by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | May 12, 2017
From the May 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
After the Civil War, Barton founded a group that helped to identify more than 20,000 soldiers who had died during the war. She continued to be involved in incredible efforts and interacted with other giants of her time, including Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. She became an activist for civil rights, but the work took its toll. On orders from her doctor, she traveled to Europe to get some rest. Instead, Barton learned about the Red Cross during her trip to Geneva. She was also introduced to Dr. Louis Appia, who would later invite her to help start the American arm of the organization.
The first meeting of the American Red Cross was held at Barton’s apartment in Washington, D.C. The first local society was formed a year later in Dansville, N.Y., where Barton had a home. By 1904, vocal critics of Baton, complaining of her failure to separate professional and personal resources, forced her to resign as president. After resigning, she founded the National First Aid Society. Barton lived in her home in Glen Echo, Md. — a Red Cross headquarters for more than a decade. She died on April 12, 1912, from tuberculosis.
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