10 x 14"
Watercolor, ink, chalk |
Clara Barton1821-1912
During the Civil War, Clara Barton, the “Angel of the Battlefield,” dedicated herself to nursing soldiers at the front: A ball had passed between my body and the right arm which supported him, cutting through the sleeve and passing through his chest from shoulder to shoulder. There was no more to be done for him and I left him to his rest. I have never mended that hole in my sleeve. I wonder if a soldier ever does mend a bullet hole in his coat? President Lincoln appointed Barton superintendent of Union nurses, enabled her to hire assistants, and have supplies delivered to the front. After the war, he put her in charge of locating missing soldiers, and through her office, thousands of people learned the fate of their loved ones. After the war, he put her in charge of finding missing soldiers. Then Barton went to Europe for a rest. In Switzerland she learned about the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent as outlined in the Treaty of Geneva. Its emblem was a red cross on a white ground — the Swiss flag with its colors reversed. The organization’s mission was to provide care for sick and wounded soldiers. When Barton returned home, she lobbied until the United States ratified the Geneva Convention. Then she founded the American Red Cross, and in her capacity as its first president, added disaster relief to its work in peace as well as war. |