civil war women

Clara Barton

by Sarah on May 31, 2009

Clara Barton is one of the most famous women in American history. So while in 4th grade, it came time for my daughter to do a report on a famous person from history, she chose Clara. What was even more fun was that she wanted to do a slide show of pictures about Clara as she gave her oral report. So, she searched the web for pictures and information about Clara and then I showed her how to load them into iPhoto and how to make a slide show. It was a lot of fun working on this with her and we both learned a good bit about Clara and iPhoto, Garageband and iTunes.

So, I thought I would take her oral report and share some of it in a blog post, along with some of the photos, information and links about Clara that Sarah found.

Clara was born in 1821 in New Oxford, Massachusetts. My parents are Sarah Stone Barton and Capt. Stephen Barton. I have two brothers named David and Stephen and two sisters named Sarah and Dorothy (or Dolly).

This is a picture of the home where Clara was born.

Growing up Clara was a shy girl and enjoyed riding her horse. One day when David was out working on the barn roof he fell and broke his arm. The doctor told Clara that he may die, but she made a wish that he would not and cared for him for several weeks and her wish came true.

Clara’s brother and sister grew up to become teachers. In 1850, Clara became a teacher in this one-room schoolhouse. She earned praise when she refused to physically punish students. Clara liked to think that she left a mark on each school in which she taught, organizing the classroom and drafting lesson plans.

In 1861 when the civil war began I followed the troops taking care of the wounded soldiers. Clara and other women would care for the wounded soldiers by giving them food, bandaging their injuries and writing letters for them to their families.



During the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Clara saw many wounded and dying soldiers everywhere she walked. They were in barns, in cornfields and even in the Dunker Church. These pictures show some of the wounded soldiers from the Battle of Antietam that she nursed back to health.


Although it is widely believed that Clara was set up on the Joseph Poffenberger farm on the north end of the battlefield, according to Ranger Mannie Clara was actually at the Samuel Poffenberger farm, a little more to the east. This is a modern photograph of the Samuel Poffenberger farmhouse, which is where she stayed for a week or so.


There is a monument at the Antietam National Battlefield to Clara that says:

DURING THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM SEPTEMBER 17, 1862 CLARA BARTON BROUGHT SUPPLIES AND NURSING AID TO THE WOUNDED ON THIS BATTLEFIELD THIS ACT OF LOVE AND MERCY LED TO THE BIRTH OF THE PRESENT AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS THIS SYMBOLIC RED CROSS HAS BEEN MADE FROM A BRICK FROM THE CHIMNEY OF THE HOME WHERE CLARA BARTON WAS BORN AT NORTH OXFORD, MASSACHUSETTS ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1821


Beginning in 1870, Clara spent 10 years organizing the American National Red Cross, which was officially incorporated in 1882. Under my leadership the Red Cross assisted with relief efforts following disasters like floods, forest fires, and earthquakes.


Thanks to Ranger Mannie from Antietam National Battlefield, Ranger Smith from Gettysburg Battlefield and Mr. Joe Korber of the 119th New York Field Music and The Sykes Regulars for information on Clara, photos and music for this presentation.

So, that was the bulk of her report. A few points to consider: 1) Sarah’s school has very little in terms of technology so it was great for her to show the other kids, 2) This provided me a change to help Sarah learn how to research a topic on the Internet, 3) I made sure that she asked permission to use photos and music for her presentation that were not in the public domain and 4) her class got to see a great presentation using technology.

A few more quick photos.
This is Sarah at the Clara Barton monument


and

Here is Sarah, holding her Junior Ranger certificate and badge, with Ranger Mannie.


Additional photos and information about Clara are available on the web at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton
http://www.civilwarhome.com/bartonbio.htm
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm072.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/27barton/27barton.htm
http://www.clarabarton.org/

Updated from the old blog:  Check out Sarah’s new project Civil War Sallie who recently visited the Clara Barton home and wrote a two-part blog post on her visit.  Check out Part 1 and Part 2

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The HomeFront: Women and the Civil War

by Jim on May 17, 2009

The roles women played during the Civil War have only recently been given the same respect as famous generals and battles. If we look in the context of this time period, the woman was considered the light of the hearth and home. Upon her fell the duty of managing the home, bearing and teaching the children and in the rural communities they would run the farms and plantations as well.

Etiquette manuals tell us that a lady could not leave the house without a gentleman escort. When the war broke out the entire sphere of the woman’s world changed. With fathers, husbands, sons and brothers going off to join the ranks, women had to adapt and change their way of thinking in order to survive. Keep in mind that at this time, a woman could not vote, or sign contracts. The woman’s heart beat responsive to the call of war. While she could not still remain a lady and take up arms and fight, there were many things she could do to support the cause. They became nurses, laundresses, spies, vivandiere’s, Sanitary and Christian Commission workers, and writers for newspapers for example. For specific information about famous women of the Civil War era, the American Civil War website (http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html) has some very detailed information about famous woman like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Clara Barton.

The topic of civilian life leads it perfectly to a fairly recent educational technology known as a Webquest. A WebQuest is defined, by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University, as “an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet” (Dodge, 1997). WebQuests are perfect models for teachers for are searching for ways in which to incorporate the Internet into the classroom on both a short-term and long-term basis. When selecting a WebQuest, make sure that you examine the WebQuest closely and evaluate it in terms of your expectations for content coverage/goals, academic rigor, ease of use and interactivity. Other factors to consider when selecting a Webquest include making sure you check for broken hyperlinks, deciding how much of the Webquest to use and knowing how much time is required to complete a given Webquest. The Civil War Herald WebQuest (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm) allows students to take on the task of designing a Civil War era newspaper. While researching “articles” for the paper, students learn about numerous topics including famous women, different roles women played during the war, life on the home front, the political climate of the time, other famous people of the period, health and technology and finally new about the war. This WebQuest also includes a teacher’s section with tips on how to implement the WebQuest, standards addressed, assessment information and how to customize the lesson to fit individual teacher requirements.

UPDATE: I recently found this blog on Civil War Woman. The description of the blog indicates that it contains bios and stories of women of the Civil War era.
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References:

Dodge, Bernie. (1997). Some Thoughts About Wequests. Retrieved March 28, 2005 from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about_webquests.html

Brozik, Lana, Kaup, Kathleen, Levine, Richard. (2002). Civil War Herald WebQuest. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm)

The American Civil War Website. (n.d.) Women of the American Civil War Era. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html

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Civil War Women – Mary Todd Lincoln

by Sarah on September 25, 2008

Mary Todd Lincoln was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13, 1818.   Mary’s mom died when she was 7 years old. After her mom died, her dad remarried to Elizabeth Humphreys and she had 2 sons and 2 daughters who became her half-brothers and half-sisters.

Mary attended Madame Victoria Mentelle’s Boarding School.  She received an education that no other women could receive during that period.  Elizabeth Todd Edwards took Mary into the highest social circles of the state capital.  While attending these events, she meet Abraham Lincoln, an aspiring young politician.  Mary wanted to marry a future president. They say that tradition or not this was something that she desired.

Mary and Abe married in the Edwards Parlor Nov 4, 1842.  They had four sons: Robert Todd, Edward Baker , Willy, and Thomas (nick name Tad).  Robert was the only of the four sons that survived.  Eddie died with something the doctors called  bilious fever at four years old.  When Willie died in February, 1862, his bones stayed with the family until Abe was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Then Willie’s small coffin was placed on the Lincoln train and taken to Springfield to laid rest with his father. Tad died in 1871 at the age of 18 from what the doctors said was fluid in his lungs.

Other deaths surrounded Mary, Young Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who Abe loved like a son, was killed on May 24, 1861.  Afterward, one of Mary’s half-sisters dad was killed in action during the Civil War.

After Abe’s assassination financial struggles and a bitter relationship with Robert Todd made Mary’s life even worse.  Robert had her committed to an insane asylum in 1875 but she was released after four months. She was pronounced sane in 1876 then she spent four years in France. She returned to the United States in 1880 because of poor health and died sister Elizabeth’s home in Springfield, Illinois, in 1882.

Mary Todd Lincoln Links:

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