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Clara Barton National Historic Site commemorates the life of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. The home served as the headquarters and warehouse for the organization. From this house, Miss Barton organized American Red Cross relief efforts for victims of natural disasters and war. This house was built for Miss Barton in 1891 by Edward and Edwin Baltzley as part of their Glen Echo development.
Their offer of land and a structure presented Miss Barton with an excellent opportunity to plan a building to meet the needs of her organization. The design closely followed hotel buildings built by the American Red Cross following the 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Clara Barton initially used her Glen Echo building as a warehouse for disaster relief supplies. In 1897, she moved in and remodeled the structure for use as a residence and headquarters for the America Red Cross.
Until she resigned as president of the American Red Cross in 1904, Clara Barton directed the organization from this office. Miss Barton depended upon a constantly changing staff of volunteers to assist her with the sometimes overwhelming administrative duties associated with the relief organization. Miss Barton's diaries indicate that the offices were well supplied. They contained several typewriters, a telephone, and a gramophone.
Office work today consists of indexing books, filing letters, writing several letters for Miss Barton, and in the afternoon writing Dr. Hubbell's report of Sea Island relief, the latter to be used in Miss Barton's book. Clara Barton published several American Red Cross reports and books. The Red Cross, In Peace and War provided a comprehensive history of the American Red Cross from its beginning through the relief campaigns of the Spanish-American War. The American Red Cross depended upon donations to provide for the victims of natural disasters and war. Clara Barton used her publications describing the work of the relatively new organization to gain public acceptance and support.
The early American Red Cross accepted donations of money and supplies. Miss Barton continued to use the Glen Echo building as a Red Cross warehouse after she moved in. Closets were used throughout the house to store disaster relief supplies. The closets built into the main hallway were designed to resemble paneled walls and concealed supplies that included blankets, bedding, medical supplies, bandages, canned goods, clothing, hammers, nails, rakes, hoes, seeds and various other emergency supplies.
The Glen Echo headquarters also served as living quarters for an assortment of volunteers and staff members. Miss Barton encouraged her staff to live here, and bedrooms were arranged and furnished as necessary, depending upon how many people were at Glen Echo.
Staff members lived either in fully furnished bedrooms or in storage rooms containing "folding beds" or cots. Glen Echo ceased functioning as headquarters for the American Red Cross in 1904 when Miss Barton resigned as president of the organization. She continued to live here until her death at age 90. She died of double pneumonia in her bedroom on April 12, 1912. In nearly everything she did, Clara Barton saw little distinction between her public and private lives. In 1891, when the Baltzley brothers offered her a home, Miss Barton accepted their offer and placed the needs of the American Red Cross first. The Red Cross windows, installed during the 1897 remodeling, symbolize Clara Barton's resolve to dedicate her life and her home to the service of the Red Cross. |
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