Clara Barton was born on Christmas Day into a Universalist family that worshiped at the church of Hosea Ballou, a renowned Universalist minister. Her father loved to play war games with her, using corncob soldiers and horses. When she was 13 she spent two years taking care of her brother, who had become an invalid after a fall; naturally shy, she was encouraged to become a teacher; she and another brother started a school for the indigent and for the children who worked in the mills. After some disappointments and frustrations looking for work in a man's world, she found her true vocation when the Civil War began and spent the rest of her life caring for the injured, founding the American Red Cross and First Aid and fighting for America to sign the Geneva Convention. She was devastated at her sister's death, and sings of her deep sorrow. Throughout this musical portrait, we are reminded of Clara's concern for the vulnerable, be they animals, children or soldiers on the battlefield and of her deep spirituality. |
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