Clara barton angel of the battlefield biography summary

Her father was a prosperous farmer. As a teenager, Barton helped care for her seriously ill brother David — her first experience as a nurse. Fowler, who examined her as a girl. She resigned when she discovered that the school had hired a man at twice her salary, saying she would never work for less than a man.

How did clara barton die

However, the following year, Secretary of the Interior Robert McClelland, who opposed women working in government, reduced her to copyist with a lower salary. In , the Buchanan Administration eliminated her position entirely, but in , she returned as copyist after the election of President Abraham Lincoln. When the Civil War began in , Barton quit her job and made it her mission to bring supplies to Union soldiers in need — among them, men of the 6 th Massachusetts Infantry.

This started a life-long career of aiding people in times of conflict and disaster. She joined Frances Gage in helping to prepare formerly enslaved people for their lives in freedom. After the war, Barton helped locate missing soldiers and mark thousands of graves. She also testified in Congress about her wartime experiences.

In , Barton traveled through Europe to regain her health.