JOIN US AT ONE OF OUR VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS!
We are excited to offer three virtual presentations through Zoom. These presentations are made possible by a grant from Mass Humanities and the Bridge Street Fund. All three programs will begin at 5:30 p.m. and last approximately one hour.
The presenter will be Emily Thomas, tour guide for the Clara Barton Birthplace Museum and Adjunct Professor of History at Nichols College in Dudley, MA. Ms. Thomas is currently working on an encyclopedic volume about Clara Barton. The presentations are free. If you would like to attend one of these virtual presentations, please register by emailing emily.thomas@bartoncenter.org at least three days prior to the presentation and provide your full name, which presentation you would like to attend, and the best email address to reach you, so we can send you a link to attend.
Clara Barton’s Early Years
July 15, 2021 – 5:30 p.m. (1 hour duration)
This online presentation will examine Clara Barton’s childhood, family, and her life before she became famous during the Civil War. Before becoming a battlefield nurse, Ms. Barton was a teacher in her hometown of Oxford, MA. She also established one of the first free schools in New Jersey. Excerpts from diary entries will help the audience understand the challenges of female schoolteachers in the 19th century. Clara Barton’s role as a clerk at the U.S. Patent Office in Washington D.C. will also be highlighted. See information above to register.
The Angel of the Battlefield
July 29, 2021 – 5:30 p.m. (1 hour duration)
This online presentation will explain what motivated Ms. Barton to become a battlefield nurse and how she earned her famous nickname “The Angel of the Battlefield.” Clara Barton attended to the wounded during and after several major battles of the war, including Antietam and Fredericksburg. The presentation will look at Ms. Barton’s role during these battles and some of the men she helped save. The presentation will conclude with her establishment of a Missing Soldiers Office in Washington D.C. at the end of the war. See information above to register.
Founding of American Red Cross
August 16, 2021 – 5:30 p.m. (1 hour duration)
This online presentation will focus on the founding of the American Red Cross by Clara Barton in 1881. The presentation will begin with a brief history of the International Red Cross and Ms. Barton’s work with the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War. Several relief missions undertaken by the American Red Cross while Clara Barton was president will be included in the presentation, including the Johnstown Flood of 1889 in Pennsylvania. See information above to register.