Quotes by Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross

March is celebrated as "Red Cross Month" to honor the organization that serves millions in need. According to Redcross.org, "the American Red Cross uses this opportunity to promote its services to the American public and for fund-raising." Along with honoring the services of the Red Cross, March is also the month devoted to women's history. Hence, it's the perfect time to introduce Clara Barton - the founder of the American Red Cross and a prominent woman in the history of United States.

Introduction to Clara Barton

Clarissa Harlowe Barton, popularly known as Clara Barton is one of the most honored women in American history. Born on December 25, 1821 in Oxford, Massachusetts, Clara was an American teacher, humanitarian and a nurse. Working closely with the soldiers fighting the Civil War, she desperately felt the need of an organization that supported the soldiers. It was around that time she heard about the Swiss-inspired International Red Cross movement during her Europe trip. Once back home, Clara Barton campaigned for the American Red Cross society. Founded in 1881 along with few of her acquaintances, the American Red Cross conducted its first domestic and international relief effort under the leadership of Clara Barton. Barton headed the American Red Cross for 23 years until 1904.

Selected Quotes by Clara Barton

Quotes by Clara Barton offer an insight of her dynamic persona and undying spirit.

"I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past."

"The door that nobody else will go in at, seems always to swing open widely for me."

"An institution or reform movement that is not selfish, must originate in the recognition of some evil that is adding to the sum of human suffering, or diminishing the sum of happiness. "

"This conflict is one thing I've been waiting for. I'm well and strong and young - young enough to go to the front. If I can't be a soldier, I'll help soldiers."

"Others are writing my biography, and let it rest as they elect to make it. I have lived my life, well and ill, always less well than I wanted it to be but it is, as it is, and as it has been; so small a thing, to have had so much about it!"

"Everybody's business is nobody's business, and nobody's business is my business."

"I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them. "

"I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man's work for less than a man's pay. "

"The surest test of discipline is its absence."

The American Red Cross

Today, the American Red Cross is the "nation's premier emergency response organization" with more than half a million volunteers and 35,000 employees. Some 4 million people donate blood making it the leader of blood supplier in the United States.

Source(s)
Savannah Chatam Public Schools: Teaching American History
Redcross.org