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Clara Barton Biography

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The solution offers a brief biography of Clara Barton. It includes a brief summary of her early life and her accomplishments during the American Civil War.

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The solution offers a brief biography of Clara Barton. The solution includes a brief summary of her early life and details of her efforts during the American Civil War.

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Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on Christmas Day of 1921 in North Oxford, Massachusetts. An unexpected addition to the family, she came to be called by the nickname Clara. Due to her late arrival to the family and the tempestuous marriage of her parents, Stephen and Sarah Barton, Clara's childhood was unconventional. Sarah left much of the rearing of Clara to her older siblings. Sarah also found Clara to be difficult and the relationship between mother and child was often strained. However, Clara was extremely dedicated and devoted to her father (Pryor, 1987).

Clara loved to hear tales from her former-soldier father. Stephen Barton Sr. also encouraged Clara's philanthropic spirit. She was further influenced as an adolescent while nursing her older brother, David, back to health after a serious fall. The combination of romantic notions of a soldier's life, the family attitude of humanitarianism, and the gratification she took from caring for her brother all influenced her life and career (Pryor, 1987).

As a child Clara was educated in local schools and at home. She had a quick and inquisitive mind. While she lacked confidence in herself and could be painfully shy, she would begin teaching school at an early age in an attempt to overcome this personal hurdle. She valued her independence while longing for the reverence of her family. She could be manipulative and petty, but in the same instance give someone in need her last crust of bread or the last coins from her own pocket. Barton was driven, dedicated to her causes, and willing to work herself past the point of exhaustion. It appears that you either adored or disdained Miss Clara Barton (Pryor, 1987).

Barton is known for nursing soldiers during the American Civil War. Though, in the strictest sense, Clara was not a nurse at all. Barton was extremely skilled at logistics and an advocate of first aid (Pryor, 1987). The profession of nursing, as it is viewed today, did not exist during the Civil War. Nurses had little or no formal training or education (Oates, 1994). Barton certainly helped in the operating rooms in the field hospitals of the ...

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