DEFEAT, BUT A STEPPING-STONE This seemed to be defeat, but really led to what became her life work. A few months later, in Geneva, she was visited by the President and several members of the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded in War. They wished to know why the United States had declined to sign the treaty of Geneva, now known as the Red Cross. To what did America object, and how could the objection be overcome? Twice the treaty had been presented to the Government at Washington and in both instances had been ignored. The international Red Cross was thus first revealed to Clara Barton, and caused her to think seriously. VISITED THE GRAND DUCHESS OF BADEN While still in Switzerland, in 1870, war was declared between France and Germany. One day Miss Barton was called upon by the Grand Duchess of Baden, daughter of the King of Prussia, who hailed her in the name of humanity, and she knew of her work in the American Civil War, and begged her to go with her, and consecrate her experience to fields of relief in the war just opening. Miss Barton stated that she was an invalid, and had been ordered to rest for three years, but the appeal of the Grand Duchess was strong, and Clara Barton could not say no. After careful consideration she put all question of health aside, and answered the call. THE RED CROSS On the battlefields of Enrope she first saw the work of the Red Cross, which, she declared, accomplished more in four months than the United States had done in four years. She resolved that if she ever returned to her native land, she would use every effort to make her own people understand and adopt the Red Cross. THE STOREHOUSE AT BASLE Miss Barton's work in the Franco-Prussian War is a remarkable chapter. It was an especial source of satisfaction to her later that she had partici- pated in the first great test and triumph of the Red Cross and had had a vision of its future usefulness. Her first visit to a Red Cross storehouse at Basle revealed a larger supply of stores ready for the field than were available in the United States during even the fourth year of the Civil War. She spent some time there, studying the work thoroughly, that she might judge it in all its practical bearings. ANTOINETTE MARGOT At this time she met Antoinette Margot, a young girl, Swiss by birth and French by education, and an artist of some note. She had resolved to go alone to the front but when she was presented to Miss Barton, they decided to go together. AGAIN AT THE FRONT They started by carriage, the railroads having been destroyed. They met thousands of refugees, who urged them to turn back. SOLDIERS OF THE UNITED STATES Reaching Strassburg, Miss Barton sent her card to the American consulate, with the message that she would call the following morning. Doing so, she found the consulate profusely decorated with American flags and was surprised to find that, though Germans, the consul and vice-consul had both been soldiers of the United States, as surgeon and chaplain, respectively. With their assistance Miss Barton and her companion were able to go still farther toward the front. Miss Barton wrote: "We had the American flag at the front of our carriage, and the first sentry halted us to know what it was. When informed he promptly disputed it. It was not the American flag at all, and only by reference to a chart of flags could he be convinced." MISS BARTON'S RESOURCEFULNESS In the hurry of departure the two had forgotten their Red Cross flag and their insignia but Miss Barton, as ever, was resourceful. Retiring she twisted a bit of red ribbon which she happened to have into a Red Cross, and sewed it to her sleeve. They finally reached the German lines which they were unable to pass except by submitting to capture. CLARA BARTON A PRISONER Addressing the Colonel in charge Miss Barton said: "Do you mean by this, Colonel, that we shall be thrown into confinement and held there? "Oh, no! You will be prisoners of war — free within our lines, but not to pass outside until the close of the war." "The wounded will be within your lines?" "We hope so, Madam. We hope to lose no fields." "And your lines extend from Belgium to Switzerland and from Berlin to here?" "Certainly." "That is space enough for me. Let me in." For the first time in her experience Clara Barton was a prisoner of war. A LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIP Within the German lines Miss Barton again met the Grand Duchess of Baden, who was untiring in her conduct of the Red Cross work. Her many castles we transformed into military hospitals, and her entire court with herself was organized for relief. Notwithstanding, she was the daughter of the King of Prussia, later Emperor William I, a warm friendship began between the Grand Duchess and Miss Barton, which was terminated only by death. The Grand Duchess wrote "I conceived great affection and admiration for Miss Barton . . . . . How can I forget what she had been to us here, helping us in such a wonderful way. She was one of those who understood fully the meaning of the Red Cross, and knew how to put into action the great and beautiful though difficult duties involved. Next to this, my personal relations with dear Miss Barton have been most particular ones." THE FALL OF STRASSBURG Throughout that war Miss Barton followed the German cannon. At length Strassburg fell, and when the gates were thrown open to the conquerors, Miss Barton entered with the German army, determined to relieve the besieged French citizens in their starvation, nakedness and wounds. Thousands were without a roof over their heads, an ounce of food or an article of clothing, save the rags they wore. They had neither work nor wages. ESTABLISHES A BUSINESS It has been said that Clara Barton was not a business woman, but at this time she drew upon her resources, purchased materials, and set 250 women at work making articles of clothing. There was no building to use as a workroom or storehouse. She noticed a large flat rock, and there she established headquarters. For eight months 1500 garments a week were turned out, a large workroom being finally obtained. To Clara Barton there was no difference between wounded and needy Germans and French. Her charity, like her religion, was all-inclusive. CO-OPERATION OF THE GRAND DUCHESS After working several weeks, Miss Barton returned to tell the story to the Grand Duchess of Baden. So impressed was the noble woman that she followed her friend back to the distressed city with supplies, many assistants, and more money than could be used. As practical as she was heroic, Miss Barton remonstrated with her, saying that she was making paupers by her generosity. "Send materials rather than clothing," she said, "that I may have them made up, and thus create an industry for the people. They were not beggars as French. We must not make them so as Germans." The Grand Duchess responded with materials for 30,000 garments, which gave the people work and wages. ENTERS PARIS Later, when the victorious armies entered Paris, Miss Barton went with them accompanied only by a German woman friend. She worked among the French for reconstruction and mercy, through the medium of the Red Cross, which she had come to a value. RECEIVES DECORATION In the recognition of her service in Europe she received the Iron Cross of Germany from Emperor William I, who personally pinned it upon her dress; also the Gold Cross of Remembrance from the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden. She was also presented the Red Cross of Geneva by the International Committee of Switzerland. She was the guest of many royal and other distinguished personages and was received with honor everywhere. RETURNS TO THE UNITED STATES In October of 1872 she returned home. She had not forgotten her resolve to establish the Red Cross in the United States if possible, and she made many efforts to bring it to the attention of the Government, but without success. After many rebuffs she was advised to give the matter up as hopeless. But that was not her way. She persisted, and in 1877 the treaty was presented to President Hayes, by whom it was promptly shelved. She then tried Congress, although she regretted the necessary discourtesy to the administration. The treaty received neither patronage nor votes. BEGINNING OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS Finally she spoke publicly in its favor, doing all she could to create interest among the people. She also formed a Red Cross committee, consisting of three women and one man. In the light of recent events it is somewhat amusing to note that one great objection to the adoption of the treaty was that we had no wars and were not likely again to have any. Miss Barton argued that our great country was liable to have disastrous and overmastering natural calamities. The result was the plan later evolved for the extension of the work of the Red Cross to disasters in time of peace. This was Miss Barton's own suggestion, and became known as the American Amendment. REORGANIZATION AND INCORPORATION The original committee of Red Cross was later reorganized and incorporated under the name of the American Association of the Red Cross. By advice of President Garfield and three of his Cabinet it was changed to the Association of the American Red Cross, and President Garfield appointed Miss Barton its president. ACCEPTANCE OF THE TREATY He had planned to recommend in his next message the adoption of the treaty by Congress, but because of his untimely death that message was never written. President Arthur, however, took up the work, the treaty was accepted, and received the Presidential signature in March, 1882 TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF WORK Miss Barton's work for twenty-three years as President of the Red Cross would fill volumes of space. On nearly every field where the Red Cross went she was present in person, remaining until need no longer existed. She even superintended the rebuilding of some devastated districts. The writer of this, having been assured that Miss Barton was not a business woman, tried to decide how it was that she achieved such wonderful results if she had not a strong business sense with all the rest. An interview with one who had assisted her on several fields was sought and the question "How did Miss Barton do her work?" was asked. MISS BARTON'S METHODS How did she begin when arriving at the scene of a recent disaster? Was she orderly in her procedure, or was there confusion everywhere? The story told in reply was so remarkable, such a vindication of the executive ability of Miss Barton, as one who could even estimate the exact amount of material necessary to rebuild or restore a community, that by request it was later repeated to a stenographer, and a permanent record made. Those who were present and heard every word dictated were fully convinced that although Clara Barton may not have studied modern business methods, she was quite as remarkable as an organizer as in many other respects. A DELEGATE TO GENEVA CONVENTION In 1885 Miss Barton was a delegate to the Geneva Convention of the Red Cross. Again she met the Emperor and Empress of Germany, also Bismark and Von Moltke. She received the Red Cross from the Queen of Serbia, a flag voted by the Congress of Berne, and a silver medal from the Empress of Germany. A jewel given her at the time by the Grand Duchess of Baden, a large pansy cut from a single amethyst with a perfect pearl as the center, was worn almost constantly by Miss Barton until her death. A little later she received the Diploma of Honor of the Red Cross of Austria, and a jewel from the Queen of Prussia. AN APPEAL FROM RUSSIA In 1862 came an appeal for food for the famine sufferers in Russia, and $800,000 was raised by the Red Cross. MISS BARTON GOES TO TURKEY A remarkable instance of her tact and ability was shown when in 1897 word came to the United States of the first Armenian massacres, and that human beings were starving and could not be reached. Turkey was one of the signatory parties of the Red Cross treaty, but was so fearful of possible political interference, that word was given out that not even so reputable an organization as the Red Cross would be allowed to enter that country. Miss Barton determined to face the Sublime Porte in person, and although then Seventy-five years of age, she went to Turkey, presented the case, and received the permission she sought. The American Red Cross was given the freedom of Turkey, and the necessary relief was rendered. As a mark of recognition of the good work done, Miss Barton received a diploma and decoration from the Prince of Armenia, and the same from Sultan of Turkey. THE WAR WITH SPAIN Notwithstanding her seventy-seven years, the war with Spain called Miss Barton to Cuba, where her skill in cutting Government red tape, and releasing much-needed supplies became familiar history. THE GALVESTON FLOOD In 1900, although then nearly eighty years of age, the Galveston flood brought Clara Barton again into the field. The writer heard Miss Barton relate the story of that terrible experience. When the little Red Cross band arrived they found work for heart and hand and brain. The dead were lying in the streets unburied. Some of the living were entirely without clothing and all needed food. There was not time for records or for reports, yet her work was criticized without mercy. "With so much to be done, and so few workers, it would have been cruel to take time for statistics," said Miss Barton. "The American people had always trusted me. I took what they sent and did the best I could with it." As a mark of their appreciation the Legislature of Texas expressed to the Red Cross and personally to Miss Barton their grateful acknowledgment. VISITS RUSSIA In the summer of 1902 occurred the Convention of the International Red Cross at St. Petersburg, Russia. Miss Barton, although then in her eighties, represented the United States, and was tendered a reception the magnitude of which was little realized in her own country. The Czar at this time personally conferred upon her the Russian Decoration of the Order of the Red Cross. RESIGNS FROM RED CROSS Miss Barton resigned from the presidency of the Red Cross on June 16, 1904. The Society was then reorganized and placed under a Board of Control, with an executive committee, and with the President of the United States nominally as president. CLARA BARTON AN INDIVIDUALIST In a marked degree Clara Barton was an individualist. She had worked largely upon her own initiative, her only referendum being her country or the world. She was dozen years beyond the allotted age of mankind when her great work was finished. It was not vanity, as has been charged, which kept her in active service so long. Rather it was a passion for humanity, a desire to spend herself to the utmost in ministering to those who were suffering. The years passed by unheeded. She had her work. The Red Cross was her life. The passing years have wrought changes in needs and methods. It was temperamentally impossible that Clara Barton could have achieved such remarkable results as she did, had she been restricted by a Board of Con- trol. Yet recent events have proved the solid foundation upon which she builded. Her work for the Red Cross will forever live in history, being better understood as the years pass. THE RED CROSS AND THE WORLD WARS It would have been most gratifying to Miss Barton could she have remained to witness the magnificent work of the Red Cross, which she founded, during the two World Wars since her death. Yet, those wars would have brought her many a heartache, aside from the suffering involved. She was American to the utmost depths of her being, yet at times would have come the memory of the many kindnesses received from the German people in bygone years. Especially would she have been hurt through her long friendship for the aged Grand Duchess of Baden, aunt of the Kaiser, who was her friend and correspondent to the last, and whose roses rested upon her casket. THE NATIONAL FIRST AID ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Miss Barton's work for humanity did not end with the Red Cross. For many years she had been impressed with the value of First Aid to the Injured, and had tried without success to have it incorporated in the work of the Red Cross. On April 18, 1905, the National First Aid Association of America was organized, and Miss Barton became its president. Faithfully she attended the official board meetings of the new society, helping by her counsel and her experience, but her active work was finished. The First Aid Association still exists, and carries her name as president, as a permanent memorial. The wisdom of her judgment concerning the need of First Aid has been proven by the fact that the Red Cross now includes its practice in its activities, and during the recent war and in many accidents which occur in industrial life many precious lives have been saved by a knowledge of First Aid treatment. A LIFE TO EMULATE Truly a wonderful life was that of Clara Barton, and conditions have so changed that we may never have her like again. Her religion has been a subject of controversy. "I have never failed in my loyalty to the Universalist Church," she said to a friend not long before her death. "But should we not be thankful that in our faith there is no obstacle to broadening of thought, or to recognizing the good in our faiths which we cannot wholly accept." "THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELD" Clara Barton was idolized by the men of the Civil War. From them she received the name she loved and which is carved upon her simple monument, "The Angel of the Battlefield." For her they named their Posts, their allied societies, and many a middle-aged woman bears the name, "Clara Barton" given in gratitude by her soldier father. She died at Glen Echo, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, on Good Friday, April 12, 1912. Her funeral services in her home town of Oxford, Massachusetts, were arranged, by the Grand Army of the Republic, and over her open grave the service of that noble order was read, an honor seldom, if ever, given to any other woman. The committal service was by an aged Universalist comrade who had once been her pastor. LOVE FOR HOME PLACES Clara Barton loved her native state and the town where she was born, with its little Universalist church, with unfailing loyalty. She regretted that her birthplace had passed into the possession of strangers. If her gentle spirit can sometimes visit the old familiar places, she must be very happy in the knowledge of what the women of her own church are doing in her name. At the time of her death an Associated Press paragraph, sent broadcast, stated that effort had been made to secure for her a final resting-place in Arlington Cemetery, near Washington. The simple facts are that two years previous, Clara Barton had had the remains of all her loved ones collected and placed in a large lot in the most beautiful part of the Oxford Cemetery, and had arranged that she, too, should rest in their midst. HER PERSONALITY Some there are who remember her well, and all will agree that in the best sense she was a gentlewoman. Her contact with the battlefield and its horrors had never in any degree impaired the fineness of her character. She was refined, dainty in her dress, a tactful hostess of wonderful charm, a remarkable conversationalist, with a command of our mother tongue such as few possess. Yet her outstanding characteristic was simplicity, such as is said to have set Abraham Lincoln apart from the men of his time—the simplicity of the highest and finest type of human character, of true greatness. It never occurred to her friends or to herself that she was old. Physically active, mentally alert, the years touched her lightly. Her life was a wonderful instance of the development of a sensitive, self-conscious girl into a glorious womanhood, which will be always an inspiration to her sex. SERVICE TO HUMANITY Only by service to humanity can Clara Barton be honored. Already the receding years reveal more clearly the grandeur of her life and her work, and in the retrospect of the future she will come into her own, and be recognized at her true value. The Clara Barton Birthplace Camp for Diabetic Girls carried on at her birthplace by The Association of Universalist Women is a living memorial to this great woman. Where else do we find a woman whose ideal of service was exemplified by nearly fifty years of untiring effort to relieve human suffering? And she was one of us. THE CLARA BARTON BIRTHPLACE A brief resume of developments — Date of purchase—March 1921, by the Women's National Missionary Association of the Universalist Church, now The Association of Universalist Women, headquarters, 16 Beacon Street, Boston 8, Massachusetts. Date of Dedication—October 12, 1921. Cost of purchase and restoration, $13,857.56 Restoration of the barn at an approximate cost of $5,000 — 1930. Number of visitors yearly about 1000, from all parts of the world. House furnished according to the period — 1820. Gifts from members of the Barton family and friends are made each year. These add to the beauty and charm of the house. Survey and establishment of boundaries completed. The house open to visitors throughout the year with custodians regularly employed. The ell remodeled for living quarters of custodians. Artesians well driven (the first in 1925) to insure adequate supply of pure water. The "bunk house," — the original camp sleeping quarters for the Fresh Air Camp, retained and remodeled for use as a Camp Infirmary. Seven new sleeping cabins, scrub parlor, infirmary, cabin for resident doctor and nurses, Administration Building (1938). Pond on premises made usable for swimming and boating (1948). The above are but a few of the outstanding developments at the Birthplace of Clara Barton since its purchase in 1921. Activities Fresh Air Camp started in the summer of 1926. This became the Clara Barton Birthplace Camp for Diabetic Girls in the summer of 1932. It was first established as a co-operative adventure in faith with Dr. Elliott P. Joslin of Boston and Oxford. 1948 was the seventeenth successive season of the camp, now the joint project of the Association of Universalist Women and the Diabetic Camp, Home and Hospital Fund of which Dr. Joslin is chairman of the Advisory Committee. Flag Day annually observed as Clara Barton Day on the Saturday nearest to June 14. Special groups and patriotic societies entertained; Open-House days for special occasions. For Maintenance and Future Development An increased Endowment Fund. Fund totals about $53,000. (1949) Christmas Stocking Coin cards holding $1.00 in dimes to be filled for operation of camp. A FORM FOR BEQUEST I give and bequeath to The Association of Universalist Women, a corporation established under the laws of the District of Columbia and having a usual place of business in Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the sum of....................................................................................................dollars to be used by the Association in connection with its work with children Signed ........................................................................................ Business Office of The Association of Universalist Women, 16 Beacon Street, Boston 8, Massachusetts [*Oct 7 / 93*] MISS CLARA BARTON, president of the National Red Cross, telegraphed on Oct. 2, from Beaufort, S. C.: "The Red Cross has to-day officially assumed control of the relief of the Sea Island sufferers. This implies the housing, feeding, clothing and nursing of 3,000 people for eight months, with no aid from the government and no fund but the direct charity of the American people. Our headquarters and address are at Beaufort, S. C." THE PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU. 45 Vesey Street, New York, 68 Devonshire Street, Boston Commercial-Tribune Building, Cincinnati, Railroad Building, Denver. Clipping form Woburn, Mass. — NEWS Date ....OCT 14 [189?] [*3*] Clara Barton on Woman Suffrage. A letter from Clara Barton has recently been given to the press, which may be of interest to many, as coming from one who has devoted her life to the service of her country, which, in turn, refuses her any voice in choosing those who are to rule over its destinies. "I believe I must have been born believing in the full right of women to all the privileges and position which nature and justice accord to her in common with other human beings. Perfectly equal rights,—human rights. There was never any question in my mind in regard to this. I did not purchase my freedom with a price; I was born free; and when, as a younger woman, I heard the subject discussed, it seemed simply ridiculous that any sensible, sane person should question it. And when, later, the phase of woman's right to suffrage came up, it was to me only a part of the whole, just as natural, just as right, and just as certain to take place. "And whenever I have been urged, as a petitioner, to ask for this privilege for woman, a kind of dazed, bewildered feeling has come over me. "Of whom should I ask this privilege? Who possessed the right to confer it? Who had greater right than woman herself? Was it man, and if so, where did he get it? Who conferred it upon him? He depended upon woman for his being, his very existence, nurture and rearing. More fitting that she should have conferred it upon him. "Was it governments? What were they but the voice of the people? What gave them their power? Was it divinely conferred? Alas! no; or they would have been better, purer, more just and stable. "Was it force of arms—war? Who furnished the warriors? Who but the mothers? Who reared their sons and taught them that liberty and their country were worth their blood? Who gave them up, wept their fall, nursed them in suffering, and monrned them dead? "Was it capital? Woman has furnished her share up to the present hour. Who then, can give the right, and on what basis? Who can withhold it? "In regard to my nationality, I was born in the old Huguenot town of Oxford, Mass., U. S. A. My father and mother were born there. My grandfathers and grandmothers, with two exceptions, were born, lived, died and were buried there. "There is, once in a while a monarch who denies the right of man to place a crown upon his head. Only the great Jehovah can crown and annoint him for his work, and he reaches out, takes the crown, and places it upon his own head with his own hand. I suspect that this is in effect what woman is doing today. Virtually there is no one to give her the right to govern herself, as men govern themselves by self-made and self-approved laws of the land. But in one way or another, sooner or later, she is coming to it. And the number of thoughtful and right minded men who will oppose, will be much smaller than we think; and when it is really an accomplished fact, all will wonder, as I have done, what the objection ever was." CLARA BARTON. W. C. T. U. WOMEN AT CHICAGO. In Chicao, on Oct. 16, at 8 A. M., at the Art Palace, the second biennial convention of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union met, bringing together women representing not only this continent, but many other lands. Lady Henry Somerset, who had journeyed especially from England in her capacity of vice-president-at-large of the organization, to represent Miss Willard, who is in England for her health, [c]alled the opening session to order. At the afternoon session the convention resolved itself into a mass meeting under the presidency of Rev. Anna H. Shaw, and addresses were delivered by several foreign delegates, among them Lady Henry Somerset, of England, Miss De Broen, president of the French Women's Christian Temperance Union, and Sen Tsuda, of Japan. Lady Henry Somerset read, amid breathless silence, an address from Miss Frances Willard, dictated from her bed of sickness, at her temporary English home. It was a general review of the work in all parts of the world made in the cause of temperance by W. C. T. U. missionaries. [*Oct 21 / 93*] [*Sept 30 / 93*] THE WOMAN'S COLUMN. CLARA BARTON IN SOUTH CAROLINA. CHARLESTON, SEPT. 20, 1893. Editor Woman's Column: Miss Clara Barton's visit of mercy to South Carolina will not only be of incalculable relief and benefit to the suffering people on the Islands, but it seems now as if she will make a broader place for the women of the State. Ten years ago, when Mrs. Chapin, the president, and Mrs. Harley Walter, the corresponding secretary of the W. C. T. U., replied to an attack on the National President, because of her suffrage ideas which she had expressed in her address in Columbia, the papers throughout the length and breadth of the State had only words of condemnation. The two ladies were "because of their influence" pronounced "dangerous," and the ladies of the State were warned against them and the organization they led. It was the first time any ladies had dared say over their own names that they "wanted the ballot," and although these ladies were by no means radical, and wanted an "educational qualification," they were literally ground between the upper and lower stones of the printing press. To-day we see in the News and Courier, the leading paper of our State, this thought, "We think Miss Clara Barton ought to vote." This is the first gun from the enemy. General Hemphill will not feel so lonesome hereafter. The world is moving. CHARLES S. EZELLE. The Record of a Rich Life The Life of Clara Barton By William E. Barton, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2 Vols. $10, This book is full of inspiration Clara Barton, "the angel of the battle field," world famous for heroism, was in childhood abnormally timid. Of her years, she said: "I remember nothing but fear." She learned to control it completely and, even as a child, she did brave things. Her father, a farmer, raised blooded colts. Her elder brother delighted to catch two of these beautiful young creatures, broken only to halter and bit, throw his five-year-old sister on the back of one, spring upon the other himself, bid her cling fast to the mane, and then, holding her by the foot, and grasping both bridles, tear away at full speed, in and out among the other colts, and away over hill and dale, both youngsters full of glee. She said: "Sometimes, when I found myself suddenly on a strange horse in a trooper's saddle, flying for life or liberty, I blessed the baby lessons of the wild gallops among the beautiful colts." Ever afterward, her seat on the horse was as firm and east as in a rocking chair. For 20 years she was a successful teacher. She persuaded the school authorities of Bordentown, N. J., to start the first free public school in that place. There was a great objections; she was told that parents would never send their child to a "pauper school." After the school grew large and flourishing, a man was made principal in her stead, to the pupils' great regret. Government Work in Washington Tired of teaching, she went to Washington, D. C., where she became an efficient clerk in the Patent Office. When the Civil War broke out she was appalled by the lack of facilities for caring for the wounded, before they could be got to the hospitals. The problem was one of organization and distribution. She solved it - raised her own supplies, and received Government permission to take them to the front, following right behind the cannons. "This was in contravention of all established custom, which was for women to remain far in the rear until wounded soldiers were conveyed to them, or until the retreat of the opposing army made it safe for them to come upon the field." She wrote afterward that, in the beginning, "I struggled with my sense of propriety. I say it was humiliation. I am ashamed that I ever thought of such a thing!" She soon commanded not only the respect but the enthusiastic devotion of the men who worked as her assistants, and she was almost adored by the soldiers. She fed and cared for the wounded, with the bullets cutting through her clothes. After one great battle, she worked for 42 hours at a stretch. Miss Barton was ardently in a favor of pushing the war to a victorious close; but to a former soldier whom she had nursed, and who urged her to use her great influence in favor of an immediate peace, she wrote: "While I observer with pain the wide difference of opinion existing between us, I shall not take to myself more of honesty of purpose or patriotism than I award to you. I never shall forget where I first found you. The soldier who has toiled and marched and fought, and only left the ranks of death when he hand no longer strength to stand up in them--- is it for me to rise up in judgement and accuse this man of want of patriotism?" The same reasoning might well have been applied, during our late war, to certain men and women who had always been valiant :soldiers of the comment good." Miss Barton was often disgusted by the greed and dishonesty of army contractors, and, in some cases, by the inhumanity of officers, but she kept sweet through all. Her letters and journals show no trace of personal jealousy. She was on excellent terms with the Sanitary Commission and the Christian Commission, though she preferred to do her work independently. She had been in the field long before them, and she said, "If I have by practice acquired any skill, it belongs to me to use untrammeled, and I might not work as efficiently or happily under the direction of those less experienced than myself." After the War Activities After the war she devoted herself, with government authorization, to locating soldiers who were "missing." She ascertained for thousands of anxious relatives whether some son or brother was yet living. In 1869 Miss Barton went to Europe. She was in Switzerland when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. Here, for the first time, she met the [?] also in other great calamities, and through her influence this broadening of it's scope was later adopted all over Europe. For more than 20 years Miss Barton, as president of the American National Red Cross, gave aid to sufferers from various disasters at home, as well as in the Russian famine, the Armenian massacres, and the Balkan and Spanish-American wars. Always she came back laden with the blessings of the people. Her work was wholly disinterested. She had independent means, and she vetoed every proposal that she should receive a salary or an appropriation from Congress. In Prison Reform Work In an interval between calamities, she served as superintendent of the Reformatory Prison for Women at Sherborn, Mass. She maintained perfect discipline, yet worn the warm affection of the prisoners. She wrote afterward: "I would recommend not only a uniform kindness and firmness on the part of every attendant, but a uniform politeness as well. It increases self-respect. This they have lost, and this they need to have restored as far as may be. Make punishment as rare as possible, but sure, and in all instances as light as the case will admit of. I regard undue severity of punishment as far more harmful than no correction at all. Cultivate the love of the conflicts by all proper means; it is more potent than punishment." Nationally and internationally, Clara Barton was overwhelmed with honors. She ranked with Florence Nightingale. But there came a time when her retirement as president of the American Red Cross became desirable. She could not realize it' she did not see how the Red Cross could get on without her. Under pressure, she resigned; but it almost broke her heart. However, as her biographer says, if she could not bear it like philosopher, she bore it like a Christian. She continued to devote herself to good works, and started a national movement for the widespread teaching of "first aid." which she had tried in vain to get the Red Cross to take up. Always simple, unassuming and frugal, she lived happily in her home at Glen Echo, where guests and animals alike shared her kindness. "Outside the window where she sits the mason wasps build their nests in the mud. Woe to the man who [no content] them! The wasps are as welcome as the birds to a home at Glen Echo. Two or three wasps fly through the open window and light upon her half-eaten apple. She will not permit them to be driven away. There is enough for the wasps and for herself. Like St. Francis and the birds, she is at home with every kind of gentle life, and the wasps, she maintains, are gentle if gently treated. She gently pushed them away from her apple when she is ready for another bite, cutting off a piece and leaving it on the corner of her desk for the wasps. They light upon her hand, her forehead, they buzz round her; but they never sting her. She and they are friends." To the last she was active and useful. She had always been too busy helping others to find time to write her own life. Her cousin has written it, not in a spirit of eulogy, but with appreciation and intelligence. It is a beautiful record of a rich and noble life. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Mother of Our Red Cross To the Editor of The Herald: Clara Barton should be gratefully remembered during the Red Cross drive. As originally organized in Europe the Red Cross provided only for the giving help in time of war. When Clara Barton tried to have a Red Cross established in America, the authorities said, "We are just out of one war and we mean never to have another, so there will be no use for a Red Cross." Miss Barton went to Europe and persuaded the Red Cross to adopt an amendment to its constitution, broadening its scope to cover giving help in great natural disasters such as a fire or flood. It was called "the American amendment." Her efforts to get a Red Cross in this country continued to be fruitless, however, until Gen. Garfield was elected President. He had been on the battlefield when she was caring for the wounded so near the front that bullets cut through her duress. He promised her to do his best to bring about the establishment of a national Red Cross here. He was assassinated before this was accomplished; but this successor carried out the pledge. Clara Barton was the mother of the American Red Cross, and it is owing to her that the world-wide Red Cross gives help, not in a war along, but also in all great calamities. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge. to them, or until [?] opposing army made it safe for them to come upon the field." She wrote afterward that, in the beginning, "I struggled with my sense of propriety. I say it with humiliation. I am ashamed that I ever thought of such a thing!" She soon commanded not only the respect by the enthusiastic devotion of the men who worked as her assistants, and she was almost adored by the soldiers. She fed and cared for the wounded, with the bullets cutting through her clothes. After one great battle, she worked for 42 hours at a stretch. Miss Barton was ardently in favor of pushing the war to a victorious close; but to a former soldier whom she had nursed, and who urged her to use her great influence in favor of an immediate peace, she wrote: "While I observe with pain the wide difference of opinion existing between us, I shall not take to myself more of honesty of purpose or patriotism than I award to you. I never shall forget where I first found you. The soldier who has toiled and marched and fought, and only left the ranks of death when he had no longer strength to stand up in them-- is it for me to rise up in judgment and accuse this man of want of patriotism?" The same reasoning might well have been applied, during out late war, to certain men and women who had always been valiant "soldiers of the common good." Miss Barton was often disgusted by the greed and dishonesty of army contractors, and, in some cases, by the inhumanity of officers, but she kept sweet through all. Her letters and journals show no trace of personal jealousy. She was on excellent terms with the Sanitary Commission and the Christian Commission, through she preferred to do her work independently. She had been in the field long before them, and she said, "If I have by practice acquired any skill, it belongs to me to use untrammeled, and I might not work as efficiently or happily under the direction of those less experienced than myself." After the War Activities After the war she devoted herself, with government authorization, to locating soldiers who were "missing." She ascertained for thousands of anxious relatives whether some son or brother was yet living. In 1869 Miss Barton went to Europe. She was in Switzerland when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. Here, for the first time, she met the Red Cross. She had never heard of it, though it had been organized internationally in 1863. There was no branch of it in the United States. The invitation to this country to join it had been turned down, for fear of "entangling alliance." Miss Barton was asked to help the wounded, and responded at once, raising supplies from America, and laboring in both Germany and France. She earned the gratitude of both sides, and won such official decorations as have never before or since been awarded to an American woman. Then, for many years, she worked alone and single-handed to get the United States Government to recognize the Red Cross. Administration after Administration was deaf to her plea. Press and public were indifferent or hostile. The bitterest enemies of the project were the "society women." At last President Garfield and his Secretary of State were won over. A treaty recognizing the Red Cross was drawn up. Garfield did not live to sign it, but it was signed by his successor, and ratified by the Senate, in 1882. The United States was the last of the great civilized countries to take this step. In Europe the Red Cross was formed solely for war relief, but Clara Barton secured a clause authorizing the American organization to give help [?] mud. Woe to the man [?] them! The wasps are as we[?] the birds to a home at Glen [?] Two or three wasps fly through the open window and light upon her half-eaten apple. She will not permit them to be driven away. There is enough for the wasps and for herself. Like St. Francis and the birds, she is at home with every kind of gentle life, and the wasps, she maintains, are gentle if gently treated. She gently pushes them away from her apple when she is ready for another bite, cutting off a piece and leaving it on the corner of her desk for the wasps. They light upon her hand, her forehead, they buzz round her; but they never sting her. She and they are friends." To the last she was active and useful. She had always been too busy helping others to find time to write her own life. Her cousin has written it, not in a spirit of eulogy, but with appreciation and intelligence. It is a beautiful record of a rich and noble life. Alice Stone Blackwell. [*Clara Barton*] Mother of Our Red Cross To the Editor of The Herald: Clara Barton should be gratefully remembered during the Red Cross drive. As originally organized in Europe, the Red Cross provided only for giving help in time of war. When Clara Barton tried to have a Red Cross established in America, the authorities said, "We are just out of one war and we mean never to have another, so there will be no use for a Red Cross." Miss Barton went to Europe and persuaded the Red Cross to adopt an amendment to its constitution, broadening its scope to cover giving help in great natural disasters such as fire or flood. It was called "the American amendment." Her efforts to get a Red Cross in this country continued to be fruitless, however, until Gen. Garfield was elected President. He had been on the battlefield when she was caring for the wounded so near the front that bullets cut through her dress. He promised her to do his best to bring about the establishment of a national Red Cross here. He was assassinated before this was accomplished; but his successor carried out the pledge. Clara Barton was the mother of the American Red Cross, and it is owing to her that the world-wide Red Cross gives help, not in war alone, but also in all great calamities. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.