Social Reformer. She is one of the most honored women in American history. She began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men and she was among the first women to gain employment in the federal government. She risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the American Civil War. At age 59, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881, and earned the nickname of the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her monumental efforts to treat the wounded soldiers. Born Christmas Day on a farm in North Oxford, Massachusetts, she became a teacher and a government worker before heading off to nurse the wounds of soldiers on bloody civil war battlefields. She was so close to the front lines at the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862 that a bullet passed through her clothes and killed the wounded soldier she was tending. After a prisoner of war brought her a list of dead soldiers from the legendary Andersonville Confederate prison camp in Georgia, she became an advocate for soldiers missing in action. Nearly 13,000 of 45,000 confined Union soldiers died of disease, filth, starvation and exposure due to the lack of supplies and the over-populated facility. Thanks to her work, she was able to return to Andersonville and mark the graves of thousands of soldiers, and later published a list of their names. Once people realized she had found dead soldiers, she started receiving thousands of letters from wives, mothers and daughters. As Director of the Federal Missing Persons Office, she became the first woman to manage a government bureau, receiving $15,000 in congressional appropriations and working with her own staff. As a woman in the 19th century, she had met career hardships, being ignored in promotion for men, who, at times were less qualified than she was. She and her small staff received over 63,000 requests for help and were able to locate over 22,000 men, some of whom were still alive. In 1868 she went to Europe and among the many things she did was to visit Switzerland to learn about an organization called the International Red Cross Committee. Each member wore a badge of a red cross on a white background, and on the battlefield the men who wore the badges were always welcome as they brought medical relief for the wounded. She also did battlefield nursing during the Franco-Prussian War. Returning to the United States, she began to work toward forming the organization that became the American Red Cross 1881. The government agreed to permit such an organization which resulted in a Congressional charter in 1900, officially recognizing Red Cross services. She was the first president and served for twenty-three years, retiring in 1904. Responding to natural disasters, she was there to help at the 1889 Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania and the Galveston Hurricane of 1890. With a membership number of 160, she was one of the earliest members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Social Reformer. She is one of the most honored women in American history. She began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men and she was among the first women to gain employment in the federal government. She risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the American Civil War. At age 59, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881, and earned the nickname of the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her monumental efforts to treat the wounded soldiers. Born Christmas Day on a farm in North Oxford, Massachusetts, she became a teacher and a government worker before heading off to nurse the wounds of soldiers on bloody civil war battlefields. She was so close to the front lines at the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862 that a bullet passed through her clothes and killed the wounded soldier she was tending. After a prisoner of war brought her a list of dead soldiers from the legendary Andersonville Confederate prison camp in Georgia, she became an advocate for soldiers missing in action. Nearly 13,000 of 45,000 confined Union soldiers died of disease, filth, starvation and exposure due to the lack of supplies and the over-populated facility. Thanks to her work, she was able to return to Andersonville and mark the graves of thousands of soldiers, and later published a list of their names. Once people realized she had found dead soldiers, she started receiving thousands of letters from wives, mothers and daughters. As Director of the Federal Missing Persons Office, she became the first woman to manage a government bureau, receiving $15,000 in congressional appropriations and working with her own staff. As a woman in the 19th century, she had met career hardships, being ignored in promotion for men, who, at times were less qualified than she was. She and her small staff received over 63,000 requests for help and were able to locate over 22,000 men, some of whom were still alive. In 1868 she went to Europe and among the many things she did was to visit Switzerland to learn about an organization called the International Red Cross Committee. Each member wore a badge of a red cross on a white background, and on the battlefield the men who wore the badges were always welcome as they brought medical relief for the wounded. She also did battlefield nursing during the Franco-Prussian War. Returning to the United States, she began to work toward forming the organization that became the American Red Cross 1881. The government agreed to permit such an organization which resulted in a Congressional charter in 1900, officially recognizing Red Cross services. She was the first president and served for twenty-three years, retiring in 1904. Responding to natural disasters, she was there to help at the 1889 Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania and the Galveston Hurricane of 1890. With a membership number of 160, she was one of the earliest members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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