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Primary sourceArtifact1891

Clara Barton House

1891

The house at Glen Echo, Maryland, that was both Clara Barton's home and the headquarters and warehouse of the American Red Cross.

Barton lived in and ran the American Red Cross from this house for the last years of her life.

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Front facade of a two-and-a-half-story wood-sided house with a steep central gable, two stone end towers with dark red conical roofs, a full-width front porch with white columns, and a second-floor balcony. Wooden benches sit on the porch.
Clara Barton House, built 1891, Glen Echo, Maryland. National Park Service.

About this source

What it is

Built in 1891, this wood-framed house at Glen Echo, Maryland, served as Clara Barton's residence from 1897 until her death in 1912, and also as the headquarters and supply warehouse of the American Red Cross. Part of its lumber was reused from relief shelters built after the 1889 Johnstown flood. It is preserved today by the National Park Service as the Clara Barton National Historic Site, established in 1974, and still contains her furnishings.

Why it matters

The building shows how closely Barton's personal life and her Red Cross work were intertwined — the same house where she lived was also where relief supplies were stored and organized. It is an example of late 19th-century American vernacular architecture and reflects the small farm she managed there to help support the household and relief supplies.

Look closer

  • What does it mean that a home also served as an organization's headquarters?
  • Why might reused Johnstown flood relief lumber have been used to build it?
  • What might the farm on the grounds tell us about how Barton managed resources?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Clara Barton on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Black-and-white studio portrait of an older woman with dark hair pinned up in curls, wearing a dark dress with an ornate white lace collar and a dark brooch at the neck. She faces left with a slight closed-mouth smile. Copyright stamp reads 1904, J. E. Purdy, Boston.Photograph

Primary source

Clara Barton, 1821-1912

J. E. Purdy · 1904

Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of an older woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing a high lace collar, a dark pendant brooch at the throat, and a dark dress, facing the camera against a dark background. Copyright text in the lower left corner reads 1904, J. Eyre Purdy, Boston.Photograph

Primary source

Clara Barton, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front

J. Eyre Purdy · 1904

Plain solid dark blue book cover with a slightly darker spine strip along the left edge. No title, text, or images are visible.Book

Primary source

The Red Cross in Peace and War

Clara Barton · 1898

Front cover of a bound book with dark brown spine and tan paper boards. A white label at top left reads '973.771 At9 cop. 2'. A faint 'Digitized by Google' watermark appears at bottom right.Document

Primary source

A List of the Union Soldiers Buried at Andersonville

Dorence Atwater; Clara Barton · 1866

Black-and-white photo of Andersonville National Cemetery: rows of white headstones on a grassy lawn, a tall dark monument on the right, and large trees along the left and background.Artifact

Secondary source

Andersonville National Cemetery

1865

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