DOL of Fame - March 24, 2003



Biography: Born - December 25, 1821 Oxford, Massachusetts Died - April 12, 1912 Glen Echo, Maryland Achievements: 1852 - founded one of New Jersey's first public schools in Bordentown 1854 - Takes a job as a copyist in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. and is first woman to hold an independent clerkship in the federal government 1862 - Begins dispensing first aid supplies to Civil War field hospitals, camps and battlefields 1864 - Becomes Superintendent of Union nurses 1870-71 - Works with the International Committee of the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War 1881 - Establishes the American Association of the Red Cross


In her own words -- On being open to possibilities: "I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done...I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past." "I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them."

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