Clara Barton's Older Adultlife

As the Civil War ended, Clara was beginning to grow old. She was now turning forty-four. In 1870-1871, she worked with the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War and then helped organize military hospitals. Then, later in 1871, Clara also supervised the distribution of relief to the poor in Strasbourg, Germany. She tried many times to get the president of the United States to become part of the world-wide Red Cross. The president did not see the good cause in this decision and did not think it was worth it. But, finally, Clara pursuaded him to become part of the organization. She even started the American Red Cross in 1881, and she became its president. Red Cross aid was brought to the victims of the Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania. During the same year, 1889, Clara organized relief efforts after the Flood. Then, the perservering woman went on to help people who were victims of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Two years later, she worked to relieve suffering caused by the hurricane at Galveston, Texas. After all of this exhausting work, Clara resigned from the Red Cross and went to live in Washington D.C. She founded the National First Aid Society in 1905. Her dream of helping others had now come true.