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Secondary sourceBook1922

The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross

William Eleazar Barton · 1922

A two-volume 1922 biography of Clara Barton written by her cousin William E. Barton using family papers and her private journals.

Written by her cousin using family papers and her journals, this biography shaped Barton's legacy as Red Cross founder.

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Dark blue cloth book cover with faded circular stamp-like marks and worn edges, with a spine along the left side. No title is visible in this image.
William E. Barton, The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross, 1922. Houghton Mifflin.

About this source

What it is

This is a two-volume biography, The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross, written by William E. Barton and published in 1922 by Houghton Mifflin. William Barton, her cousin, drew on family papers and quoted extensively from Clara Barton's private journals. A copy is held by the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

Written by a family member with access to personal papers, this biography offers a detailed, intimate account of Barton's life, from her ancestry and childhood through her schooling and early teaching career. It shaped how she was remembered as the founder of the American Red Cross.

Look closer

  • How might being a relative have shaped William Barton's portrayal of Clara Barton?
  • Why might direct quotations from her private journals make this source especially valuable?
  • What parts of her life does the table of contents suggest the book covers in most detail?

This book 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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