Clara Barton - 5 W's and Connection

Who: Clara Barton

When and Where: She was born on Dec. 25, 1821 in Oxford Massachusetts and died on 1912 in Maryland at 90 years old.

What: She was born the youngest of 5 siblings (2 older brothers and 2 older sisters), and educated at home by her siblings. Being an unusual child, she could spell complicated words at 4 years old, and nursed her brother though an illness at 11. She began her career as a teacher at 17 years old, teaching a school in Massachusetts. Then in 1843, she founded her own school around New Jersey. After teaching, she "started her life over" by switching to medicine...
When she realized the Army Medical Dept. was unprepared during the Civil War, she aided and nursed soldiers from the North and South. And, at the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln put her in charge of searching out for the missing soldiers of the war. She was able to trace 30,000 men and even send letters to their families notifying their deaths. Later on, because of all her medical work, doctors advised Clara Barton to take a rest, so she vacationed to Europe. In Europe, she expanded the concept of the Red Cross and was grateful for their service during the Franco-Prussian War. Therefore, she made it so the Red Cross would assist anyone in great national disasters that occurred. She became the President of the Red Cross for 22 years until she retired at 83 years old, dying 7 years later.

Why: I think Clara Barton is resilient because before her, there weren't any women on the battlefield, at hospitals or in camps and she convinced them to let her help. She dedicated her life to women's rights; fighting for them and expanding them! (She even founded the National First Aid Society which provided local First Aid Programs) She was educated only at home, but surprisingly, could spell at a young age and was very skillled in medical business (working until 83 years old).

Connection: The connection between Clara Barton and Lynn Grady is that they are both teachers and Clara Barton nursed & helped others while Lynn Grady was nursed by others during her breast cancer. They both endured hard times of their lives; Clara Barton during the Civil War nursing the wounded, and Lynn Grady during her breast cancer, but came out fine to become great people that are honored by us as resilient individuals.