By Volunteer Julie Daigle
It’s fascinating to look back in time to determine the path that brought you where you are. Often, seemingly unrelated experiences meld together to create something unexpected. So, when I was given the unique opportunity to chat with Clara Barton, I chose to explore her path leading to March 24, 2024 and the renaming of the Bordentown Post Office in her honor.
Let’s take a journey and explore the path of a pioneering woman who was driven by a desire to help and serve others. It begins with Clara Barton being motivated and encouraged by her father.
Q: What drove you to collect supplies, motivate soldiers and provide support in proximity of battlefields? That is a very dangerous place. What made you want to go out and do that?
A: The answer is my father. Even when I was very young, he talked about his experience in the war that he was involved with. He talked about the importance of patriotism and supporting one’s country. When Civil War broke out, he was very ill, but I went to his bedside and told him that I had the desire to help and to serve as a nurse and to try to get supplies for the soldiers. And he told me absolutely that was what I had to do.
Q: And how did you end up leading the Office of Missing Soldiers after the Civil War?
A: Well, I was fairly well-known and a lot of people started contacting me asking if I knew what happened to their loved ones and so I saw the need for an actual office of folks like myself to help try to find missing soldiers. I was able to get permission from President Lincoln to have some money and to have some clubs that worked with me. We had almost 63,000 inquiries from people looking for their loved ones and we found 22,000 people, but most of whom were deceased. But at least we could tell the families when it happened.
Q: It’s so important for families to have closure. And then where did you learn about the Red Cross?
A: I learned about the Red Cross because after the missing soldiers, I was really exhausted and I had a doctor who told me that I had to go rest. I had a friend in Switzerland so I went there and learned all about the International Red Cross. Then there was war. The Franco-Prussian war began and I ended up going to France and helping the International Red Cross with their obligations in France. And that’s when I learned exactly how they did what they did and that was very inspiring to me as well.
Q: So even during your rest, you still end up finding ways to help and serve – that’s absolutely incredible! How did you go from that experience to founding the American Red Cross?
A: I knew that was important, but I was hoping we weren’t going to have another war. I also thought that the focus needed to be on natural disasters like hurricanes and fires and floods and things like that. That’s the route that we took and ultimately the International Red Cross actually added that to their obligations and called it the American amendment.
Q: Do you have any notable memories during your service with the American Red Cross?
A: The Johnstown flood event is what put the American Red Cross on the map. That was so terrible. Thousands of people died, thousands lost their homes and I was there for five months and at the end of the five months, a newspaper wrote an editorial. They asked, ‘how can we thank Clara Barton?’ And the next line was ‘there are no words.’ That was so fulfilling and just one of many moving experiences.
Q: I can’t imagine those five months. I’ve worked disasters for three weeks and at the end I felt exhausted, but in a good way. Any words of wisdom for today’s American Red Cross volunteers?
A: Just to say that volunteers are so critical for service. I just hope that they get inspired by hearing about all that Red Cross has done over the many years since 1881 when it was founded.
Q: Fast forward to today, how does it feel to have the Bordentown Post Office named in your honor?
A: I’m so moved and honored. I loved being in Bordentown, even though I was only there for a short time.
Q: Several students spoke about how you inspired them and how you motivated them, and all of them were young women. Did you ever imagine you would be such an inspiration?
A: I really didn’t, but I’m so thrilled to know that I really have been. I hope I can keep that going. After all, I am 202 years old!
With that, our time is over. And so, a young girl motivated and encouraged by her father, creates an extraordinary path of humanitarianism. New Jersey Red Cross CEO Rosie Taravella summed it up best during the Bordentown Post Office renaming ceremony:
For more than 140 years since Clara Barton started the American Red Cross, her vision to prevent and alleviate human suffering has never wavered. Generation after generation, people have come together to adapt this timeless mission for their communities’ most urgent needs – building on the foundation that Clara started over a century ago.
Rosie Taravella
If Clara Barton inspires you, I encourage you to take a step on your own path to serve others. When you add your brick to the foundation that Clara built, there is no telling what positive ripples you will create.
Learn more about Clara Barton and visit redcross.org/NJ to get involved!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: American Red Cross, bordentown, clara-barton, historical-fiction, new-jersey, red cross |
American Red Cross New Jersey Region 
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