Talk:Clara Barton

Red Cross founding
Barton founded the American Red Cross on May 21, 1881 (see ), which was under the administration of James Garfield, not Chester A. Arthur. US Representative William Lawrence (Ohio) urged Garfield to support the founding of the American Red Cross, and to ratify the Geneva Convention. Though the US did not ratify the Geneva Convention until 1882, which was after Garfield's death (and during Arthur's administration), the Red Cross was founded while Garfield was still alive. Incidentally, Lawrence was the first Vice President of the American Red Cross. -SwissCelt 07:57, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Image
Hello, Very nice article. I have about 10 Clara Barton images. I'm going to try different ones out in the article over the next few days. They have specific author and copyright info. The ones I don't use I'm going to put in Commons and link to this page.--FloNight 02:56, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Not a nurse, professionally speaking
I think that it's important to note that professionally speaking, Clara Barton was not a nurse, as is often portrayed. In her early life, she was a schoolteacher and was trained as such.

The difference is simply a matter of semantics. While she did, on many occasions, nurse fellow human beings (using "nurse" as a verb), she was never, strickly speaking, a nurse (using "nurse" as a noun).

Frequently, when she's discussed in context to the 1889 Johnstown Flood, she is referred to as the famous Civil War nurse, which is really inaccurate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.83.123.131 (talk) 18:58, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Help with Iowa dorm name
-I go to school at Iowa State and live in [Barton] hall, named after Clara. However, I have been unable to find any information about why the dorm is named after her. Can anyone else help with this obscure information? Elindstr 05:44, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

dansville
http://dansville.lib.ny.us/clara.html I believe the first red cross chapter was in Dansville NY, perhaps this should be encorporated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elindstr (talk • contribs) 18:23, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Barton High School in New Jersey
I removed the phrase "which is now Barton High School in New Jersey" from the sentence regarding the public high school she established, as there doesn't appear to be a school by that name in NJ. There is a Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, NY, though. Anyone know if there is a descendant of the school she founded in NJ? -- Mwanner | Talk 18:05, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Image:ClaraBarton.JPG
Is this pictured useful for this page ? -- PFHLai 21:51, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

DAR membership
Barton was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. If someone wants to work it into the later life section, here is a php cite for it:  . The category   should also be added, once it is supported in the article. - Crockspot 01:25, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Father
If her father was a Captain Under Anthony Wayne in the American Revolution, why was he a loyalist?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.82.9.58 (talk) 19:27, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * He wasn't. Seriously-that is a big lie because before her father died he told her to fight for her country as a PATRIOT!!!
 * She was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in 1973. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.125.113.221 (talk • contribs) 17:14, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Biography assessment rating comment
WikiProject Biography Assessment

The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 22:12, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Removed Clara Barton High School mention
-I live in Tucson, Arizona, and teach high school there. I looked "everywhere" for a Clara Barton High School in Tucson, as it was listed in the article, but I didn't find the slightest evidence for such a school. Thus, I removed it from the article. However, if there is one that I merely overlooked, I apologize, and would be delighted to know where it is. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DrDHMenke (talk • contribs) 17:09, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Possible link to Clara Barton items on “Himetop – The History of medicine topographical database”
I suggest that somebody, interested in this page, could insert an external link to the following page describing, with pictures, some Clara Barton’s memories: http://himetop.wikidot.com/clara-barton

I don’t do it myself because I’m also an Administrator of this site (Himetop) and it could be a violation of the Wikipedia Conflict of Interest policy. Thanks for your attention.

Luca Borghi (talk) 10:02, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

WP:NURSE priority check
I have rated this article as 'low' importance according to WikiProject_Nursing/Assessment. If you disagree, please leave a note here so we can discuss it. I assessed as 'B' class, as the article seems to be developing nicely. Cheers, Basie (talk) 14:22, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Clara Barton Elementary School in Levittown, Pennsylvania
I am confident of the existence of a Clara Barton Elementary School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, but do not know how to make this edit on the main page for this topic. For verification of accuracy of this statement, the link to the school is - .--Megroff (talk) 20:16, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Even so, it is non-notable and shouldn't be included in tihs article. We can't include every institution that has been named after a person, on their WP page. carl bunderson (talk) (contributions) 23:18, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Really? Why can we not include every institution? Is there a memory limitation on the servers that support wikipedia? Why mention any institutions at all? Aren't they all "non-notable"? Isn't this why we are all contributors on here, to help complete the information on wikipedia? --Megroff (talk) 01:15, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

This section needs lots of clarification. See queries in text.
In April 1862, after the First Battle of Bull Run, Barton established an agency to obtain and distribute supplies to wounded soldiers. She was given a pass by General William Hammond to ride in army ambulances to provide comfort to the soldiers and nurse them back to health, and lobbied the U.S. Army bureaucracy, at first without success, to bring her own medical supplies to the battlefields. Finally, in July 1862, she obtained permission to travel behind the lines [BUT PRESUMABLY SHE WAS ALREADY BEHIND SOMEONE'S LINES. WHERE ELSE WOULD SHE HAVE OPERATED? YOU MEAN BEHIND CONFEDERATE LINES?], eventually reaching some of the grimmest battlefields of the war and serving during the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. In 1864 she was appointed by Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician) as the "lady in charge" of the hospitals at the front of the Army of the James.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln placed Barton in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union Army. Around this time, a young soldier named Dorence Atwater came to her door. He had copied the list ["THE" LIST? WHAT LIST?] of the dead [THE DEAD WHERE?] without being discovered by the Andersonville officials [THIS IS THE FIRST REFERENCE TO ANDERSONVILLE. THE READER IS COMPLETELY LOST HERE. YOU MEAN ATWATER LEFT THE ANDERSONVILLE PRISON WITH A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAD DIED THERE?], and taken it with him through the lines when he was released from the prison. Having been afraid that the names of the dead would never get to the families, it was his intention to publish the list. He did accomplish this. [THIS IS VERBOSE. HOW ABOUT "Atwater gave Barton a list of 13,000 men who had died at Andersonville, hoping to have the list published."]His list of nearly 13,000 men was considered invaluable. When the war ended, Barton and Atwater were sent to Andersonville with 42 headboard carvers, and Barton gave credit to young Dorence for what came to be known as “The Atwater List” in her report of the venture. Dorence also has a report at the beginning of this list, still available through Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia. Because of the work they did, they became known as the "Angels of Andersonville," according to a biography of Barton. She was also known as "The Angel of the Battlefield".[2] Her work in Andersonville is displayed in the book, Numbering All the Bones, by Ann Rinaldi. This experience launched her on a nationwide campaign to identify all soldiers missing during the Civil War. She published lists of names in newspapers and exchanged letters with soldiers’ families. Barton then achieved widespread recognition by delivering lectures around the country about her war experiences. She met Susan B. Anthony and began a long association with the suffrage movement. She also became acquainted with Frederick Douglass and became an activist for black civil rights, or an abolitionist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cgay88 (talk • contribs) 18:08, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I have read all these things and more about Clara Barton... but there are very few sources to support any of it. Wikipedia needs to link to or cite sources. This article could use some attention by a history expert - particularly with regard to Clara Barton. She is too important to let myth and legend define her role. 75.134.26.34 (talk) 03:03, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

External Link Update
In the External Link section, I would like to update the link for Index to Clara Barton's Page since GeoCities will be shutting down soon.

Please replace


 * Index to Clara Barton's Pages

with


 * Index to Clara Barton's Pages

Thank you!

Dragoon1st (talk) 03:35, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Not done: Sorry, your tripod site doesn't meet external links criteria. Celestra (talk) 04:39, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Can you tell me which part of the external links criteria is not met? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dragoon1st (talk • contribs) 18:22, 22 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I went ahead and did the update, because it is to effectively the same site as before, so I can't see the change as doing any harm. I'll take a look over it and decide for myself whether it meets EL criteria or not.&mdash;Kww(talk) 19:12, 22 May 2009 (UTC)


 * @Dragoon1st: In a word: pop-ups. That seems to me to be defacto proof of WP:LINKSPAM. I pinged Kww and he agrees. Sorry, Celestra (talk) 15:18, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Added by William H. Smith III
John D. Rockefeller may have indeed donated funds for a national headquarters building, but if it was located one block from the White House (as in THE White House) it could not have been located in Pittsburg, PA. In the following paragraph, I'm confused why Barton would sail for Istanbul (Turkey?) to open a "Red Cross headquarters in the heart of Beijing, China". I'm a newbie, so I would leave it up to someone else to correct these two errors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whsmith003 (talk • contribs) 13:11, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

spelling error "Pennysylvania
In the third paragraph under "American Red Cross" Pennsylvania is mispelled with an extra "y".

"John D. Rockefeller donated funds to create a national headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennysylvania"

2009-05-31 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.27.76.200 (talk) 19:29, 31 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for pointing it out. Lady  of  Shalott  19:53, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

She was a vegetarian
Clara Barton was also a vegetarian. This seems to match her life philosophy of "love all things." It can be listed in the first paragraph after "humanitarian." That is where it is usually listed in the wiki pages about celebrities who are also vegetarian/vegan since it is an interesting and unusual aspect of their lives. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheBubblyBaboon (talk • contribs) 00:10, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
 * You'd have to cite some references. Bostoner (talk) 04:41, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Unlikely that her Father Served in the French and Indian War
This is unlikely. The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 to 1763. For Stephen Barton to have served as a captain in it, he could not have been born after 1743, which would have made him 78 hears old in 1821, when Clara Barton was born. Possible, but not likely. Other sites states he was a veteran; this might have been of the War of the Revolution, or maybe the War of 1812.

Jonrysh (talk) 05:53, 28 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I noticed this as well and revised it. He certainly couldn't have fought in the French and Indian War. According to the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum, he fought in "Indian Wars" but it is not specified which one(s) (perhaps the Black Hawk War?).  When I have a chance, I'll do a little research and will add specifics. Historical Perspective (talk) 21:18, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Expansion of domanin
The article states, without source, that Barton convinced the U.S. President to have an American RC established by arguing that it be expanded beyond war-related help. I have heard that it was the president who proposed the expansion. Some-one should find a source that establishes this one way or the other if possible. Kdammers (talk) 23:51, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Clarification on Red Cross founding
According to the web site of the Danville Chapter of the Red Cross the first meeting was held in Washington, DC May 1881, the Danville Chapter was formed in August of 1881. I've changed to the wording to reflect that. 216.15.24.185 (talk) 02:45, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army
1. I think the reference to this Barton agency should be moved from the "American Red Cross" section to the "American Civil War" section. The agency directly stemmed from the War, was supported by Abraham Lincoln, and concerned Civil War soldiers, but did not flow into the formation United States Red Cross. That was a separate event in her life. I'd do it myself, but some WP editors get defensive with changes made that don't reflect consensus.

2. There's an episode on the PBS television show, History Detectives, that focuses on this very topic. They investigate a letter sent from the "Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army" concerning the death of a CW soldier and signed "Clara Barton". They discuss Barton and the agency in depth. At the least, it can act as an additional reference. http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/video/2030319924//

3. NOTE that the name of the agency is not "Friends of Missing Soldiers", as stated in the article. The History Detectives video makes that very clear; a letter from the agency with a clearly read letterhead can be viewed.

Thanks for your time, Wordreader (talk) 23:08, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Adding a Few Things
Hello

I am a student at Santa Clara University and for my English class I was assigned to read a biography on Clara Barton and then add to her wikipedia page. I would like to add some information under the headings Early Life, Early Professional Life and Religious beliefs.The information I am adding is regarding Clara's depression as a child due to her relationship with her family, expanding on Clara's time as a teacher and adding information about her father's image as a member of the Universalist Church respectively. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Arzuno (talk • contribs) 00:20, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Change and Add
I am a student at Santa Clara University and just as @Arzuno was asked to read a biography for his english class, I was too. There is one main thing that I would like to contribute to the page and it is under the section of Early Life. It mentions that upon moving in with Clara's cousin, she had learned to become more socialized. On the contrary, Elizabeth Pryor mentions in her biography on Clara Barton that Clara did not gain social skills until after she was taught by her female cousin how to become more feminine. Thank You for your time. Cassadilla22 (talk) 07:58, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Clara Barton Elementary, 1950 to 1952
I remember our teacher and the classroom building a Pueblo and making tortillas after grinding corn. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.121.19.4 (talk) 03:06, 4 November 2015 (UTC)

Adding some information
Hello!

I'm a current student at Rochester Institute of Technology. As part of my final grade in my Woman's History class, we are required to add some substantial information to an existing American Woman's wikipedia page. I have decided to attempt to add to Clara Barton's article.

Here are my proposed additions, please let me know if this is something I can add:

Early Life

To assist Clara with overcoming her shyness, her parents persuaded her to become a schoolteacher. This profession interested Barton greatly and got her motivated to the point where she conducted an effective redistricting campaign that allowed the children of workers to receive an education. Doing acts such as that gave Clara the confidence needed when she demanded equal pay when she taught. She achieved her first teacher’s certificate in 1839, when she was only seventeen years old. Despite these great achievements early on, though, Clara suffered a severely unstable early life. While she attended Clinton Liberal University, her mother died and her brother was indicted for bank robbery.

Early Professional Life

In 1852, Clara Barton was contracted to open a free school in Bordentown. She was successful, and after a year she had hired another woman to help teach over 600 pupils. Both women were making $250 a year. This accomplishment compelled the town to raise nearly $4,000 for a new school building. Once completed, though, Barton was replaced as principal by a man elected by the schoolboard. They saw the position as head of a large institution to be unfitting for a woman. She was demoted to ‘female assistant’ and worked in a harsh environment until she had a nervous breakdown along with other health ailments, and quit.

Post American Civil War

After the end of the American Civil War, Clara Barton discovered that thousands of letters from distraught relatives to the War Department were going unanswered because the soldiers they were questioning about were buried in unmarked graves. Many of these soldiers were labeled just as ‘missing’. Motivated to do more about the situation, Miss Barton contacted President Lincoln in hopes that she would be allowed to respond officially to these unanswered inquiries. She was given permission, and “The Search for the Missing Men” commenced.

Barton spent the summer of 1865 helping find, relocate, and properly bury 13,000 individuals from Andersonville, Georgia. She continued this task over the next four years, burying and marking the graves of 20,000 more Union soldiers.

I do have references and proper citations sitting in my sandbox.

Thank you! Sas1925 (talk) 18:14, 21 November 2015 (UTC)

Please add to page
Hello I'm a teacher at MVRHS I found out that her high school principal was jealous of her success.

"Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.166.15.157 (talk) 12:41, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Beginning around 1900, however, power struggles within the Red Cross led to a decline in Barton's influence — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 12:44, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Please add this
Hello, I am a student from MVRHS. Clara also had a nervous breakdown in 1868 when raising money for her projects. After that her doctor recommended that she rest.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?resultListType=RELATED_DOCUMENT&searchType=ts&userGroupName=mlin_s_martha&inPS=true&contentSegment=&prodId=BIC&docId=GALE|K1607000021&it=r — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 12:50, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Michigan
I'm a high school student, I found that her first major test at Red Cross was a forest fire in Michigan that left thousands injured and or homeless.

"Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 12:53, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Please Add to Page
Hello I am a student at MVRHS and this is what I found on Clara Barton

While caring for the injured soldiers of the Union Army, she was nicknamed "Angel of the Battlefield."

"Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 12:54, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Decline in Power
In 1900, Clara's influence and power began to decline due to power struggles in the Red Cross. Flooded with claims of being a poor administrator and misappropriated funds, she considered leaving the United States for Europe. The claims didn't stop after the charges against her were dropped in 1904 because of a lack of evidence. She was heartbroken and warn out which led her to resign from her lifetime position as president of the American Red Cross.

"Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 12:55, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Clara Barton was nicknamed " Angel of the Battlefield".
"Clara Barton." Historic World Leaders, edited by Anne Commire, Gale, 1994. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1616000025/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=0571b692. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 14:48, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

soldiers respected and protected barton
The soldiers Barton worked alongside respected and protected her, even if they were not directly aided by her. "Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 9 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 14:54, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

More work in the red cross?
Hi I am a student at MVRHS. and According to http://go.galegroup.com/ps/aboutJournal.do?contentModuleId=BIC&resultClickType=AboutThisPublication&actionString=DO_DISPLAY_ABOUT_PAGE&searchType=ts&docId=GALE%7C0HOL&userGroupName=mlin_s_martha&inPS=true&rcDocId=GALE%7CK1607000021&prodId=BIC&pubDate=119920101 Clara Barton served as the president of the red cross for more than 20 years and stayed at relief sights for months at a time, until she was into her seventies. Pointing this out because I didn't see it in the page on wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.100.214.91 (talk) 14:54, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Her principal was jealous
When she was a high school teacher, her principal was jealous of her and tried to make her life difficult.

Source: "Clara Barton." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, vol. 2, Gale, 1992. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a. Accessed 10 May 2018. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.166.15.157 (talk) 12:28, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Please add to the page
Her family was a middle-class family, and she was the youngest in her family.

Source: "Clara Barton." In Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1992. Biography In Context (accessed May 10, 2018). http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1607000021/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=2c16db6a.

She received news that her sister had stomach cancer. The news led to a nervous breakdown after which she did nothing for a few years.

Source: "Clara Barton." In Historic World Leaders, edited by Anne Commire. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Biography In Context (accessed May 10, 2018). http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1616000025/BIC?u=mlin_s_martha&sid=BIC&xid=0571b692. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.166.15.157 (talk) 16:29, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Added Another Stamp and Ref.
As a stamp collector I noticed that a mention of the second Clara Barton postage stamp issued by the U.S. Post office was neglected. So I added mention two paragraphs below the first mention and included a ref to an easily accessible web site along with a link to a photo but I don't know how to add a photo to a Wikipedia article. The photo in question is the 1995 issue of a 32 cent stamp that was part of a souvenir sheet featuring Barton in the most prominent position in the sheet at the top middle between Lee and grant and above Davis and Lincoln. While women depicted on stamps today are commonplace, during Barton's life time only two women had ever been featured on U.S. stamps, Marth Washington and Pocahontas (vague, tiny and unrecognizable women as part of vignettes on earlier stamps not withstanding). There are also a number of other postage stamps less directly related for example the 1931 2 cent red and black red cross stamp, the 1952 3 cent International Red Cross stamp, The 1961 4 cent nursing commemorative stamp, the 1981 18 cent Red Cross commemorative stamp. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.32.55.127 (talk) 12:05, 10 November 2020 (UTC)

"crusade against the Indigenous"
This is a horrible and offensive sentence. I can't think how to rephrase it so can someone please change it?!

Tom Wellings 94.30.56.46 (talk) 11:44, 10 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Delayed response, but I have just changed it to "violent removal of indigenous peoples." Megb64 (talk) 16:57, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Clara Barton
She was born in center of Oxford 2600:1700:3BA8:1A0:D18A:4A1B:5F41:BE52 (talk) 00:50, 4 November 2022 (UTC)