America 250: Clara Barton

Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” Clara Barton risked her life delivering supplies and providing medical care near the front lines of the Civil War.

Clara Barton was born in Oxford, Massachusetts, in 1821, the youngest of five children. When the Civil War began in 1861, she left her job to care for wounded Union soldiers on the battlefield. Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” she risked her life delivering supplies and providing medical care near the front lines. After the war, Barton worked to locate missing soldiers and helped notify their families. In 1881, she founded the American Red Cross, which was soon officially recognized by the U.S. government. Barton served as its president for more than two decades, retiring in 1904, before she died in 1912 at the age of 91.