Clara Barton

Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Clara Barton began her working life as a teacher and later worked in the U.S. Patent Office, one of the few women in federal service at the time. During the American Civil War, she became famous for delivering medical supplies and nursing care close to the front lines, earning the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield."

After the war, she helped identify missing soldiers and then traveled in Europe, where she learned about the International Red Cross movement. In 1881 she founded the American Red Cross and went on to lead it for more than two decades, shaping its early disaster-relief work in the United States.

Barton spent her long career pushing past the limits placed on women of her era, and her legacy still stands at the heart of American humanitarian work. She died in 1912, but her name remains closely tied to courage, public service, and practical compassion.