Clara Barton: A Hero

Clarissa Harlowe Barton was an important woman figure in the time of the Civil War. She was every soldiers’ angel in their time of suffering. She was even given the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield”, but let’s start off with getting to know Clara a little bit more before I tell you about how great she was. Clara was born on December 25, 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts. Not only was Clara born on a great holiday, but she also founded the American Red Cross.

Did you know that over 5.4 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s disease? Alois Alzheimer was the guy who discovered Alzheimer’s disease. He dedicated his whole life to his career and research. The result of his dedication was amazing. Clara Barton was another person who dedicated her life to her career.

Debi Mazar is an actress who stated, “A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tried to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really, deeply cares.” Heroes are relevant to everyone, because at some point, everyone has had a hero. Sadly, today’s society degrades the meaning of the word “hero”. Heroes are an important aspect of life, but famous people are not always heroes.

It may not be noticeable in a tiny town, or even in a large place, but there is heroism everywhere. Heroism can be seen during the Depression everywhere, it can be seen in children through the elderly. The African Americans during this time are going through hard work and inequality, but they still went through it, hoping they could make a change for future generations. The whites were also heroes by surviving through the Depression too. Being a hero does not mean a person wins, but they try for what that individual believes is the better situation.

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis was born near Ivy, Virginia on August 8, 1774. Lewis also served in the military where he had met William Clark. Lewis was quite successful in the army as he received the rank of captain. After returning back from deployment, Lewis was contacted by the former president Thomas Jefferson in 1801 for a mission. Jefferson had proposed to Lewis his assignment which was to explore the lands west of the Mississippi.

Elsie MacGill wasn’t your average girl during the mid-1900’s. She wanted to help for the greater of human kind in all aspects of things. She wanted to be the best and in her case she was. Elsie, along with her mother were set a lot “firsts” and were top to the some of the world’s best. Elsie loved contributed to society and many other things in her lifetime including fighting for women’s rights, designing airplanes for the Second World War Elsie was born on March 27th, 1905 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Raldo Waldo Emerson once said. “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” My personal definition of a hero is someone who does great things for their community or country without expecting anything in return. My personal hero is my dad because he works in construction outside every day in the heat or cold and he comes home exhausted from work to make dinner for me, my mom, and himself. He even deals with all of my craziness and silliness.

Clara Harris “In every hotel we’re in, as soon as people get wind of our presence, we feel ourselves become objects of morbid scrutiny.. Whenever we were in the dining room, we began to feel like zoo animals. Henry… imagines that the whispering is more pointed and malicious than it can possibly be.” Quote from Clara Harris’ journal entry of Henry Rathbone’s guilt of the assassination.

Joseph Campbell once said, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Different people have different ideas about what defines a hero because everyone has their own hero. A hero to me is someone who fights for what they believe in against all odds and at any cost. This definition of a hero is true because of how people get to be heroes, the positive impact heroes make on people’s lives, and my hero’s part in my life.

Have you ever wondered what sets apart a hero from everyone else? Heroes are all around us, wherever we go. Not all of them wear capes or have superpowers, because it is what they strive to do in their life that defines them. Famous tennis player Arthur Ashe once said “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”

Betsy Ross didn't directly contribute to the Revolutionary War. Instead, she was a symbol which united people to the cause. In May of 1776, Betsy began sewing the very first American flag ever; it consisted of 13 stars and 13 stripes.