Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912)
Clara Barton was an American nurse who founded the American
Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War,
a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not
then very formalized and she did not attend nursing school, she
provided self-taught nursing care. Barton is noteworthy for
doing humanitarian work and civil rights advocacy at a time
before women had the right to vote. She was inducted into the
National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1973.
Headquarters building of the American Red Cross,
Washington, D.C.