March is Red Cross Month, and who better to celebrate with than "Clara Barton" who founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Portrayed by Betty Clark of Tampa, Clara stopped by a recent Red Cross Angels meeting to share her life story through first person interpretation. 

"My father taught me the importance of serving our country and others," Clara told the enthusiastic room of Angels, a long-time auxiliary group for the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Red Cross. 

Born in 1821 in Massachusetts, Clara learned nursing skills as a child taking care of sick and injured farm animals. She also cared for her brother who was injured.  As young woman, she raised money to create two schools for immigrant children and became the first female clerk in the U.S. Patent office.

Her life changed at age 40 when she became a nurse in the Civil War and "all I wanted to do was care of soldiers -- black, white, confederate, union."

During a trip to Switzerland in 1869, Clara learned about the Red Cross movement, a European humanitarian effort to provide neutral aid to those injured in combat. Inspired by that cause, Clara volunteered with the International Committee of the Red Cross, providing civilian relief during the Franco-Prussian War. This experience, along with her work during the Civil War, inspired Clara to bring the Red Cross movement to America.

On May 21, 1881, Clara founded the American Red Cross and became its first president, a position she held for 23 years.

Her work brought her to Florida in 1887 to help with a yellow fever epidemic; she returned to Tampa in 1898 when Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders were gathered for the Spanish-American war.

In 2018, the Tampa Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) dedicated a Clara Barton Historical Marker along Bayshore Boulevard, honoring the important work that Barton did in Tampa. It was that dedication ceremony that inspired Clark, a DAR member, to portray Barton.

The meeting also included the recognition of Angels who are age 90 or older -- Sylvia Fernandez, Paula Wilson and Sally Hill.

# # #