“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” as Sherry Anderson once said. Clara Barton lead the way to the new field of volunteer service. The social issues and personal experiences during Clara Barton’s life guided her to the formation of the American Red Cross and the National First Aid Association of America. Both of her organizations have significantly influenced nursing today.
Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts. The youngest of five children, Barton gained some of her first nursing experiences as a teen by caring for her seriously ill brother (Michals, 2015). At the time there were no formal nursing schools, but she was driven to provide basic medical supplies to the soldiers of the civil war (Michals, 2015). She became a self-taught nurse through her experiences during the civil war (Michals, 2015). She became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” by caring for the wounded and cooking for the soldiers (Michals, 2015). At the time of Clara Barton’s life, women’s suffrage was a major social issue. Barton became a teacher before the Civil War and founded a free school in Bordentown, New Jersey (Michals, 2015). After the school hired a man at twice her salary, she resigned immediately; “saying she would never work for less than a man” (Michals, 2015). She later found a job at the US Patent Office in Washington, DC as a recording clerk (Michals, 2015). She was the first woman to ever earn this position and she was paid the same as her male colleagues (Michals, 2015). However, a year later, the Secretary of Interior, Robert McClelland, demoted her to a copyist and lowered her salary because he believed that women shouldn’t be working in government (Michals, 2015). In 1861, she quit this job as well to pursue her new mission: to provide supplies to needy Union soldiers (Michals, 2015).
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Clara Barton’s first major contribution to nursing was the American Red Cross. She founded the American Red Cross in 1881 (Michals, 2015). She saw the International Red Cross and started writing pamphlets to promote the formation of the American Red Cross (Michals, 2015). Clara Barton became the President of the American Red Cross only a month after it was founded (Michals, 2015). Today the impact of the Red Cross is so large it is difficult to estimate (Davidson, 2013). In 2010 alone, it was estimated that disaster relief provided by the Red Cross was over $6 billion for more than 30 million people. All these efforts were provided by volunteers of the Red Cross (Davidson, 2013). “Her legacy to the nation—service to humanity—is reflected in the services provided daily by the employees and volunteers of the American Red Cross.” (Red Cross Clara Barton’s second major contribution to nursing is the National First Aid Association of America (Rowe, 2015). The organization leads the formation of basic first-aid instruction similar to what we see today (Rowe, 2015).
Today we see CPR classes available to the layperson that can save countless lives in our community. The organization also focused on emergency preparedness and developed first-aid kits (Rowe, 2015). Working in cooperation with police and fire departments, the National First Aid Association of America formed Ambulance brigades (Rowe, 2015). Clara Barton’s mission at this time was to provide initial supportive care until someone with more knowledge and experience could arrive (Rowe, 2015). She initially brought this idea to the American Red Cross before her resignation as president in 1904 (Rowe, 2015). When she did not gain the support of the American Red Cross she left and formed the National First Aid Association of America (Rowe, 2015). Clara Barton died on April 12, 1912 (Clara Barton Chronology, 2015). Her final life mission, the National First Aid Association of America ended with her death (Rowe, 2015). However, the American Red Cross picked up the pieces and continued Barton’s goals (Rowe, 2015). The first aid kits and emergency preparedness are a large part of the American Red Cross today. In summation, Clara Barton was a pioneer in the field of volunteer service. Her organizations, the American Red Cross and the National First Aid Association of America, have had lasting effects on volunteerism and healthcare today.
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