Q: Who is this great lady and which two agencies did she create?
A: This is a picture of Clara Barton, born Clarissa Harlowe Barton in 1821. She Created the Bureau of Records of Missing Men of the Armies of the United States and the American Red Cross.
During the Civil War Clara Barton was a welcome volunteer to the Union forces. She would help in organizing men to bring first aid to the wounded and giving out food and water to both Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners. She used her own money to supplement for needed supplies and was reimbursed by the Government after the war. They called her the "Angel of the Battlefield"
Clara Barton was a member of the International Red Cross and was instrumental in Creating the American Red Cross in 1880 and served as the first president until 1904. President Abraham Lincoln appointed her General correspondent for the Friends of Paroled Prisoners where she connected families searching for loved ones with casualties of war or on the prison roles. From this she created the Bureau of Records of Missing Men of the Armies of the United States determined that there should be no unmarked graves. A tracing service was eventually taken up by the Red Cross and is widely used by soldiers families today. Follow the links below to read more about this hardworking Patriot.