The Story of My Childhood.

BARTON, Clara.

$4,000.00

Item Number: 122994

New York: The Baker & Taylor Co., 1907.

First edition of the founder of the American Red Cross, American Civil War nurse Clara Barton’s childhood memoirs. 12mo, original publisher’s full red sheep with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, frontispiece portrait of Barton. Presentation copy, inscribed by Barton on the half-title page, “To Lena Hubbell Chamberlin [sic], in the truth that maketh free. A simple story simply told, but such as it is will one dear Lena accept it with the heart hove of Clara Barton Glen Echo February 8th 1910.” The recipient, Lena Hubbell Chamberlain, was the niece of Dr. Julian Hubbell, Barton’s long time assistant and the first American Red Cross chief field agent whom Barton relied upon to direct day-to-day relief operations including the distribution of supplies and relief workers. Barton’s most loyal companion, Hubbell read about Barton’s accomplishments during the Civil War and upon meeting her, dedicated his services entirely to her cause. When Barton resigned in 1904, he resigned too and continued to assist her until her death in 1912, preserving her home and mementos which are now the Clara Barton National Historic Site. Hubbell’s nieces Lena and Rena inherited the house after Hubbell’s death and turned it into a boarding house which was in use between 1929 and 1942 (National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior). In good condition. An exceptional association.

While working as a patent clerk in Washington D.C., Clara Barton took the lead in providing aid to the first wounded men in uniform at the outbreak of the Civil War who had been transported from the grounds of the Baltimore Riot to the Capitol Building. She soon dedicated herself to the cause of collecting medical supplies for the Union soldiers and, using her own living quarters as a storeroom, began distributing them to the front lines. She worked to distribute stores, clean field hospitals, apply dressings, and serve food to wounded soldiers in close proximity to several battles, including Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, helping both Union and Confederate soldiers. After the war, Barton established the American branch of the Red Cross, which she became president of in 1881.